Pursue Class: Topic: Healing Damaged Emotions
PP#1: Pursue Kingdom Ministry
PP#2: Summary of Ken Fish and Putty’s Integrated model of healing: See chart!
PP#3: Resources for this message!
PP#4: My Story of having damaged emotions and how God healed me! (It was a process)
PP#5: Class: Pursue – Healing – Emotional!
PP#6: Thesis: The healing of damaged emotions is connected to the soul and spirit of a person. Healing can be hindered by the choices that we make in life - so we need to evaluate our lives to see if something is blocking our healing. Yes, healing can be hindered by our choices and one major hinderance to the healing of damaged emotions is unforgiveness.
Introduction:
Whether through our own fallen mindsets and poor choices, or through will full disobedience, or as victims of the hurtful actions of others, or because of trauma, addictions and grief – we find many who struggle with crippling emotions. These emotional pains cause people to become perfectionists, addicts, confused, depressed, filled with anxiety, fear filled, angry, and having a mindset of low-self worth and low self-esteem. But Jesus can heal even these types of pain.
The reality is the pain, the damaged emotions and the grief filled mindsets (or souls) stay with us long after the incidents and toxic relationships that caused them are long gone.
PP#7: There is a connection found in Scripture for healing of our damaged emotions and mindsets – the link is between the care of our spirits and souls.
So, my question to you is: “How is your soul?”
Jesus said in Matthew 16:26: “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Jesus also said in Matthew 22:37: “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Jesus emphasized the importance of your soul not just in eternity but it’s health in the here and now! Your emotional mindset and spiritual success this year depends on the condition of your soul!
John Orberg states this about our souls in his book “Soul Keeping”: “If your soul is healthy, no external circumstance can destroy your life. If your soul is unhealthy, no external circumstance can redeem your life (Pg 40, Soul Keeping).
Scripture: John 5: 1-15
1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Question: I find it amazing that Jesus asked this man if he wanted to be healed – Why would he ask such a ridiculous question. Does not everyone want to be healed? Putty has made a great case for the Integrated model of healing and the many layers of healing – if you observe Jesus you discovered healing is a process for some people and the sticks of damage or brokenness need to be pulled back a layer at a time.
T.S. - To receive healing for damaged emotions is directly connected to a desire to want to be healed and to also choosing to forgive – these two aspects of healing are linked to the soul and spirit realms of our integrated healing model:
1. The soul connection to inner healing:
a. For some to be healed in the emotional realm there needs to be an understanding of the function of the soul inside us.
i. Definition of the soul: My definition: The soul reflects the sum of your Spirit, Soul and Body as a whole being. It is the link between spirit and body and is the operating system of your life. It encompasses your mind, your will, your decision making process, your perceptions, your emotions, your spirit, your feelings, your physical appetites, your addictions, your desires and it is the control center in your life and it will always impact your daily life. It has been defined as “life” in the Bible in certain passages and as that which longs after God or for a substitute for God like and idol. You don’t have a soul you are a soul!
1. Understanding the function of the soul is important for inner healing.
b. Hebrews 4:12-13: For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
i. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit is the only power source which can open up the distinction of the Spirit and the Soul of mankind and bring healing to damaged emotions.
1. God knows the condition of our souls by the way – And our soul is connected to our emotions and mindset!
a. The Holy Spirit sees into the soul and He knows what it is focused on and dwelling on! But, He is also willing to bring healing to the soul (which is connected to your emotions) if we let him! So the question becomes “DO we want to be healed?”
i. This why Jesus asked the man at pool, “Do you want to get well” See John 15:1-15!
1. Did you notice his response to Jesus – no one will help me into the pool – sounds resentful – blaming others for not caring!
2. He even said they push me aside and get in the pool before I can get in to be healed!
a. To me he seems like he is lashing out at the others who get to the pool first.
3. I also find it interesting Jesus “Healed Him” -but he had first pick up the mat of affliction – action point on his side of the equation for healing – then later afterwards he finds Jesus and Jesus says, “I See you are well but stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!”
a. Why would Jesus say that to this healed man?
i. What was his sin? Can I guess at it – Maybe the blaming of others for not getting his healing, resentfulness, maybe even unforgiveness to others who would not help him?
ii. So, think about it! What do you think his sin was? Why did Jesus make this comment to him?
c. Reality Check: The truth is every single person alive needs a healing at some time or another in their life that is why God designed the body the way He did. It is designed to heal itself physically!
i. Stephen Arterburn states, “Surely God must love healing since He allows so much of it to occur every day. He created us with healing properties within us. A cut finger, in most cases, heals itself. There has to be something severely wrong with a person for a cut not to heal on its own. A broken limb has the ability to fuse back together. The cold virus is defeated and destroyed by the healing ability within our own bodies. Healing goes on all around us and within us. It is a miraculous ability that every person possesses to some degree or another. Although God has given us healing abilities, we can impair that process. Sadly, the ability to heal emotionally, spiritually, or physically has been destroyed or weakened for some. A physical wound must be cleaned and medicated rather than ignored. Emotional and spiritual wounds also need attention. They don’t just simply fade away” (page viii, Healing is a Choice.)
1. So as Steve notes our bodies which were created by God have healing properties built into them! This is important to remember! God is all for healing and knows we all need the power of healing to just keep living and growing! But can I also say God designed our mind, soul and emotions to be healed too if we allow his healing process to do what it is supposed to do.
a. Arterburn states from His book “Healing is a Choice”, “The properties of healing are not found just within our bodies. They are also present in our minds and souls. God provided us with the ability to heal from emotional trauma and tragedy. When we lose someone we love, we are devastated; we mourn and grieve while wondering if our days will ever be full of light again. Our souls are sick from the loss of the love and from the pain that at times seems too much to endure. As our grieving progresses, we start to have a portion of a good day, and then a whole day or two good days come together. We start to sense a change from our constant agony and know that at some level, healing is taking place. God built that emotional and spiritual healing ability into most of us. If the ability to heal were not there, loss after loss, piling pain on top of pain, we would lose our minds and could not go on. Almost everyone is fortunate to have the ability within to heal from hurts, rather than to be destroyed by them” (page x).
i. I agree with Steve the healing of damaged emotions is within us – placed there by God at Creation and empowered by the Holy Spirit!
ii. So why do some people get stuck – live with damaged emotions which cripple them – choices come into play here!
d. Joyce Meyer has written a great book which addresses this subject of the battlefield of the mind, the battle in our emotions and the struggles within our soul. In her book called “Battlefield of the Mind” she makes this statement, “I want to impress on you the absolute necessity of getting your thinking in line with God’s Word” (page 27). She also adds, “Let me put it another way: If we think fleshly thoughts, wrong thoughts, negative thoughts, we cannot walk in the Spirit. It seems as if renewed, God-like thinking is a vital necessity to a successful Christian life” (27).
i. Scripture backs this thought up:
1. Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”
2. Romans 8:5-7: “5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
a. She challenges us to think like God thinks to see things the way God see’s things! I believe that this text points to the biggest hindrance to healing for many people today – it’s their own wrong sin filled mindset which is connected to your soul and emotions which hinders their inner healing.
ii. The soul is what integrates separate functions into a single, organic, whole creature. That’s why the search for peace, emotional health, deliverance from anxiety and depression and the integration of healing from trauma and pain is a “soul/spirit” function.
1. The soul is the deepest dimension of our existence. It captures the reality of life before God in a way that the word “self” does not. Think of the difference between the words “soul-ish” and “self-ish.”
2. The soul is connected to our “Spirit” according to our Hebrew text and it refers to the power or energy that comes from the Holy Spirit – this is the connection point with God – it’s your Spirit!
a. This is important to know because if our soul is not connected with God then it is connected to evil spirits, physical emotions, fleshly mindset and thoughts, impacted by mental health issues and the like.
b. The soul is more intertwined with the Spirit and the body and lies at the core of our mindset, your emotions and even your will. But a soul connected to God and His Spirit is a soul that really has “Life.” The abundant life as described in Scripture.
i. So, we need to understand our souls! What makes them healthy and whole and what weakens even cripples our souls.
e. Question: What does the Bible say about our souls?
i. Ortberg: The Bible speaks of the soul often—although more recent translations are much more likely to substitute words like ‘life’ instead of using the word ‘soul.’ One of the most striking and misunderstood statements about the soul in the Bible is Jesus’ observation: “What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world but lose their soul?” I always used to think this meant it does no good to get a lot of money and pleasure if you end up going to hell. But that’s not what Jesus is saying. If a soul is broken or mal-functioning, our wills and our values and actual behavior and our desires and our facial expressions and our secret thoughts will constantly be at war with each other. We will be incapable of soul satisfaction—let alone a meaningful or truly good life. Jesus was not telling people to commit to the right religion in order to get their afterlife taken care of. He was making a brilliantly diagnostic observation about the nature of human life.
1. The above from http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2014/05/29/john-ortberg-shares-every-soul-needs/#sthash.ROIlaGnI.dpuf
2. PP#8: Soul Care is connected to emotional health and wholeness:
a. The book of Acts is filled with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Chapter 2 and how it impacted the first disciples and it also signifies the birth of the church. The churches early years are filled with miracles, persecution, torture, imprisonment, beatings and hardships! Just read the book of Acts.
i. Yes, it is also filled with salvations, miracles and rejections of Jesus!
ii. It’s filled with people embracing Jesus and others fighting against Jesus and his disciples.
1. Some lost their homes, businesses and even family members! Can you imagine the emotional trauma from going through this?
iii. It’s filled with hope and death.
iv. It reveals the struggle between good and evil in this world.
v. It highlights the good and the bad of church.
vi. But most importantly it shows what can happen in the church if the souls in the church are healthy and connected with the Holy Spirit! The Spirit – Soul connection!
1. It did not matter that they were rejected and persecuted, chased out of towns, stoned, abused and imprisoned.
a. We read story after story of the disciples sharing the good news then they receive beatings and arrests! But yet even while imprisoned they can still sing and praise to the Lord. It was because they had healthy souls which were connected and empowered by the Holy Spirit. A healthy soul has a healthy mindset which impacts your inner emotions.
b. Our goal in Pursue: We desire Christians to be flowing in the Spirit and with healthy souls so that we can impact the world!
i. A Kingdom filled with people who are being the church and who have healthy souls will be healthy and whole even in a society that is abusive, traumatic and persecuting people of the truth.
ii. Christians who are connected to the Spirit and have a healthy soul will not be crippled - no matter what is happening around them or too them or what even happened to them in the past.
c. I believe the church needs to become like Acts 2: 42-47: 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
i. My vision for you as students of God’s Word is to be like the followers of Jesus in Acts with souls that are fired up for the Kingdom and hungry for a move of the Holy Spirit. Souls which are healthy and whole and following the direction of the Holy Spirit for their lives. Souls which are healthy and whole in their minds and within their emotions. But for us to get their will require us to do some soul searching and soul care! It will also require prayer and requests to God.
1. Challenge for you: You soul needs to be healthy and whole if you want a successful life and have a peace filled life. But to do this requires soul searching on our part as well as soul care. Soul care is our responsibility by the way, so we need to make sure that we do it regularly and intentionally. Yes, I also know God can heal our damaged emotions supernaturally, but I find for the most part it is connected more to soul care and to the power of the Holy Spirit’s transformative power than to a one time supernatural immediate healing.
2. Now I agree with Putty God does do the supernatural immediate healings at times (I have seen them) but I have also discovered that for many healing is a process- it has many layers to it.
T.S. - Question: “What does the soul need to be healthy and whole this year?” Let me word it another way, “What do I need to do to heal my damaged emotions, heal my unhealthy mindset and find emotional healing?” How can I help others find healing for damaged emotions? Let’s, look at the first 3 out of 7 needs of the soul to be healed and healthy.
3. PP#9: The soul needs #1 - A connection to its Creator God, or it will find another god (idol) to connect too.
a. John 15:5-8: 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
i. Jesus in this text reminds us how we need to be connected to Him and the Holy Spirit – or things will start breaking down – in other words we will die from lack of nutrients which keep us healthy – these nutrients which come from a spiritual connection are spiritual in nature, they impact our emotional being, our souls and our mindsets!
b. Jesus reminds us in this teaching that our connection to the life giving vine (of life and wholeness) is essential or we will die! This teaching describes how people’s souls die – they disconnect from the Lord and all the vital nutrients and minerals are lost and they start a slow death.
i. Emotional health and healthy mindsets are linked to the spirit and the soul connection.
ii. We must stay connected to the vine to have healthy souls that produce spiritual fruit!
c. If we don’t have this connection we will find something else to replace God with and that is called idolatry – also called addiction, bondage, wrapped up in chains.
i. Kyle Idleman states: “The problem is that the instant something takes the place of God, the moment it becomes an end in itself rather than something to lay at God’s throne, it becomes an idol. When someone or something replaces the Lord God in the position of glory in our lives, then that person or thing by definition has become our god.”
1. Idleman, Kyle (2013-02-19). Gods at War: Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart (Kindle Locations 227-229). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
T.S. – We must be aware that idolatry will destroy our souls (our emotions too) – our connection with God – our relationship with the creator of our soul. Our souls were designed to be in God’s presence! The soul – spirit connection!
4. The soul needs #2 - God’s presence to be healthy and whole!
a. Adam and Eve’s story revealed why God created us – to be in His presence but sin separated us from God (Genesis 3).
i. The sin of Adam and Eve spilled down into one of their son’s mind and heart and then he killed his brother– the sin happened because of a deceived mindset about his brother and God – the result murder.
1. We discover without God’s presence we drift deeper and deeper into sin, and it becomes more sinister and destructive. There is an old saying I once heard “Sin will taker deeper than you want to go!”
2. But Jesus became our ultimate sacrifice and created a path for the Spirit of the Lord to live within us – in other words to have God’s presence with us 24 hours a day. By the way our souls crave this, and we need this.
b. Acts describes a church filled with the Holy Spirit – notice the Spirit did not just come on them like it did in the OT he actually filled them up on the inside – this is why their souls were healthy and bold. Why they could sing while in prison and praise God through hardship!
i. Why their emotions, fears and anxiety did not cripple them!
c. A soul filled with the Holy Spirit is a soul that is able to be in the presence of God – It’s a soul that has joy – It’s a soul that is empowered – It’s a soul that radiates the light of Jesus – It’s a soul that loves Jesus and His church – It’s a soul that gives to the Kingdom.
i. Acts 2:2-4: 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
1. A soul filled with the Holy Spirit is a soul that is linked into the realm of the Spirit. This link connects your being with the healing power of God Almighty!
ii. 1 Cor. 6:19-20: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
1. A soul that is filled with the Holy Spirit will honor God with their body.
iii. 2 Cor. 1:21-22: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
d. Our souls crave God – they want His presence dwelling in us – our soul has a longing for God’s presence because we were designed by Him that way.
i. Ortberg notes: If you read through the Bible, you get the sense that the soul was designed to search for God. The Hebrew Scriptures — which might be thought of as the Great Soul-Book of human literature — are almost obsessed with this thought.
ii. Ortberg notes: “Indeed, the soul lives in God.” The soul seeks God with its whole being. Because it is desperate to be whole, the soul is God-smitten and God-crazy and God-obsessed. My mind may be obsessed with idols; my will may be enslaved to habits; my body may be consumed with appetites. But my soul will never find rest until it rests in God.”
e. Our souls need to be connected to God’s presence – what changed and transformed the disciples in Acts two – a connection of their soul with the Spirit of God – it was an internal connection not and external one – it changed their perceptions – it drove out their fears of the future and healed damaged emotions.
T.S. – Your soul needs the presence of God to keep it healthy and whole, and it must pursue the path of forgiveness to be healthy and whole.
5. The soul needs #3 - To choose to cultivate the act of forgiveness, so it is free of damaged emotions and crippling spiritual and emotional baggage:
a. David Seamans in his book Healing for Damaged Emotions says if we want our damaged emotions to be healed: “We must!”
i. “Forgive everyone who is involved in your problem” or what created your damaged emotion:
1. Some people have never been able to forgive because if they forgave the one who hurt them then they would have to take responsibility and quit blaming others for their part in creating more pain and hurt in their lives.
a. Facing our part in trauma and pain are no easy thing but we have to face our problem and accept our responsibility in letting it torment us over and over!
ii. “You have to forgive yourself too”:
1. Yes, God has forgiven me and yes, I need to accept His forgiveness and bury my part or emotions into His forgiveness and forgetfulness.
a. Story of Corrie Ten Boom – research out her story!
b. Scripture:
i. Matthew 18:23-35:
1. The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant:
a. 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
ii. Matthew 6:11-12: “Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
c. An unforgiving heart will grow in bitterness and get you trapped into a life which is going nowhere.
i. I have met too many people who are stuck in the cycle of bitterness. It’s a vicious cycle which goes nowhere. It seems as if they pick up the Spirit of Offense and in turn they never grow or mature in their life.
1. They seem to stop living freely and everything in life quits growing.
a. They are living a life with no eternal value or purpose.
b. They seem to stop living and their lives are filled with brooding and focusing on waiting for justice to strike the one who offended them.
i. They stop living and sit down and watch and wish for the demise of the offender! They get stuck in a rut of un-forgiveness – the trap of offense has them hooked by the jaw!
2. They actually quit living and spend their precious time watching and wishing for the demise of the offender.
a. They actually become obsessed with the demise of the one who offended them.
i. They spend most of their waking moments of precious time wasting it away on impure thoughts. Instead of investing their time into eternal things for God they waste it on anger, bitterness, hatred, and un-forgiveness.
ii. They quit living, they lose all their joy, they have no peace and they live a miserable life.
ii. We see that this unforgiving heart comes with many dangerous risks and consequences.
1. June Hunt lists a few of the risks associated with a person who chooses to not forgive. The following information is from her book How to Forgive When You Don’t Feel Like It. Taken from pages 70-73:
a. Refusing to forgive means that God will not forgive your own sins.
i. Jesus said, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their sins, you Father will not forgive your sins.”
ii. The risk you take for having an unforgiving heart is to suffer un-forgiveness from God for your own sins.
iii. This is a major risk and is a very severe consequence for the choice of un-forgiveness!
b. Refusing to forgive a person can actually hinder or even block your own salvation.
i. June in her book shared a real life story about a man named Bill who refused to forgive his ex-wife. This refusal to forgive her blocked his own salvation and he even knew it. When June confronted Bill for his choice of un-forgiveness and she shared the risk – he still choose not to forgive her. June warned him by saying the following:
1. “After hearing his litany of offenses, I explained, ‘Bill, becoming an authentic Christian means receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The Bible says, ‘Believe in (rely upon) the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.’ ‘If He is truly your Lord, that means He is your Master, ruler, owner-to whom you yield your will to His. If He says forgive, you must be willing to forgive. If you refuse to forgive, you are still being your own ruler. You are not receiving Him as you Lord.’ He quickly responded, ‘I can’t.’ ‘Bill, God would never tell you to do something without giving you the power to do it.’ ‘I just can’t-no! I won’t.’ Bill walked away still carrying a bulging bag of bitterness…and I never saw him again” (71).
c. Refusing to forgive will block the blessings of God.
i. Remember: God will not bless sin!
ii. Un-forgiveness impacts our fellowship with God and with others in the Body of Christ. This hindering dimension to our relationship with God and others blocks the blessings of God in our lives.
1. I believe it steals the blessings away!
2. This weight of un-forgiveness weighs down our hearts and our minds and it leaves us crippled in life.
a. I have met far too many people who harbor the sin of un-forgiveness in their heart and they are crippled in life, in relationships and they are blocking the blessing of God for their life.
i. These people do not have the joy of the Holy Spirit!
ii. They do not have peace in life.
iii. They do not have love flowing freely!
iii. June Hunt says, “The choice is ours: We can be stuck with our stones of resentment, or we can be free to run with forgiveness” (72).
iv. June also shows us the other side of the coin – When we choose to forgive. “When we offer love, mercy, and forgiveness to others, it will be returned to us measure for measure. If we’re generous with our kindness toward other people, God will return that to us so it’s running over” (73).
d. What are the benefits of forgiveness? June Hunt tells us these are the rewards for choosing to do what God instructs us to do on pages 73, 74:
i. Forgiveness opens the door to God’s forgiveness.
ii. Forgiveness prevents a root of bitterness from growing.
iii. Forgiveness closes the door to Satan in our lives.
iv. Forgiveness brings us into the light.
v. Forgiveness reflects a Godly heart.
vi. Forgiveness gets us in sync with the Spirit of God.
vii. Forgiveness leads to blessings.
e. Forgiveness is a choice and it is not based on feelings.
i. June Hunt notes: “Clearly, not a single person on earth is immune from hurt and heartache. Still, that doesn’t mean we have to stay forever distressed, devastated by the destructive behavior that wrought such pain in our lives. We must remind ourselves, for our good, and for the good of others, that forgiveness is not a feeling. Indeed, forgiveness is a purposeful decision-an act of the will not dependent on our emotions. No matter what has been done to us, or how badly it hurts, we must forgive because of this inescapable and profound truth: God has forgiven us all the more. Aren’t you grateful God is not gleefully piling up a bag full of offenses with your name on it?” (Page 76).
ii. Jonah needed to obey God and forgive the Ninevites but instead he chose to sit on top of the hill and wish for the city to be destroyed rather than to be forgiven.
1. It’s amazing how when we sit and wish for the demise of others it impacts us more than those we choose not to forgive.
a. We need to choose to forgive if we want to get back to growing and to maturing in the Lord.
b. We have to choose to forgive if we want to start investing our life into eternity.
c. We have to choose to forgive if we want to start living life again.
T.S. – Your soul needs to practice the divine art of forgiveness if we want to be set free from damaged emotions but our soul also needs to learn to rest – because burnout will damage our emotions too!
6. PP#10: Your soul needs #4 - Rest!
a. You must guard your soul from the disease of “Hurry” you must ruthlessly eliminate the spirit of hurry from your life.
b. What does it mean to have a rested soul? Just look at Jesus life and ministry – He reveals to us the importance of finding rest for the soul in life.
i. Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)
1. Have you ever heard of people who live in the fast lane then snap – they have nervous breakdowns, they lose control and flip out violently?
2. Story of some Pastor I have worked with.
c. John Ortberg states this about the importance of soul care and soul rest:
i. “The soul was not made to run on empty. But the soul doesn’t come with a gauge. The indicators of soul-fatigue are more subtle”:
1. Things seem to bother you more than they should. Your spouse’s gum-chewing suddenly reveals to you a massive character flaw.
2. It’s hard to make up your mind about even a simple decision.
3. Impulses to eat or drink or spend or crave are harder to resist than they otherwise would be.
4. You are more likely to favor short-term gains in ways that leave you with high long-term costs. Israel ended up worshiping a golden calf simply because they grew tired of having to wait on Moses and God.
5. Your judgment is suffering.
6. You have less courage.
a. He adds, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all” is a quote so common that it has been attributed to General Patton and Vince Lombardi and Shakespeare. The same disciples who fled in fear when Jesus was crucified eventually sacrificed their lives for him. What changed was not their bodies, but their souls. The soul is not well when we rush so much. If it does not get the rest it needs, it becomes fatigued. Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (pp. 131-132). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
d. Our souls need scheduled times of rest: I went on a soul/spiritual care retreat this summer which really opened my eyes to my need to find these times of rest and wholeness. Places of rest need to be scheduled for the health of our soul and emotions.
i. John, “Your soul needs rest. It is not always the “world” that squeezes us into its mold. We all too often distract ourselves. Being completely alone with nothing but our thoughts can be frightening, so we will use anything to distract us from experiencing the soul-healing that comes in solitude.” Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 137). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
T.S. – Our souls need rest to be healthy and whole and if we can get our soul healthy (healed) we will be able to meet any challenge that comes our way. But to have healthy souls and emotions means we need to be free!
7. The soul needs #5 - To be free in the Spirit so it is healthy and whole:
a. So, the statement or point here says our souls need to be free – free from what? Does it mean free to do whatever we want to do? Does this bring true freedom or does it mean something else? Free spirited souls – what does that look like?
i. Running around with flowers in our hair?
ii. Living in a commune?
iii. Not working and living at the beach in a VW bus?
iv. Meditating all day?
v. Going to India or another exotic place to find myself?
vi. Running around naked in the woods or on a beach?
1. Share about the National Geographic show you watched: The naked church in Appalachia – is that freedom? Handling rattle snacks in church is that freedom?
a. Sounds to me like these people have damaged emotions and twisted souls.
vii. Smoking Marijuana? Doing drugs? Partying?
viii. Living in the woods in a cabin isolated from others?
b. The Bible says in 2 Cor. 3:17: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
i. Freedom does not come by me doing whatever I want to do! Instead this usually leads me into bondage. It takes away my freedom.
ii. Freedom comes from the Holy Spirit. It’s internal! It’s soul related! It impacts my emotions!
iii. The Bible also reminds us, what freedom is and is not in Gal. 5:13-17: You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So, I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
1. Many people hinder their emotional healing by indulging in their sinful nature – sin impacts your emotions – but the spirit and living holy also impact your emotions and soul.
c. Many young people think that they will be free when they flee the rules of their parents – but they soon discover that freedom is not associated with doing whatever you want to do.
i. You are not free by external circumstances or lawless living – this brings bondage – freedom of the soul is an internal reality.
ii. I think of the underground Chinese church.
1. 1 Peter 2:16-17: Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
2. Soul care is connected to living free from the bondage and damage of sin!
d. The later verse hear describes for us what freedom looks like!
i. Romans 8:18-21: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
ii. Freedom comes from being a child of God who is empowered by the Holy Spirit and living for Him. You can be freed from damaged emotions! BY connection to the Holy Spirit and cultivating a healthy soul.
1. John Ortberg states this about freedom of the soul: The old masters of the life of the soul used to warn about the dangers of dis-ordered attachment. Desire is good, but when you want something too much, it threatens to take God’s place in your life. It will lead you to make bad decisions. It will put you on an emotional roller coaster. The ability to have anything you want actually can cost you your freedom. Samson had an unquenchable desire for Delilah; the rich young ruler was consumed by his desire for money; Saul coveted the power that came with his throne; Cain gave in to his desire for revenge. How did that work for them? Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 141). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
e. The Bible is filled with stories of individuals who had freedom to choose but they chose the wrong things which actually took their freedoms away.
i. The cost of choosing unwisely with your freedom:
1. Like Samson
2. Like King Saul
3. Like King David
ii. Story from Ortberg: In the movie A Christmas Story, one of the kids is given a double-dog dare to touch his tongue to a frozen flagpole on a December morning. Instantly, his tongue is frozen fast to the icy metal, and from that moment he isn’t going anywhere. He is stuck. A slave to his tongue. Freedom will come, if it comes at all, only with enormous pain. We get double-dog dared all the time. Make it about sex. Make it about money. Make it about security. That tender object stuck frozen to the flagpole is your soul. It craves to be free, but we’re not sure what that means. Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 142). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
1. But your soul can be free as well as your emotions!
f. How free is really free? Some examples to think about!
i. What if anyone could choose for the sake of their freedom the speed limits in our society! What would happen? Would others be free because you go as fast or as slow as you want? You could make stop lights optional. Would that bring more freedom to our society?
ii. What if you could choose to pay your taxes or not – for the sake of freedom – would that bring a truly freed country to live in?
iii. What if for the sake of freedom a person who is married decides he wants to be married but sleep with whoever he wants – does that bring freedom?
iv. Our souls want to be free but an unhealthy soul – detached from God will choose what they think are freedoms but in actuality are bondages.
1. Bondages create hurt and pain and damaged emotions and beings!
2. John Ortberg adds, “The soul cries out to be free, but the common perception is that Christianity stands in the way of freedom. It’s all about obeying someone or something that tries to tell you how to live your life. As a Christian, according to this perception, you’re not free at all, but submissive, dependent, and enslaved by your religion. So, people wonder — does God infringe on your soul’s need for freedom? Does becoming a Christian mean somebody dictates what you do, what you think, how you live? Even Christians sometimes adopt this view. They may affirm their belief in Jesus as the Son of God and accept his gift of salvation, but retain their “freedom” to decide for themselves how they should live. The soul needs freedom, but what exactly does that mean? That I can do whatever I want? Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 143). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
g. Philip Yancey’s wonderful book: What’s So Amazing about Grace? Describes the pain he experienced over his church’s legalism: “I came out of a Southern fundamentalist culture that frowned on co-ed swimming, wearing shorts, jewelry or makeup, dancing, bowling, and reading the Sunday newspaper. Alcohol was a sin of a different order, with the sulfurous stench of hellfire about it. . . No short skirts for women, no longer hair for men, no polka dots on dresses for women because they might draw attention to suggestive body parts, no kissing, no holding hands, no rock music, no facial hair . . . it all calls to mind the dog who thought his name was ‘No’ because that’s the only word he ever heard from his master.”
i. I read this book years ago and he reveals how Christianity in certain sects of it have missed the point of what true freedom is!
1. The result was instead of freedom “Damaged emotions” and deceived mindsets of what God desires.
ii. Freedom comes from the Holy Spirit! From the Spirit of God. A person who has a healthy soul and the Holy Spirit could even be even free in prison, in a messed up situation – like the apostle Paul was when he wrote the prison epistles.
h. I like what John says about the misperception of the Ten Commandments:
i. The Ten Commandments were never designed to be a stand-alone list of rules. They come within a relational context. They describe what living up to a certain value and a certain identity and a certain destiny looks like. In fact, in Judaism, they are not called the Ten Commandments. The Hebrew term is aseret hadevarim, which literally means “ten utterances” or “ten statements” because they were rooted in things that are meant to be in God’s kingdom. They flow out of how we were designed, who we were meant to be. We read them as “this is what you have to do,” but God was saying, “this is who you are.” That’s why we don’t so much break the Ten Commandments as we break ourselves when we violate them… When we bind ourselves to God, to a code of morality that transcends our own particular opinions, do we lose freedom, or do we gain freedom? If my soul needs freedom, what does the law have to do with it? I believe the soul is actually revived by law. Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 145). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
1. Did you hear what John said – wow how we have misperceived what freedom is and is not in our world!
i. John highlights more the misperception of what is freedom:
i. Freedom from external restraints appeals to all of us, but I do not believe that it’s the freedom the soul needs. For example, you generally can drink as much alcohol as you want, restricted only by laws prohibiting drinking and driving and public drunkenness. But if you want to get loaded every night in the privacy of your home, you’re free to have at it. Eventually, however, your drinking will begin to cause problems for you. It damages your health. It embarrasses your kids. It hurts your marriage. It threatens your job. You get to a point where you want to quit but you can’t. You discover that you are not free to enjoy sobriety. You’re free to drink as much as you want, but you’re not free to not drink. “I brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Your freedom is not restricted simply by external constraints. There’s another odd kind of restriction. Your freedom gets limited by an internal reality that is a kind of brokenness or weakness or dividedness inside you. You want to stop drinking, but you can’t. You want to live with a happy, cheerful, optimistic attitude, but you don’t. You want to quit yelling at your kids, but you fail. You want to be the kind of person who manages anger really, really well, but you aren’t. You’d like to think you have become unselfish, but you haven’t. You are not free. The freedom you lack is an internal freedom, and this inner lack of freedom is much more dehumanizing, much more tragic than external constraints. This kind of freedom is internal, and it is precious. It is “soul-freedom.” Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 146). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
j. Our soul and its health is what dictates whether we are free or not. Whether our emotions are whole or not!
i. John reminds us this, “Remember that the soul is what integrates our parts. If our will is enslaved to our appetites, if our thoughts are obsessed with unfulfilled desires, if our emotions are slaves to our circumstances, if our bodily habits contradict our professed values, the soul is not free. The only way for the soul to be free is for all the parts of our personhood to be rightly ordered.” Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 146). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
ii. He adds, “True freedom comes when you embrace God’s overall design for the world and your place in it. This is why in the Bible you see this strong connection between God’s law and soul-freedom.”
T.S. – Your soul needs to be free by the Holy Spirit and the best way to keep your spirit and soul free is by cultivating an attitude of gratitude in your soul.
8. The soul needs #6 - Gratitude!
a. The health of your soul is attached to the attitude you carry each day.
i. Are you a complainer or are you a positive person?
1. Homework: Try an experiment this week when you meet others throughout the day say hi then go right into complaining about something – notice how it makes you feel by the end of the day. Then the next day when you meet others say hi then say positive things about the day and others and see how you feel by the end of the day.
2. Which day will be healthy for your soul and which day unhealthy?
a. Which day will be filled with healthy and whole emotions and which day will be filled with negative and damaging emotions?
b. Scripture exhorts us to be thankful – to rejoice always – why because it good for our souls!
i. It’s good for our minds and emotions too.
c. Christian’s are challenged through Scripture to practice the soul care of the soul by being filled with an attitude of gratitude.
b. John Ortberg notes, “More gratitude will not come from acquiring more things or experiences, but from more of an awareness of God’s presence and his goodness. It’s a way of looking at life, always perceiving the good. Gratitude is a by-product of a way of seeing things, and it always involves three factors:
i. First, the benefit. In order to be grateful, you have to receive and recognize a gift that you believe is good. God has given you all good things it says in James and we need to be thankful for these things.
1. James 1:16-17: Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
2. We need to have a heart of gratitude for all the good things that come our way each and every day.
a. This will impact your emotions!
ii. Second, gratitude requires that there be a benefactor.
1. Ortberg states, A benefactor is one who does good, a little factory that produces good. To be truly grateful you must not only recognize the benefits or gifts that come your way, but that they are not just random acts; they are not accidents. They are coming from Someone who has good intentions for you. To be grateful as a Christian, you must believe that the good that is in your life comes from God. Not from your own efforts or merit.
iii. In addition to the benefit and the benefactor, there is the beneficiary: the one who receives the good gifts of God. And that’s you.
1. Ortberg states, “You are the beneficiary of the benefits of a God who has your best interests at heart, and this is going on all the time. When we take that for granted or believe we deserve his gifts, then we are no longer grateful; you can’t be grateful for something you believe you are entitled to, and without a grateful heart the soul suffers. Because the soul needs gratitude.”
2. John adds, “The default mode of the sinful human race is entitlement, the belief that this gift or that experience that God placed in my path is rightfully mine. I am owed. Here’s the deal: The more you think you’re entitled to, the less you will be grateful for. The bigger the sense of entitlement, the smaller the sense of gratitude… My sinful mind can convince me that anything I want I’m entitled to, and if I’m not getting something I want, somebody in the universe must be messing up, and they owe me, and they ought to pay for it. In fact, this has led to a proliferation of lawsuits, because when we don’t get something we really want, we want to sue somebody.”
a. Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 172). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
3. Paul says it’s the hallmark of a life opposed to God. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile . . .” This connection is so interesting. Their thinking was futile. They perceived themselves to be entitled, to be owed, not as grateful receivers of grace every moment. “. . . forget not all his benefits . . .”
a. Entitlement says “They owe me! The church owes me! God owes me! My wife owes me! My kids owe me!”
i. By the way this mindset of the soul is called sin!
1. It’s totally self-centered and self-consumed with pride of self!
2. These action cause damaged emotions and heartache for others.
ii. Ortberg adds, “Whatever I have, I deserve. Entitlement grows deep within us. This is why, for the soul, ingratitude is not just a psychological problem. It’s not just an impoverishment of our emotional experience. It’s a sin.” Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 173). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
4. I sometimes think we need to be intentional about showing gratitude to others.
a. Like writing others letters of gratitude and thanking people for what they do for you!
b. When you do you learn to be more thankful.
5. John Ortberg adds to this idea of doing gratitude experiments by doing the following:
a. The next gratitude experiment is to pray your own benedictions — brief statements that recognize the good that comes from God. You don’t have to start with eighteen. That might be overwhelming. The best way to do this is to first make a list of all that you are truly grateful to God for providing. Then go back through this list and begin with the words, “Blessed are you, O Lord.”
i. Blessed are you, O Lord, for giving me my children.
ii. Blessed are you, O Lord, who gave me life and good health today.
iii. Blessed are you, O Lord, for helping me get through this difficult day.
iv. Blessed are you, O Lord, who forgives me when I sin.
v. Blessed are you, O Lord, for the great sunset you let me enjoy.
1. “Is it really necessary to use those words, “Blessed are you”? While the point of this exercise is to feed your soul with gratitude, there really is something special about these words that is worth considering. To bless someone means to offer happiness or praise to them. When you say “Blessed are you, O Lord,” you are not only expressing gratitude, but you are saying, “I want to make you happy and praise you, God, with my gratitude for what you have done.” It’s a subtle reminder that gratitude is good for both the person expressing it and the one receiving it.”
2. The above from Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 175). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
b. Gratitude and the intentionally of it is a soul care practice that we do each and every day to keep our souls healthy and whole and in connection with the Holy Spirit.
T.S. – We need to make sure we are doing soul care and part of soul care is to cultivate a soul with the attitude of gratitude – we are the ones that must do this because no one else will.
9. PP#11: Soul care #7 - You are responsible for your own soul!
a. No one else is!
i. Your pastor is not responsible for your soul.
ii. Your spouse is not responsible for your soul.
iii. Your mom and dad are not responsible for your soul.
iv. Your church is not responsible for you soul.
v. You are!
b. Apparently, we believe that by some magic, the law of consequences doesn’t apply to us.
i. I can spend without getting into debt.
ii. I can lie without getting caught.
iii. I can let my temper fly without damaging my relational life.
iv. I can have a bad attitude at work and get away with it.
v. I can avoid disciplining my children without their getting spoiled.
vi. I can neglect the Bible and still know God.
1. Our capacity to live in denial about the law of consequences is huge and is damaging to the soul. In the Bible it takes God a long time to teach the human race about this!
a. Above from Ortberg, John (2014-04-22). Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (pp. 90-91). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Conclusion:
Putty talks about three tools to be used in praying for someone to be emotionally healed:
1. Processing Painful Memories – This is the part we as Kingdom Workers are encouraging the ones who need healing to ask Jesus to help them be healed of these painful memories.
a. They can ask Jesus for wisdom, ask Him questions, ask for insight (HS) and encourage them to listen to what the Lord speaks back to them as they are seeking healing of damaged emotions.
2. Releasing Emotional Pain: In the process of inner healing there may be times when the person seeking healing needs to release the pent up emotions, the buried emotions such as guilt, shame, fear, anger and unforgiveness.
a. This helps in the healing process of the painful memories.
3. Moving from a lie to the truth: The reality is painful memories that are not healed will distort the truth of God and others.
a. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
b. We want to help people take every thought captive, so they can with the power of the Holy Spirit rewrite their mental scripts on life.
c. Revelation has to happen here by the Holy Spirit to reveal to them they are believing in lies – a false belief.
d. My part is to pray against that stronghold for the person in need of healing.
What do we need to know from this class?
Answer: We need to know that our souls will be unhealthy without proper care and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. We need God’s Word, God’s Spirit and a willingness to choose God’s path of healing for damaged emotions. We need to be open to allow Jesus to bring the healing we need.
Why do we need to know this?
Answer: We need to know this so that we make it a priority to care for our souls and to make sure we allow the Holy Spirit to infill us and empower us in our life. We cannot do proper soul care without God’s Spirit. We cannot receive emotional healing without proper soul care and making right choices. We need to allow Jesus and the Holy Spirit access to our emotions to bring the healing we need.
What do we need to do?
Answer: We need to care for our souls because no one else will. We need to get personal prayer to replenish our soul and be filled with His Holy Spirit. We need to make sure we are connected to the Lord through the Holy Spirit. We need to make sure we take the time to cultivate the presence of God in our life. We need to forgive! We need to nurture our own souls. We need to make sure our souls are rested and not hurried. We need to make sure our souls are free on the inside then nothing externally will impact our souls. And our souls need to be filled with gratitude! When we do this damaged emotions can be healed. We need to make sure we hand out painful memories and emotions over to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Why do we need to do this?
Answer: If we do this then it will not matter what happens around us because our souls will be healthy enough to handle it. Our emotions will in tune and in connection with God’s Spirit. We will be able to move forward with the things of Kingdom and let the things of the world – even it’s painful memories go.
PP#12
