HOW IS YOUR SOUL?

UNDERSTANDING OUR SOUL

MY SOUL

The soul is said to be the mind, will, and emotions where we think and feel.

WE HAVE TO RECOGNISE THAT WE HAVE AN ENEMY THAT WANTS TO MESS WITH OUR MINDS AND OUR WILLS AND OUR EMOTIONS. BECAUSE WHEN HE DOES THAT IT KEEPS US AWAY FROM TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD OUR FATHER. THE ENEMY OF OUR HEART IS VERY REAL AND HIS AIM IS TO CAUSE DIVISION.

ANDY STANLEY IN HIS BOOK- ENEMIES OF THE HEART ADDRESSES THE 4 ENEMIES OF OUR HEART:

GUILT

ANGER

GREED

JEALOUSY

WE ARE GOING TO JOURNEY WITH YOU IN THE NEXT WEEKS AS WE TAKE A DEEPER LOOK AT WHAT THIS MEANS.

THE STORY BEHIND THE HYMN

WHEN YOU ASK THE QUESTION OF HOW’S YOUR SOUL? 9 OUT OF 10 WILL CONNECT THE DOTS TO A VERY WELL KNOWN HYMN. NOW EVEN FOR CONTEMPORARY MUSIC LOVERS THIS SONG HAS BEEN SUNG IN PART OR WHOLE BY MANY CHRISTIAN ARTISTS. I WOULD EVEN HAZARD A GUESS TO SAY VERY FEW HAVE NOT SUNG THESE LYRICS.

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL:

Horatio G. Spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago with a lovely family - a wife, Anna, and five children.

However, they were not strangers to tears and tragedy. Their young son died with pneumonia in 1871, and in that same year, much of their business was lost in the great Chicago fire.

On Nov. 21, 1873, the French ocean liner, Ville du Havre was crossing the Atlantic from the U.S. to Europe with 313 passengers on board. Among the passengers were Mrs. Spafford and their four daughters.

Although Mr. Spafford had planned to go with his family, he found it necessary to stay in Chicago to help solve an unexpected business problem. He told his wife he would join her and their children in Europe a few days later. His plan was to take another ship.

About four days into the crossing of the Atlantic, the Ville du Harve collided with a powerful, iron-hulled Scottish ship, the Loch Earn. Suddenly, all of those on board were in grave danger.

Within approximately 12 minutes, the Ville du Harve slipped beneath the dark waters of the Atlantic, carrying with it 226 of the passengers including the four Spafford children.

A sailor, rowing a small boat over the spot where the ship went down, spotted a woman floating on a piece of the wreckage. It was Anna, still alive. He pulled her into the boat and they were picked up by another large vessel which, nine days later, landed them in Cardiff, Wales. From there she wired her husband a message which began, “Saved alone, what shall I do?”

Another of the ship’s survivors, Pastor Weiss, later recalled Anna saying, “God gave me four daughters. Now they have been taken from me. Someday I will understand why.”

Mr. Spafford booked passage on the next available ship and left to join his grieving wife. With the ship about four days out, the captain called Spafford to his cabin and told him they were over the place where his children went down.

According to Bertha Spafford Vester, a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote “It Is Well With My Soul” while on this journey.

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll,

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Chorus:

It is well with my soul,

It is well, it is well with my soul

Anna gave birth to three more children, one of which died at age four with dreaded pneumonia. In August 1881, the Spaffords moved to Jerusalem. Mr. Spafford died and is buried in that city.

And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, shall keep your hearts, your minds through Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:7.

LETS JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE ENEMY OF:

GUILT

TODAY WE ARE LOOKING AT:

SLIDE GUILT

GUILT

THERE ARE MANY REASONS WE FEEL GUILT:

WE CAN EVEN FEEL GUILTY FOR WHAT WE HAVE AND WHAT WE DON’T HAVE

SOME PEOPLE HAVE MORE THAN US OR LESS THAN US THIS COULD COME IN THE SHAPE OF GIFTS TALENTS FINANCES AND OR EVEN COMMON SENSE.

WE CAN FEEL GUILTY FOR WHAT WE EAT AND WHAT WE DRINK

THEN WE CAN EVEN MAKE OTHERS FEEL GUILTY FOR CHOICES THEY MAKE

WHAT I MEAN IS WE CAN FEEL GUILTY ABOUT NOT FULFILLING THE EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS.

FOR MANY YEARS I FELT GUILTY FOR LEAVING MY FAMILY IN S.AFRICA.

THERE IS ALSO SUVIVORS GUILT - WHEN THERE HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT AND YOU SURVIVED IT

GUILT SAYS I OWE YOU.

NOW I CAN TAKE YOU THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF GUILT AND WHO HOW WHAT WERE AND WHEN. BUT THIS IS STUFF YOU KNOW .

WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW IS HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THIS ENEMY OF OUR HEART THAT CAUSES US TO FEEL GUILTY?

SLIDE - GUILT CAN BE DEALT WITH THROUGH CONFESSION

1 John 1:9 NLT

9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

SIN DECALARES US GUILTY BEFORE A HOLY GOD AND THE ONLY WAY AROUND THIS IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SIN AND TURN FROM IT.

WHEN WE PUT OUR FAITH IN CHRIST:

1 Corinthians 1:5–10 ESV

5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

LET US TAKE A LOOK AT THIS WORD THAT CONSTANTLY CAUSES US TO STUMBLE:

**** Sin means “to miss the mark.” It can refer to doing something against God or against a person (Exodus 10:16),

doing the opposite of what is right (Galatians 5:17),

doing something that will have negative results (Proverbs 24:33–34),

and failing to do something you know is right (James 4:17).

In the Old Testament, God even instituted sacrifices for unintentional sins (Numbers 15:27). Sin is the general term for anything that “falls short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

JESUS DIED FOR ALL OF OUR SINS - PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE.

TODAY I WANT US TO HAVE A VERY CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CONFESSING OUR SINS.

NOW YOU MAY BE THINKING THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO CONFESS - OF COURSE THAT IS WHAT YOU DID WHEN YOU CAME TO KNOW CHRIST, SO IT IS A DONE DEAL.

NOT ONE OF US IS SINLESS - AND TODAY I WANT US TO DIG A LITTLE DEEPER.

DIGGING TO GET ALL THOSE ROOTS SO THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE REASON TO CAUSE US TO STUMBLE.

GOD WILL CONVICT US NOT CONDEMN US,

THE CONVICTION THAT WE FEEL IS MEANT TO DRIVE US TO CONFESSION AND THEN TRANSFORMATION - IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILTY WE JUST BECOME REPEAT OFFENDERS.

YOU SEE WHEN YOU DO THINGS IN THE DARK AND THEY REMAIN IN THE DARK THEN THERE IS NO PROBLEM AND YOU ALSO NEVER HAVE TO CHANGE.

YOU SEE GOD DOES NOT WANT TO LEAVE US IN THE DARK - THAT IS WHY HE SENT JESUS, THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD TO EXTINGUISH THE DARKNESS.

Psalm 139:23–24 NLT

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

JOHN WESLEY

As a young man John Wesley was a deeply committed Anglican priest but one given to crushing legalism. Unsure of God's love he compulsively ranked and graded his spiritual performance to gain God's favor.

After a spell as a missionary to the American colonies ending in burnout and disgrace, he returned to England exhausted and depressed. Reluctantly, he agreed to attend a Moravian worship meeting in Aldersgate St, London, where he met with God in a way that transformed him and in his own words, he later described his Aldersgate experience:

SLIDE JOHN WESLEY

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate St, about quarter before 9, while the preacher was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

Legalism fell away, replaced by a deep assurance of God's love for him and a burning passion to share that love

Wesley preached about the need to personally encounter Jesus a message which barred him from most Anglican churches and so he took the deeply radical step of preaching not from a pulpit but at in the streets and fields joining with other free revivalists, he called the nation’s poor to follow Christ which they did in the 10s of thousands - in his lifetime he traveled 250,000 miles on horseback to teach all over the country.

He preached about 40,000 sermons and planted radical communities of prayer, mission and justice across Britain.

John Wesley was a champion of the poor and a campaigner against the slave trade. Disregarding heresies of cloth and sex, he trained non - ordained men and, radically for his day woman to disciple the many people coming to Jesus.

JOHN WESLEY MADE DISCIPLES AND DISCIPLE MAKERS.

HOW DID WESLEY DO THIS? THROUGH HIS BAND GROUPS. PRETTY MUCH LIKE OUR DNA GROUPS.

THE GROUPS ARE MEANT TO EXPAND ALL THE TIME -

INSERT PERSONAL REFLECTION ON THE BENEFIT OF CONFESSION

IN THESE BAND GROUPS THEY ASKED EACH OTHER 3 QUESTIONS

HOW IS IT WITH YOUR SOUL?

WHAT ARE YOUR VICTORIES AND STRUGGELS AT THIS TIME?

WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACHING YOU THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES AT THIS TIME.?

YOU SEE WHEN WE PLACE OURSELVES IN THIS KIND OF PLACE IT IS NOT TO HAVE SOMETHING TO HOLD OVER ANOTHER PERSON, BUT RATHER TO ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER AND LIFT EACH OTHER UP.

PASTOR KALEB AND MYSELF ARE IN SUCH MENTORING GROUPS AND I AM IN A SMALLER BAND WITH TWO OTHER LADY PASTORS.

I’M NOT TELLING YOU THIS BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO THINK I AM SOME WONDERFUL PERSON. I AM TELLING YOU THIS BECAUSE I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO DO ANYTHING THAT I AM NOT PREPARED TO DO MYSELF.

I WANT TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD FIRSTLY, AS HIS WORD CALLS US TO DO THIS AND THEN TO THE PEOPLE THAT I SERVE AND MY FAMILY.

GOD CONVICTS US AND CALLS US TO CONFESS.

NOW I WANT YOU TO HEAR ME - THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN ALL AT ONCE, IT BEGINS WITH RELATIONSHIP AND TRUSTING THE PEOPLE YOU ARE WITH.

THESE THREE QUESTIONS HELP US TO REFLECT TRUTHFULLY AND IT HOLDS US ACCOUNTABLE.

NOW I KNOW YOU HAVE JOURNEYED WITH US THROUGH THE BOOKS OF 1 - 3 JOHN BUT JUST A MOMENT TO REFRESH OUR MINDS WITH WHAT IT SAID:

SLIDE - SCRIPTURE

1 John 1:5–10 NLT

5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

WE HAVE FORGOTTEN AND NEGLECTED THE GIFT OF CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS.

WE WANT TO KEEP OUR SINS HIDDEN AND PRIVATE SO THAT WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE RESPONSIBLE.

CONFESSION REQUIRES A CHANGE OF BEHAVIOUR ON OUR BEHALF AND WHEN WE BLANKET THE SINS AND LUMP THEM TOGETHER THEY REMAIN THERE, JUST HIDDEN PERHAPS WITH A NICE LITTLE COVER OVER THEM.

HOW OFTEN DO WE SEE IN THE NEWS MEDIA ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE REMOVED FROM OFFICE OR ARRESTED FOR THEIR INDISCRETIONS THAT HAVE BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS, SEEMINGLY UNDETECTED.

THE DIFFERNCE BETWEEN THEM AND US IS NOTHING!!!

YES NOTHING THEY JUST HAPPENED TO GET CAUGHT AND HOLD A SPOTLIGHT IN THE MEDIA.

BUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE DOING THE SAME THING, PEOPLE WE WORK WITH AND LIVE WITH AND ARE IN COMMUNITY WITH.

JESUS ACTUALLY REMINDED US OF THIS VERY ATTITUDE OF OURS - REMOVE THE LOG FROM YOUR OWN EYE BEFORE YOU TAKE THE SPLINTER OUT OF YOUR NEIGHBOURS EYE.

YOU SEE WE SO EASILY EXCUSE OUR “LITTLE SINS” BECAUSE WHAT THEY DID WAS MUCH WORSE - AT LEAST IN OUR EYES.

SCRIPTURE READ FIRST

Psalm 139:23–24 NLT

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

SLIDE - STEPS TO DO

ADMIT THE SIN / WRONG DOING

++CONFESS TO GOD

++CONFESS TO THE PERSON IF NEED BE

++MAKE IT RIGHT

++MOVE ON

confession prayers

Father God, would you remind me now of the ways in which I have sinned today through negligence, through weakness, or my own deliberate fault.

I take a moment to confess my sins before you know God of grace, thank you that when I confess my sins, you are faithful and just, forgiving and purifying me from all unrighteousness. I receive your forgiveness now.