The Soul of Man in Life and Image

There are two visions of the soul here, one that directs our walk moment by moment, and one that turns us to the ministry of Christ in a deep way. Let me begin by saying that these were used by the Lord in the last few days, as living examples of our condition. May all who read here find Him who can change us for the purposes of Glory.

I requested that a few of the dear saints I meet with lay hands on me and pray for mental healing. I have always had mild dyslexia and seasons of ADHD, but learned how to work through those. However, my loving doctor, Jesus, revealed that the chasing mental patterns I have, of free thinking and analysis, are limitations to prophesy.

He needs us to quiet down inside, and get in the movement of life. It is our choice to speak, our exercise of faith to release life into this realm, but to do that with power means transformation of our minds. So as they were praying, one of the little ones dropped a puzzle piece on the floor right next to me.

I realized at that moment how the pieces of our souls, the bit in need of transformation are like puzzle pieces, and we should just gather them up to place on the alter. Burn them up. Let God have them and He will replace them with something far more precious.

Later on, I was pray walking, and the Lord revealed the further meaning of the puzzle pieces. I had been assembling together the puzzle of my life for years. We all do it, and I mean life filled Christians foremost. We want to have a life that reflects the values we know of, displays to the world kindness and love. Gives, teaches, blesses, and every other good thing you can think of.

But that is just it, "you can think of" means that the natural man comprehends this goal. Here is your first clue that something isn't quite right. What God does can not be replicated. It can not be discovered by the natural man, or emulated. I saw a vision of that puzzle, my own puzzle from the past, with a few pieces missing.

We get close. We have everything together. I served in the church, studied the bible, set up the chairs, greeted the saints. I witnessed on streetcorners, bought lunch for the homeless, gave my time and money to ministry. I lived with the brothers, praying constantly, dealing with personality conflict, dealing with many rough edges.

I prophesied, spoke in tongues, flowed in the Spirit in leading worship. But the puzzle wasn't quite done. Some pieces just wouldn't stay in place. And some were on the floor. This is the vision of my past, that God just revealed to me. And as I looked down at the puzzle, was it me? Perhaps, but in my spirit I heard Adam. Then Cain, Jacob, Esau, the Israelites in the wilderness.

I was floored, and had to laugh. We work so hard at some things. Preparing ourselves, learning new skills, making sacrifices to get somewhere. And that somewhere is a 'good image', even a 'good self image'. Not even for ourselves consciously! For all the right reasons, yet the result is the same.

Oh, I knew about the natural man, understood that I could do nothing of my own that would stand before God. Yet do we just sit in a puddle of self pity on the floor? Especially when there are deep things that we refuse to go near hindering our walk with the Lord? No, we 'move on', living life, doing what we can, finding what life we can and trying to put things together.

Let me use a sharp scalpel now. You have places inside where the pieces are together, and you're satisfied with that 'image'. You see it every day, are used to it, comfortable with it, and have no idea how dead it is. WE HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH! Any 'strength of character' you may have that is not of Him, is not making it into the Kingdom.

It can be a pleasing image. You may even have all the pieces together. I never got close. But it is DEAD! This image can not move in the spirit. And if you don't let go of the pieces, you can not receive the replacement. Yeah, He puts back something, but it is not just 'made in the likeness of God', it is alive with the essence of Christ.

Go on a hunt for these puzzle pieces. Ask God to smash the thing and get out the flamethrower. Oh, you may feel pain, but that is to His Glory! He will heal, transform, rejuvenate, and fill you with the living reality of Jesus. Not some picture. Pray fervently about these matters. If you can not see the need, you are in darkness. Heed this warning! There is no profit in the dark.

Now to the life in the soul. We have a conscious presence in the now. We are alive, and exist in constant awareness to one level or another. This awareness is like a tablespoon of liquid in a tea cup. If you looked in the cup, the bottom would be our conscience, and around the sides would be the areas of will, emotion, and consideration. Lets put the handle of the cup on the side of will. That third is connected to the whole container, i.e. when we decide, the other parts turn and move.

This little bit of liquid covers the bottom, and touches all three sides when the cup is level. If we are level, at peace, our soul is guided by the will with input from the mind and heart. And underneath is a tickle, an alert zone, the conscience, to flag us when any of the sides go awry.

There are a few cases now to consider. For most people, the cup is tilted. When tilted there is three states we inhabit in our souls. The liquid no longer touches all three sides, just two. Try it out, with a real cup and see! Even worse, if we stay that way, over time part of our consciences dries out and no longer functions correctly.

Here are the common states, will with emotion, will with thinking, and emotion with thinking. Consider politics. A third of the voters are driven by emotion, and use their will to vote. Another third use their thinking, then 'will' vote accordingly. Even those without the will active are here, in the vast numbers of people who don't vote.

If you begin to embrace this dichotomy, you will find so many areas of modern culture match the principle. But we are here to find God, and His life. So I saw this vision of the cup, and there was a hand on the handle. Our will can chose to be guided by Him! Our cup will be upright and stable. Furthermore, He will begin to fill the vessel with more fluid.

When the cup is full of life, there is no need to worry about whether it gets tipped this way or that! Liquid always touches every side, and the conscience is never dry. Oh, he will pour us out at times, to clean the cup. But only to refill with even more potent life. Even Eternal Living Water that has none of the old taste!

Embrace these metaphors, dig into them a bit and He will use them. You will find living guidance through these. Lord, may Your word be our guide, may it burn through the dead wood in us. Torch out all the hidden places, all the empty pictures. Reveal Your Glory in this work to every reader! Transform each one by the indwelling Spirit, who sustains our very existence. Forever worthy of praise!