The individual parts of our being, heart, mind, soul, and body, have incredible potential.
Working together collaboratively, that just multiplies. But there is a problem.
In the last episode, we discussed the concept of an elite generation,
that through the collaborative efforts of the parents, church, and education,
we can disciple an elite generation. Using the word elite to set a high standard for us
to work towards. That though it is harder than ever, we can be effective to raise a generation
that makes a difference. In today's episode, we will be surveying the different elements
of our being and their individual potential, as well as the problem that we all face.
We are created in the image of God, according to Genesis 1.27. That means that we actually
possess attributes of God himself that are visible through the different attributes of our being.
So we're going to look at these different attributes and their individual potential.
First, we have the soul. Our soul is the non-physical part of our being that actually
enables us to connect with God through prayer, through the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It's
also the avenue for spiritual power to be released through us. Through the infilling of the Holy
Spirit, as it says in 1 Corinthians 12, we receive spiritual gifts from God. Healing and miracles,
as well as speaking in other languages. Incredible power that we can possess in partnership with God.
Next, we have our hearts. Our hearts are spoken of all throughout Scripture. Scripture ascribing
them emotions and morals and even reasoning. And when we really think about the heart,
I picture it as kind of the heartbeat of our soul. So just as our physical body has a heart
that pumps life-giving blood to every part of our body, I believe that our spiritual heart
is that life flow of our souls, which would explain why Proverbs says to guard your heart,
because out of it flows every issue of life. Our heart is the center of our emotions. These
motions that motivate us towards doing things. It's our dreams, our desires, our passions,
as well as those negative emotions that can be incredible for personal growth like pain and hurt
and sorrow. Next, we have our minds. Our brain is this complex neurological mass that is the center
of everything that our body does, both voluntary and involuntary. From the pumping of our heart
to the blinking of our eyelids, everything that our body does is controlled by our brains. It's
also the center for thought. All the thoughts that we have. It's estimated that we have 80,000
different thoughts in a day that motivate our actions, what we actually do. So the brain has
incredible potential. Through disciplining our mind, we've seen scientists and lawyers,
doctors come up with incredible solutions that have not been perceived before by studying and
exercising our mind. And lastly, we have our bodies. All you have to do is look at the athletes
in our society who have accomplished great things. Incredible physical feats that are unimaginable
actually are accomplishable through exercising and disciplining the body. Each of these elements
has unique potential, but just imagine the collaborative potential when every part of
our being is aligned to one purpose and one goal. An example of this collaborative effort can be
seen through the psychological premise for behavior, that our beliefs deep within our soul
motivate our emotions, how we're responding or reacting to the things in our world. Those emotions
provoke different thoughts, and those thoughts eventually motivate our actions. So we see that
all of these are working together on a normal daily basis to affect the things that we do day
in and day out. But the problem with our society is, and the problem with humanity is, is that our
being is broken. It is out of alignment because of sin. Sin has entered the soul of man in the garden
4,000, 6,000 years ago, and ever since we have been plagued with being out of alignment, with
not fulfilling our full purpose because sin is robbing us of our potential.
Beautiful way to create a visual analogy.
He ascribes a part of our being to each part of our body.
He puts the soul in the stomach and the heart in the chest, the mind, obviously
in the head, he illustrates that when the soul becomes sick with sin, sin
enters and inflames our soul, causing it to swell, like our physical
body would swell from infection.
Because of that swelling, there is pressure that is put on our heart,
causing it to have to, uh, function improperly and it restricts our emotions.
We feel emotionally confused.
We don't have clear passion or vision or direction.
And then that pressure on our heart puts pressure on our head.
And he calls this being flat brained, which presses the mind against the top
of our head, restricting our vision and restricting our hearing.
So you can imagine the overall effect is that we're not seeing properly.
We're not hearing properly.
We're not reasoning properly in our minds.
Our heart is confused and going direction from direction to direction,
not having clear purpose or calling.
And the only solution to this is Jesus Christ through Jesus Christ, through
our salvation, through his finished work on the cross, his death and his
resurrection, we can find healing to our soul.
Our soul becomes a new person.
We become a new person.
The old is passed away.
Behold, all becomes new.
We are before this, we are living in this state of confusion and lack of
direction, but God came to give us life and to give us life abundantly.
And I believe that that is a life completely perfectly aligned
to the purpose of Jesus Christ.
However, even that I believe is not the only step after salvation.
There is a finished work that is done.
God declares us holy and righteous his child called and having a purpose, but
there is a working progress of sanctification that begins at salvation.
Salvation is the starting point of a journey of becoming more and more like
Pastor Steve Holt, our senior pastor calls it the already, but the not yet.
God has called us holy.
He has called us the finished work that he sees through Jesus Christ, but he
calls us to a life of service and holiness to him, a process of sanctification.
But I think the problem with our generation is that process of
sanctification has been stifled because of unaddressed hurt or pain.
Our souls can become sick because of sin that creeps into our soul.
They are becoming inflamed and putting that pressure on our heart and our
mind, restricting our full potential.
Our hearts are no longer being guarded against the things that are
coming in to steal, kill, and destroy.
Our minds are not continually being renewed as, as God calls us to.
And we end up being in this stagnant place.
I personally relate to this myself.
I was raised in a Christian home.
My parents were pastors and I knew the truth.
I'd given my heart to Lord at an early age, but because of past hurt and
undealt with trauma and addictive behaviors that came into my life,
though I was striving and trying to live my best for the Lord, it wasn't until
I began to find healing through counseling and accountability and
intentional prayer that God began to realign my entire being to the purpose of God.
I felt like my heart was able to dream again and feel passion again in new ways,
ways I didn't even think were imaginable.
My imagination came alive with the different purposes and callings that I
felt like God was putting on my heart.
It wasn't that I didn't have a calling or a purpose, but it was incredible
clarity and excitement and passion that I had not experienced before.
And I believe that we can see this happen in another generation, a
generation that has that clarity, that has that purpose and that drive.
And in the episode that follows, we will be talking about a strategy of
discipleship that can effectively lead a generation in that direction.