An Enlarged Spirit

An Enlarged Spirit

I started composing this post while half asleep this morning. You know, that lucid state where your mind is active, but you’re not yet awake?

A random image formed in my mind’s eye. I believe it came from God. I pictured a man’s spirit floating like a vapor, contained by his body. His spirit actually looked compressed—as if created to be much larger than his human body.

Our physical bodies serve as temporary housing for our spirits. That much is obvious. But what captivated me this: while we’re here on earth, God wants us to develop a large spirit, full to the brim, and even overflowing.

The Bible talks a lot about humans having a soul, a spirit, and a body. These terms are commonplace throughout Scripture. Hebrews 4:12 distinguishes our souls as something different from our spirits, though some use these terms interchangeably.

John Paul Jackson teaches that the soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. Our spirit, on the other hand, is where wisdom, conscience, and communion with God are found. And of course, our body is our body.  Without going into any complex theology, I do believe two important things:

First, that the soul needs “saving” and healing. A sin-sick soul displays what we are without God.

And second, that we experience God mostly through our spirits. God is Spirit and communes with us through our spirits.

Why are these two points important? Because, to the extent that our souls are damaged and our spirits remain undeveloped, we don’t have very good “receivers” in terms of hearing God.Continue reading

Something Was Missing

Something Was Missing

“The world was my oyster, but where was the pearl?

Who’d dream I would find it in one little girl?”

These lyrics come from the song, “Something Was Missing,” in the Broadway musical, Annie, with lyrics by Martin Charnin.

The same words could effectively sum up the main point in Genesis 1:

God created the heavens—an endless expanse of color and light and glory…

Hubble Space

Then, He made the earth—land and sky and water…

earth land sky and water

And it teemed with life as plant and animal kingdoms multiplied in unimaginable splendor and detail…

Creation splendor

BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING:

The sound of laughter and running feet.

The wonder of a smile returned.

The beauty of a hot tear rolling down a flushed cheek.

Words spoken.

Shared meanings.

The heart beating for reasons other than circulation.

The soaring of spirit that comes with worship.

The joining of mind, spirit, body and soul.

Yes, something was missing in creation–mainly us. Continue reading

Being Cherished

Being Cherished

Many years ago, I was sitting in a counselor’s office completely brokenhearted over my marriage. The counselor was a nice person, but she had no real guidance to offer. Her therapeutic approach involved hours of long-faced listening. After that, her advice was simple: “The answers are within you.”

Right. I wouldn’t have been there if that were so.

When you are broken, you stumble around looking for some kind of solace. I was vulnerable, and unfortunately, I received a lot of bad advice in those days.

But God is a God who sees. Hagar knew that. (Gen. 16:13)

On my last appointment with that particular counselor, something took me by surprise. She had me lean back on her couch and asked me to close my eyes. What now, I thought. She said, “I want you to think about your Higher Power, whatever that is for you.” I argued inside. Why was I paying good money for this?

But as she left me alone, I entered into a vision.Continue reading