Streaming from my soul

…Joy from the soul of an innocent baby.

What is streaming from your soul? What is it, coming out from deep inside you?

Jesus said that it is that, what is inside you, that causes us problems.  It’s not what’s outside. It’s what’s inside. What content are you streaming from deep inside your soul?

Spiritually blind.
Are you spiritually blind, not able to see “God’s precepts”, what He so plainly puts in front of our eyes through His Word (the Bible).  If so, then all of you (“your whole body”) will be full of evil continually. ¹

Our “inner self, … heart, …conscience,” can be empty of light, dominated by darkness – because the light of God’s truths are not in us “[devoid of God’s precepts]”. What a horrible, horrible condition.

From deep inside my insides…devoid of God’s precepts

Then, from deep inside my insides comes out…

• attitudes
• a depraved mind ²
• lusts ³
• foolish behaviors
• foolish actions [acting without reflection or intelligence] – Luke 11:40
• sick, sick (bad) rottenness (See: Vile to Jesus)
• greed and wickedness – Luke 11:39
• extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed) – Matthew 23:25
• degrading and vile passions – Romans 1: verse 26 (“exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural [a function contrary to nature]“

“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed).  – Matthew 23:25

Jesus said we need to clean our insides – so that our outsides can then live-out worthy behavior.

“You [spiritually] blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the plate [examine and change your inner self to conform to God’s precepts], so that the outside [your public life and deeds] may be clean also. – Matthew 23:26

Clean-out the darkness
It’s not easy to clean-out the darkness inside us, but it’s not complicated.  The Bible teaches we have to work at it:

1. Examine yourself.  What’s happening inside you? – 2 Corinthians 13:5
2. Put your eyes in front of God’s Word, and learn from Him. Learn God’s ways. – Matthew 6:23
3. Begin changing your inner self little by little.  “Clean the inside of the cup” – Matthew 23:26

An example: dealing with lust, pornography, fornication, illicit sex

If you struggle with lusts, Paul says,

“Run away from youthful lusts—pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those [believers] who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”  – 2 Timothy 2:22

Paul says run away: Don’t put yourself where you find lusts. “Flee!”

Go after these:
“righteousness,
faith,
love,
and peace”

Along with those who are pure believers – diligently go after these to make them yours: “righteousness, faith, love, and peace”.  Be with, and study the Bible with… other believers.  Maybe then you can truly repent and open to truth:

²⁵ …correct those who are in opposition
with courtesy and gentleness
in the hope that God may grant
that they will repent
and be led to the knowledge of the truth
[accurately understanding and welcoming it],
²⁶ and that they may come to their senses
and escape from the trap of the devil,
having been held captive by him to do his will.
– 2 Timothy 2: verses 25-26   Amplified Bible (AMP)

Paul says: Come to your senses!  Accurately understand and truly welcome God’s truth. Then you can, you will – escape the trap you are in, which was laid there by the Devil.  Don’t remain a captive, trapped by the Devil.  He’s got you doing his will!

Make sure you “see fit to acknowledge God… consider Him worth knowing [as… Creator]” – Romans 1: verse 28

The fruit of the Spirit
Are you seeing lots of the good fruit coming out from deep inside your inner self?  It inevitably shows in your living.

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit
[the result of His presence within us]
is love
[unselfish concern for others],
joy,
[inner] peace,
patience
[not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting],
kindness,
goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.
Against such things there is no law.

Are you healthy?  Genuine?  Every day I want to honestly say before the Lord, “It is well with my soul.” Know the song?

“The unhealthy tree bears bad fruit”
“The healthy tree bears good fruit”
– words of Jesus in Matthew 7:17

Is your actual living showing itself as “Christian”?   What’s coming out from deep down inside of you?  …Spirit-filled actions, with truly biblical fruit of the Spirit?  Is this “an ongoing experience”?  This is the emphasis of the question that was asked by the Apostle Paul, exhorting us:

Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as [committed] believers. Examine yourselves [not me]! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves [by an ongoing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit? – 2 Corinthians 13:5 

Excerpt from A Healthy Soul:

A Healthy Soul… based on Galatians 5:22-23

• walks with wings of grace, not slithering condemnation, self and selfishness
• walks into your space smoothing soothing lotion on your roughed-up soul
• with unguarded presence  – expresses: “I’m fine with you”, “I am yours for this moment in time together”
• is longsuffering and gentle,
• not back-stabbing, pouty, self-absorbed
• is compelled by the Spirit, listening to His still, small voice (Acts 20:22)
• feels obligated and directed toward action because of strong convictions (Acts 20:22)
• produces the fruit of the Spirit  more and more

FOR MORE:

A Healthy Soul

Being wise and understanding

Don’t let it

Put this on

1. Since God created all things, He knows how all things work best.  To guide us, He has established His “precepts”, His recommended ways of doing things.  His biblical principles show us how things work best within His Creation.
2. – Romans 1: verses 26-32  “a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive, ²⁹ until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are gossips [spreading rumors], ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful [without pity]. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree and His judgment, that those who do such things deserve death, yet they not only do them, but they even [enthusiastically] approve and tolerate others who practice them.^.
3. BibleGateway Search on lusts.