"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36)
A sobering question that Jesus asked that is worth asking again today. Just what is your soul worth? If, somehow we could buy it, what is the bottom line?
The soul of man is the most valued and precious treasure ever made. The soul of man causes war to take place in heaven, and then spills over into the church, the family and in a man or woman's own psyche. Angels of God surround His children to help protect and watch over them...to guide their footsteps, and to do war on their behalf against the evil forces of Satan and his armies of angels and imps. To create such a ruckus, it must be worth something.
Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, this war has waged without respite. There have been no truces, there have been no withdrawal of forces, and there certainly have been no negotiations for a cease fire or settlement of hostilities. It is all out war for the soul of man.
The soul of man was created by God Himself. When He formed Adam from the dust of the earth, He only had a clay model that was lifeless, without thought, reason or any other emotion. A lifeless work of art formed by the Master's Own Hand. But then, He (God) breathed His breath into that lifeless shell of a man. The mixture of the earthly clay with the Spirit of God created a LIVING soul. Then man NOW had a spirit, a human spirit...the candle of The Lord if you will. God named him Adam (which basically means "dirt." But this "dirt took on intrinsic value because of the Presence of a Holy God inside him.
This crown of all creation had perfect fellowship with the Father. He lived in a beautiful garden that God made just for Him. Adam was so intelligent that he named every creature of the garden and there was a fear placed in all of the hearts of all of those animals, because Adam was their master. God saw that of all the other creatures that He (God) created, Adam was still alone. So God caused a deep sleep to come upon him (Adam) and took a bone from near his (Adam) heart to form and shape Eve...Adam's helpmate and companion. Not a beaten down piece of chattel (property) but someone to take away the loneliness and be his equal companion. God gave them instructions...He told them, "you can eat the fruit from any tree in the garden EXCEPT the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Although the tree of life was in the middle of the garden...unfortunately for all of us, they chose to eat the fruit of the ONE tree that God had forbidden.
When you read all of the story in the first few chapters of the Old Testament book of Genesis, you will find that there was a tempter named Lucifer who convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit and because Adam's love for Eve was greater than his love for God, He took the fruit and ate also. Eve was deceived by Lucifer, but Adam ate knowing exactly what he was doing...he thought to himself, "I can't live without Eve and I would rather die with her than live without her. Of course, the rest of the story makes it clear that because of Adam's willful disobedience brought sin and death on all of his descendants...which includes you and me. We were all sold out at the paltry price of disobedience and misguided love.
ALL OF THAT does not negate the value of the soul (the mixture of the body with the breath of God that made man a LIVING SOUL)...or to say it in another way, the breath of God in human flesh. Of course, Lucifer was punished for misleading Eve and has taken out his intense hatred of God on all of mankind, the creation of God.
The battle still continues today. All of the temptations of Lucifer to Eve (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life) was visited upon Jesus in the Wilderness of Temptation, and is visited on all of mankind every day. The goal? To destroy God's crown of creation and to exalt himself.
Today, we are engaged in the battle for the soul. An intense battle that determines the eternal destiny of every man, woman, boy and girl. Unfortunately, a powerless, weak church is not a threat to satan, and instead of rescuing souls we seem to be more interested in entertaining the crowd on Sunday. We seem to be more intent upon building our own personal kingdoms instead of building the Kingdom of God. We seem to have forgotten the value of the soul.
In answer to my original question. The value of a soul is far above any earthly price to be paid. The value of a soul cannot be measured in earthly terms...it is so costly that it should chase sleep from our eyes, and the fountain of tears to break forth like the bursting of a dam.
Oh God! Oh my Father! Please place the burden for souls on the hearts of our people across this land....begin with me! May those that are at ease in ZION rise up! Give us souls for our labors that we may please You and pull as many as we can from the fire.
A sobering question that Jesus asked that is worth asking again today. Just what is your soul worth? If, somehow we could buy it, what is the bottom line?
The soul of man is the most valued and precious treasure ever made. The soul of man causes war to take place in heaven, and then spills over into the church, the family and in a man or woman's own psyche. Angels of God surround His children to help protect and watch over them...to guide their footsteps, and to do war on their behalf against the evil forces of Satan and his armies of angels and imps. To create such a ruckus, it must be worth something.
Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, this war has waged without respite. There have been no truces, there have been no withdrawal of forces, and there certainly have been no negotiations for a cease fire or settlement of hostilities. It is all out war for the soul of man.
The soul of man was created by God Himself. When He formed Adam from the dust of the earth, He only had a clay model that was lifeless, without thought, reason or any other emotion. A lifeless work of art formed by the Master's Own Hand. But then, He (God) breathed His breath into that lifeless shell of a man. The mixture of the earthly clay with the Spirit of God created a LIVING soul. Then man NOW had a spirit, a human spirit...the candle of The Lord if you will. God named him Adam (which basically means "dirt." But this "dirt took on intrinsic value because of the Presence of a Holy God inside him.
This crown of all creation had perfect fellowship with the Father. He lived in a beautiful garden that God made just for Him. Adam was so intelligent that he named every creature of the garden and there was a fear placed in all of the hearts of all of those animals, because Adam was their master. God saw that of all the other creatures that He (God) created, Adam was still alone. So God caused a deep sleep to come upon him (Adam) and took a bone from near his (Adam) heart to form and shape Eve...Adam's helpmate and companion. Not a beaten down piece of chattel (property) but someone to take away the loneliness and be his equal companion. God gave them instructions...He told them, "you can eat the fruit from any tree in the garden EXCEPT the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Although the tree of life was in the middle of the garden...unfortunately for all of us, they chose to eat the fruit of the ONE tree that God had forbidden.
When you read all of the story in the first few chapters of the Old Testament book of Genesis, you will find that there was a tempter named Lucifer who convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit and because Adam's love for Eve was greater than his love for God, He took the fruit and ate also. Eve was deceived by Lucifer, but Adam ate knowing exactly what he was doing...he thought to himself, "I can't live without Eve and I would rather die with her than live without her. Of course, the rest of the story makes it clear that because of Adam's willful disobedience brought sin and death on all of his descendants...which includes you and me. We were all sold out at the paltry price of disobedience and misguided love.
ALL OF THAT does not negate the value of the soul (the mixture of the body with the breath of God that made man a LIVING SOUL)...or to say it in another way, the breath of God in human flesh. Of course, Lucifer was punished for misleading Eve and has taken out his intense hatred of God on all of mankind, the creation of God.
The battle still continues today. All of the temptations of Lucifer to Eve (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life) was visited upon Jesus in the Wilderness of Temptation, and is visited on all of mankind every day. The goal? To destroy God's crown of creation and to exalt himself.
Today, we are engaged in the battle for the soul. An intense battle that determines the eternal destiny of every man, woman, boy and girl. Unfortunately, a powerless, weak church is not a threat to satan, and instead of rescuing souls we seem to be more interested in entertaining the crowd on Sunday. We seem to be more intent upon building our own personal kingdoms instead of building the Kingdom of God. We seem to have forgotten the value of the soul.
In answer to my original question. The value of a soul is far above any earthly price to be paid. The value of a soul cannot be measured in earthly terms...it is so costly that it should chase sleep from our eyes, and the fountain of tears to break forth like the bursting of a dam.
Oh God! Oh my Father! Please place the burden for souls on the hearts of our people across this land....begin with me! May those that are at ease in ZION rise up! Give us souls for our labors that we may please You and pull as many as we can from the fire.
Comments