SoulShift, Part 1

Last Sunday, we kicked off a new sermon series called "Soulshift". This post is the introduction of the series. Enjoy!

 

ILLUSTRATION- I remember having a conversation with someone a while back about Jesus.

        While I cannot remember the specifics about that conversation, I do remember how it ended.

            As we were concluding our conversation, I mentioned to this person that I would be praying for their soul.

            Almost immediately this person told me that they didn’t have a soul.

            Unfortunately, this way of thinking has crept into our world view, and many people are not even aware that they have a soul.

            The people who think like this are like the French philosopher Ernest Renan, who said: “O Lord, if there is a Lord, save my soul, if I have a soul.”

            So I ask you church: are you aware that you have a soul? There is something deep within you that is responsible for you.

            The Bible uses several words to arrive at this very truth. Some of these words are:

è Heart- The heart is the seat of all of our affections. The writer of Proverbs said: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Pr. 4:23, NIV)

è Another word the Bible uses is Mind- this describes our biases, our way of thinking, our assumptions, and our predispositions

è Spirit is another word the Bible uses to describe something deep within us that describes us- this is the inward person that gives life to our bodies;

è And finally, we have our Inward Nature- this is our inclinations and, as David said, our “inner parts”( Psalm 51:6, NIV)

            The Bible is completely correct when it tells us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, NIV)

            There is so much that goes into making us that only God is truly able to understand all of us, and why shouldn’t He? He made us!

            So, what is the state of your soul? What if we took an actual photograph of your soul? What would you look like?

            Most of our souls are buried beneath mounds of activity, excuses, noise, addictions, laughter, small talk,therapy, entertainment...

            We are like passengers trying to get through a busy airport.

        We move very quickly from one place to the next, from one obligation to the next, from one relationship to the next, from one activity to another, seldom stopping to wonder who and where we really are. 

       So, how is your soul?

            Do you think it’s possible to be a follower of Jesus and still be out of touch with the state of your soul?

            At the beginning of Mark’s gospel, Jesus began preaching that people should “repent and believe the good news.” (Mark 1:15, NIV)

            Just a few moments later, Jesus gave an invitation for several fishermen to “come, follow me” (Mark, 1:17, NIV) 

            These are the first three commands in any believer’s life: repent, believe, follow.

Sometimes we forget one of the three commands.

We may repent of our sin and believe in Jesus, but we stop short of following Jesus; or better yet—I mean worse-er yet—people believe that Jesus exists; they are trying to follow Him; without ever having repented of their sins.

            But Jesus lays out the pattern that is to be followed: repent, believe, follow.

            Seven chapters later, after the very same fisherman had followed Jesus for two years, He pulled them aside and asked them a question, a question that each one of us will have to answer at one point or another:

            “Who do people say I am? ... Who do you say I am?” (Mark 8:27-29a, NIV)

            After Peter gets it right—“You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29b, NIV), Jesus immediately predicted His death, and had Peter rebuke Him for telling the truth!

            In what could be called ‘the shot heard round the church’ Jesus said: “Get behind me, Satan.... You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Mark 8:33, NIV)

            “To be minded (Greek- phronesis--) like God is not only to think like Him, but to be oriented the way He is oriented” (Steve DeNeff)

            So, when Jesus said to Peter, “you do not have in mind the things of God”, He was saying, “you are not oriented like God; you do not have God’s instincts; you and God have different things on your mind.”

            Jesus was surprised, and may have even been slightly disappointed that after all this time; Peter was still not minded like God.

After all, Peter had been with Jesus every day for 2 years. That’s the equivalent of coming to church once a week for almost 14 years!

            Jesus was surprised that Peter still didn’t think like God, but how could he? God is God, and Peter is… well Peter. Was it really possible to have the mind of God?

            The simple fact that Jesus brought this up implies that He somehow believed that it was possible for Peter to have the mind of God, and if it was possible for Peter, it is possible for you and I to have the mind of God as well.

            While this is possible, it will take work. It takes work to think as God would have you think. This will not happen overnight, it’s a process. But it is possible to have the mind of God.

            This process of becoming like Christ, of having the mind of God, is called Discipleship, and, “discipleship has, as its goal, nothing less than the rewiring of our instincts and the reprogramming of our nature.”

            “The goal of discipleship is not only to get us to act like Jesus, but also to react like Jesus. It is to absorb the mind of Jesus into ours until we think and act like Him without even trying.” (DeNeff)

ILLUSTRATION- Have you ever heard and/or used the phrase “it’s second nature for me”?

            That phrase means that you’ve done a certain thing for so long that it has become part of who you are, and part of what you do.

            Like tying your shoes, driving a car, making coffee, or rooting for the Montreal Canadiens- its part of who you are.

You can do these things without thinking about it, and you get them right each and every time because they’ve become part of your life.

            What if thinking and living as Jesus was that easy and natural for you?

       What if, instead of asking WWJD—what would Jesus do--; you actually did what Jesus would do?

            You see, Not only are we to imitate Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:1-2) we are to do what Jesus did! (1 John 2:6)

            So, over the next seven weeks, we’re going to talk about the soul.

Why?

Because the soul is the place where God wants to meet you.

I’ve spent a great deal of time studying Psalm 23.

I took our church in Havelock through this Psalm several years ago, and we came to the realization that this Psalm addresses the Goodness of God.

As I was preparing for today’s sermon, God brought to mind verse 3 of this wonderful Psalm.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 23 that: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He—God-- makes me lie down in green pastures, he—God-- leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he—God-- restores my soul…” (Psalm 23:1-3a, NIV)

ILLUSTRATION- In what could be described as one of my new favorite things, is a TV show on History channel called “Pawn Stars.”

            The main Characters of this television show are Rick Harrison, who is the owner of the Pawn Shop, Rick’s father (The old man), Rick’s son (Corey), and I am certain a man who is only there for comedic relief: Chumlee.

            People come into the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn shop in an attempt to pawn or sell their old and sometimes famous pieces of merchandise.

            Every once in a while, Rick will come across an item that is extremely rare and in extremely rough shape.

If this item turns out to be valuable, Rick will purchase the item and he will send it away to an expert who will try to restore the item to what it once was.

This expert will be someone who is skilled in the restoration process.

When the old item comes back in, we can clearly see that it has undergone an intense transformation.

It has been sanded down, repaired and restored to its original condition.

            Friends, this is a glimpse into what God wants to do with you and with your soul. He wants to restore it—and you-- to your original beauty.

            David wasn’t speaking of God restoring our souls when we’re dead and in heaven.

        He was speaking of something God wanted to do in this life, after we have surrendered our lives to Him.

            If you take nothing else from this message today, take this key thought: “God wants to restore your soul.”

            This process will be referred to as a SoulShift.

            “A SoulShift is a change in the deepest part of our being, usually after we are saved, and before we die, that makes us more like Christ and less like our old selves.” (DeNeff) 

            Most of us in this room are “saved”, we may have repented, and we may have even decided to follow Jesus, all of this is an important first step.

If we were to die right now, we would go to heaven, but we’re not dead—well most of us anyway--- we may be saved, but we are not yet restored. We need to undergo a SoulShift.

            There are 7 Shifts that we will be talking about, and will, hopefully, experience.

Pastor Mike and I will introduce these shifts during our morning gatherings, and we will learn more about them in our Life Groups on Sunday night, and we will be reading about them throughout the week.

            I’m prayerfully asking each of you who are serious about following Jesus, to hear the messages, get plugged into a life group and read the book, because God wants to restore you.

            After church today you will have the opportunity to sign up for this series, and purchase a book, and you can begin to experience the restoration that God wants to bring into your life.

       That's the first thing we want you to do. Sign up; get involved be a part of what God is doing in your church.

            You can also begin praying that God will speak to you during this series.

      Contrary to what you might think, you are not the best version of you! God still has work to do in your life, so why don’t you pray something like:

            Search me God, and know me. Speak to me, and lead me in the way of life.

        As we begin our study of the SoulShifts, I give you permission to speak to me about anyone of them.

       Help me to be humble and open to new things so that I won’t miss your very best for me.”

            Paul wrote in romans 12: “dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT2)

Will you join me as we begin this study of looking at our souls and asking Jesus to restore us to His original plan?

In Just A second, the Band is going to come and lead us in our responce; it's a song you probably know very well: It is well----

What does this song deal with? Our Soul's.

If it's not well with your soul, then this series is just what you need; becasue God wants to restore you, and me, to His orignial plan.

as we're singing this song, I would like to encourage you to pray and ask God to speak to your soul over the next several weeks, as we begin to undergo a shift deep in our souls.