This article may have a strange title, but I want you to consider your hearts condition right now. The Bible makes it very clear that we must, “Keep our heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov 4:23). A modern-day translation for the Hebrew word ‘keep’ in this passage, would be ‘guard’. We must guard our heart as we progress on life’s journey.
As our heart goes, so goes our life. The crop you sow into your heart on a continual basis will either yield good or bad fruit, depending upon what is sown. The soil will always yield what is sown. The heart will always manifest what it feeds upon and the Parable of the sower, bears testimony to this.
The Lord showed me recently I was getting ‘up tight’ and impatient with people, especially when things weren’t going my way. Even the smallest problem would aggravate me. I was reverting back to ‘toddler mode.’ Something wasn’t right, I knew I was off. I’m not talking about occasionally getting chagrin over injustices in life but an ongoing irritability that wouldn’t abate. The Lord revealed to me in prayer that my heart was wounded, and I needed to let go of some things. The frustration I felt was symptomatic of a deeper root beneath the surface.
How do you handle stress?
Instead of venting emotion, I tend to bottle things up and ‘keep on trucking’. Because of this, to some it might appear that I was ‘over things’ quickly but on the inside of my heart, these issues were compounding to the point of anger. I had not taken them to the Lord as I should have, but tried to handle them myself. But what might seem trivial to some, could become a stronghold if left unchecked and my heart was bearing witness to this. My impatience was a warning signal, that something wasn’t right.
These festering frustrations can snowball quickly into tangible forms of anger and that was already happening to me. Can anyone relate? I thought I had to ‘take on’ the issues of life myself, but Holy Spirit made it clear, I am to take on nothing whatsoever. I was to cast my care...all of it.
This was so liberating! Every one of my hurts, frustrations, cares, worries, and concerns etc. was to be placed on the cross, once and for all. The difficult part is ‘keeping it there.’ I personally love this scripture and live by it, I hope you will too; “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).
We are meant to be care-free!
Did you know, we are not supposed to have any cares in this world whatsoever, they should be cast upon the Lord! When our heart is free of soulful entanglements only then can it regain any semblance of peace.We should treasure our peace and if we lose it, realize we've messed up somewhere along the line.
What a wonderful God we serve! He doesn’t want us to carry around any junk in our soul trunk! My latest saying is, “I couldn’t care less.” Obviously, there are some things we do care about in this life but when it comes to ‘worry’ i.e., meeting the rent payment, postulating about outcomes at work or concern about what other people might think, I respond,” I couldn’t care less!” By casting our care, it’s firmly in the Lord’s hands. If ‘He’, has it, then we ‘don’t’ have it (our care).
Are you living the ‘zoe’ life?
If our spirit-man is born again, the ‘zoe’ life of God has free access to our soul. Our mind, will, and emotions should flow freely in unison with God. Think of soulish entanglements as a log jam in a river. With God’s help, we can untangle the jam. When we are ‘born-again’ our spirit man goes from death to life, and we become a part of God’s kingdom. This is an instantaneous event. We then begin the slow process of transforming our soul (mind, will and emotions) by renewing of our mind with God’s word. Scripture washes our soul, free of log jams (Eph 5:26). In doing so, we are able to enjoy the abundant (zoe) life that Christ promised.
The logs themselves are analogous to the ‘junk’ we pick up in life’s journey. They are the ‘cares of this world’ like, hurts, frustrations, betrayals, offenses, unforgiveness and unfulfilled expectations etc. If we don’t release these soulish blockages, God’s anointing can be restricted in our lives. A wounded soul can also influence the hormones within our body, both positively and negatively. Some studies show the symptoms of arthritis can be made worse by harboring resentment or bitterness. Eventually this soulish log jam takes on physical properties in our flesh, if we’re not careful.
Words have a tremendous impact on our soul
For example, scripture states that ‘envy rots the bones’ (Prov 14:30) and ‘a word of encouragement or good report, makes the heart rejoice’ (Prov 15:30). Also, ‘pleasant words are sweet to the soul and health to the bones’ (Prov 16:24).
This of course is in contradiction to the commonly touted belief that, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible says that words can be health to our bones or cut to the heart (Acts 5:33). Words are very powerful, and we need to be very careful what we say about ourselves and other people.
Middle Aged Mayhem
There are middle-aged men and women today, hindered in their life’s progress because of words spoken over them by parents when they were children. These words formed a negative self-image which still ensnares them today. Do you have a log jam that needs unblocking? Take time right now and ask Holy Spirit if you need to let go of some hurts or wounds and throw them in the fire once and for all!
Dr. Don Colbert has a fantastic book on the topic of soul/body connection entitled, Deadly Emotions. He outlines the toxic effect of unchecked emotions on the physical body, and I highly recommend you grab a copy. All facets of man (spirit, soul and body) are interconnected, and all impact one another.
By taking regular inventory on our heart's condition, we're able to walk closely with the Lord, enjoying his peace and joy in our lives on a regular basis.
Beware: Offense is a trap
We must develop the habit of being quick to forgive and quick to forget, if we want to be successful in our Christian walk. Harboring offense will hinder so many areas of our life, particularly intimate relationships with others and especially the Lord. Offense is a snare and a thief. Scripture makes it plain that unless you acknowledge your offense, the Lord remains in the ‘hidden place’ (Hos 5:15).
We must seek God’s face, acknowledge our offense and let go of any ought. There’s an old saying, “pride makes excuses, but humility makes adjustments.” Make sure you’re willing to make the requisite adjustments today so the enemy can’t steal from you anymore. The Apostle Paul said one of the secrets to his powerful ministry was keeping a clear conscience, toward God and man. Acts 24:16 states,” And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men.”
Friend, it’s time to let go of any junk in your soul and allow times of refreshing to come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
These times of refreshing are accessible only when we humble ourselves by throwing ‘soulish’ logs on the Lord’s altar. They must be consumed with His Holy Fire! I urge you to take a few moments of reflection after you’ve read this article and address your ‘soulish’ log jam.
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Author- Carl G.M. Joseph
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