TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 20THMay 2023)**
“To the weak (wanting in discernment) I have become weak (wanting in discernment) that I might win the weak and overscrupulous. I have [in short] become all things to all men, that I might by all means (at all costs and in any and every way) save some [by winning them to faith in Jesus Christ].
And I do this for the sake of the good news (the Gospel), in order that I may become a participator in it and share in its [blessings along with you].
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
Therefore, I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]” 1 Corinthians 9:22-27 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 140TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS & WONDERS!
This is another Day the LORD has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it. The earth declares His glory and the firmament His handiwork. The sea roars His praise and the skies His greatness.
The blood that runs through the veins of the righteous and the wicked tells of the depth of His love and mercies. The forgiveness that flows from His throne to the vilest offender, and the transformation of the morally bankrupt soul, into a morally chaste one, tells of the wonders of His amazing grace.
The Holy God remains the answer to our unholy lives. His love remains the glue that keeps Him close to even the worst sinner, so that he or she can become the best saint.
I believe we can never fathom the depth of His love on this side of eternity. We will only fathom the depth of His love when we make use of His grace, live right and cross over to the other side, our Heavenly home. The reason is because Heaven is full of His love. We will experience it in full when we get there.
This morning we shall be continuing with our discourse on the salvation of the soul, as we seek to have our hearts established on truths that foster the faith, purity, and patience of the saints.
I wish to remind us again of what the Bible says. The word says;
“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:37-39 NKJV
The revelation of the saving of the soul is what the church seems not to be aware of. We all believing in the saving of the spirit, which happens at once, but seems ignorant of the saving of the soul that should happen daily.
WE FORGET THAT MAKING HEAVEN WILL FINALLY DEPEND ON THE SAVING OF THE SOUL NOT JUST THE SPIRIT.
Because if the soul is not saved, the spirit can go back to its unsaved state by the activities that will be going on in the soul.
Maybe we are not established in the revelation of the saving of the soul because of the lack of genuine apostles by content in the Church. We just have pulpit bandits going by the title “apostle,” but no genuine apostolic content.
In God’s kingdom, the evangelist is graced to propel the saving of the spirit, while the apostle is graced to propel the saving of the spirit and the saving of the soul, with a major on the salvation of the soul. The apostle does this through deep teachings propelled by the spirit of prophecy, through an effective pastoral care.
Church History has proven that there were a greater number of solid believers, who could withstand the test of time, born in apostolic ministries than in evangelistic ministries. This is because you will be solid if you experience both the salvation of the spirit and the soul under one grace.
The salvation of the soul that should come after that of the spirit, is always a major apostolic emphasis in every generation. The salvation of the soul happens through a sanctification process that should be daily. Namely; the sanctification of the imagination, the memory, the intelligence, the emotions and finally the will.
The will is the last unit of the soul we have been looking at in our quest to come to the knowledge of the salvation of the soul.
The will has been defined as the control we exert to do something or restrain impulses. It is that unit of the soul that helps us to control our desires and impulses. If the soul was a car, the will is that which forms the tyres and the breaking system of the car.
A car in motion, without good tyres and breaking system, is on its way to destroy lives. A soul without the ability to exert control to do something pure and holy, or without the ability to restrain its sinful and carnal impulses, is a disaster waiting to happen in hell.
Not just in hell, but even here on earth. If you cannot control yourself in anything, you have lost it completely.
THAT IS WHY SATAN LOVE PUTTING PEOPLE IN POSITIONS WHERE THEY CAN NO LONGER USE THEIR WILL PROPERLY.
A defiled will cannot be influenced by the Spirit of God, only a sanctified will can. The things of the Spirit will be nonsensical to a defiled will, not a sanctified one. Salvation of the soul involved bringing the will under subjection to the obedience of Christ.
The Bible says when the will have been brought to the obedience of Christ, it can then cast down imaginations, and every other aspect of the soul that exalts itself against the knowledge of GOD. It was partly in the light of this that the Bible says;
(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 AKJV
When the will is sanctified, it can bring every thought that opposes God in any way, into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
When our thoughts are brought to the obedience of Christ, we will not find ourselves living our sinful lives, but His righteous life. It is when thoughts have not been brought to the obedience of Christ that a life of Consecration becomes impossible.
When thoughts are brought to the obedience of Christ, we can bring our bodies under subjection. Any will that cannot bring it thoughts under subjection to the obedience of Christ, is not yet sanctified
Our devotional text today is loaded with so much apostolic truths. It is salted with Heaven making principles that Paul the apostle lived and taught. It displayed his commitment to the salvation of all under the boundary of his calling.
He sat with the captives, not by becoming morally bankrupt, but by becoming all things to all men so he could save some.
Being all things to all men, is not becoming a sexually pervert to the sexually pervert, in order to save them. Neither is it leaving the pulpit to become a corrupt politician, in order to save politicians. It has to do with interface not intercourse, adaptation not adoption.
HE ADAPTED TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT TO SAVE THEM, BUT DID NOT ADOPT THEIR WICKED AND SINFUL LIFE-STYLES.
Then he went on to paint an allegory of what the Christian faith can be likened to. He presented it as a race, and the believer as an athlete. He presented the importance of spiritual training and discipline, to leading a consecrated Christian life. The word says;
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Without buffeting our body, by handling it roughly, and disciplining it through hardships that neutralizes its desire for the sinful, impure and unholy, we will not be able to stand the test of faith, we will not be approved or accepted. It takes a will that have being sanctified by being brought under the supervision of the Holy Spirit and God’s Holy Word to do all that.
I don’t think anyone who sat under this man of God, Paul, operated the damnable narrative that says once saved forever saved. They all believed to the saving of the soul. Here he was telling us that without spiritual discipline anyone can be disqualified for Heaven. At this point lets look at something about spiritual discipline.
There can be no consecrated living without discipline. The carnal impulses of the flesh can only be pulled back through spiritual discipline. Without spiritual discipline, we cannot live the new life that is in Christ.
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES ARE THE RELATIONAL PRACTICES THAT CONNECTS US IN LOVING AND DEEP WAYS TO GOD.
They involve prayer as a discipline, discipling ourselves through fasting, studying the Bible and meditating along. They also involve saying no to sinful impulses, controlling the tongue, committing to God’s will, and turning away from that which desecrates.
The practice of these disciplines has a way of resulting in the transformation of our hearts and lives so that we develop a biblical worldview, seeing the world through the lens of the Bible. Then through them, our actions and thoughts grow over time to be the actions and thoughts of the One we follow, Jesus Christ.
The goal of spiritual disciplines, like the ones mentioned here, is to be like Christ. That was the goal of our fathers who sought the LORD. They subjected themselves under these disciplines until Christ was formed in them.
If we do the same, we will have the same results, both in time and eternity.
I believe you have found some truths to refresh your spirit with, and keep building your faith, purity, and patience as an end time saint of the Most High God.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” John 1:11-14 AKJV