"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil
the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)
This verse has more meaning and more bearing for me every day.
For th elognest time, I was constantly paying attention to what was going on in my head. If I had a bad thought, a bad feeling, or a bad memory would poke at my head, I felt compelled to do something about it.
For the longest time, I really believed that my thoughts were my identity, and that what I was thinking would end determining what I would be doing.
Where does this wrong idea come from, in part?
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink,
saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." (Proverbs 23:7)
The king who sets food before someone, he thinks in his heart a certain way.
But that is not for all of us.
In fact, for those who believe in Jesus, we have received a new heart!
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I
put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I
will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)
We receive a new heart, we become a new person:
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We are not in our heads, we do not live in our minds, we must not identify with our thinking.
In fact, our minds need to be ... renewed!
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2)
Our minds are not our identity. For too long, I treated my head as who I am. Very dangerous, disturbing, out of place. I believed that God would speak to me, guide me via my mind, and therefore I needed to do everything I could to keep my mind cleared up.
But wait a minute ...
"The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all
the inward parts of the belly." (Proverbs 20:27)
And how does God shows us the way?
Through the eyes of our heart, not the eyes of our head or in our minds:
"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye
may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of
his inheritance in the saints," (Ephesians 1:18)
It's about our spirit! It's about our heart! It's not about mind, and we are not supposed to let our minds run wild into all kinds of backward, bitter thoughts and meditations:
"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)" (2 Corinthians 10:4)
and
"18This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to
the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good
warfare; 19Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away
concerning faith have made shipwreck:" (1 Timothy 1:18-19)
For the longest time, I took responsibility for every bad thought or premonition I had. I cannot believe how passive I was about my brain, about my thinking. I don't live in my head, and that is not where anyone of us should live, either.
God is not going to speak to us in our heads. He speaks to us through our hearts.
He speaks to us through our spirit.
And for too long, I could not distinguish between my soul (feelings, thoughts, emotions) and my spirit.
Yet the more that I have been listening to God's Word, the more saturated I have become in God's grace, the more that I recognize that my spirit and soul are distinct, different.
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than
any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
Today, there is a greater rest than I have ever felt before. I am not worried about what I may think of feel. I am not concerned about whatever thoughts, whatever fiery darts may come my way. Whatever happens in my head, that is not what matters. He lives in my heart (Ephesians 3:16-19), and He is guiding me from the inside out:
"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)
Whatever is hitting my head is not revelant, not important. I am not supposed to pay attention to how I feel or what thoughts spring up. That is not me, and none of that really matters. It's not about our souls, but our spirits!
