Today we look at Psalm 23:3 (NKJ) "He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." Now let's meditate those words.
He restores: Restore means "to renew, rebuild, alter; give back or put back into a former or original state." Wow. That means He wants our souls to be as they were in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve fell for satan's lie. (I didn't capitalize the "s" in satan on purpose). They had no consciousness of sin and weren't even aware they were naked until they believed the lie and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I think of Hebrews 10:2 that says Jesus' sacrifice makes us perfect, and that once purified, we should have no more consciousness of sins. We should fight the good fight of faith and reject thoughts of condemnation and a sin-consciousness. We need to be God-conscious, and enjoy fellowship with Him because we are in Christ Jesus.
My soul: The soul consists of 3 parts: the mind, the will, and the emotions. So we'll break it down that way.
1) mind: my recollection, memory, reasoning. The brain, nervous center.
2) will: my desire, wish, disposition, inclination, appetite, passion, chioce. Determination. Mental powers manifested as wishing, choosing, desiring, or intending.
3) emotions: the effective aspect of consciousness, feeling, disturbance, excitement. . . physical reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling, and physical changes that prepare the body for immediate vigorous action. See "feeling".
a) Feeling: " one of the basic 5 physical senses. Skin - touch - a sensation experienced. Emotion carries a strong implication of excitement or agitation, affection, sentiment, passion, (a very powerful or controlling emotion).
Our soul is the connecting part between our spirit and our body. On a piece of paper, draw a large circle; draw a second smaller circle within that circle, and yet another circle in the very center of the second one. This represents the total you. The center circle is your spirit (which is born again, made perfect, holy and righteous when you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin). Write the word "spirit" in the center circle. In the space around your spirit, write the word "soul". Last, write the word "body" within the outer circle. The Lord Jesus wants to restore our soul out of that holy place which is our spirit, and our restored soul will then affect the body and its actions. That's how we become sanctified, as we read in I Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NKJ) "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." We need to allow our born-again spirit to effect changes in our soul and body. We need to live out of our spirit -- who we really are in Jesus. We do this by renewing our mind to God's Word. We can't restore ourselves. Isn't God just so kind and merciful and full of love?
He leads me: Again, as we saw in verse 2, He leads; He doesn't push or shove, or force us in any way. He is gentle and humble, lowly in heart -- void of pride.
In the paths: A path is defined as "a trodden way; a course, route; a way of life, conduct, or thought. a track specially constructed for a particular use."
Of righteousness: "right-ness, righteous, free from guilt or sin; morally right, blameless." God declares you free from sin and blameless if you have taken Jesus as your Savior from sin and judgment! See Romans 4:22; II Corinthians 5:21; and Ephesians 6:14 for more study.
For His Name's sake: because of who God is, His character, His reputation, His good name.
I conclude today's meditation with Psalm 18:35-36 (NIV): "You give me Your shield of victory, and Your right hand sustains me; You stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not turn." He does indeed lead me in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake! Thank You, Father!
Copyright © 2012 Elaine Beachy
No comments:
Post a Comment