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Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Health, Inspiring, Wisdom

Body, Soul, and Spirit in Balance

Posted on November 10, 2011March 17, 2015 by Katharine

: personality (Photo credit: hang_in_there)

We’ve defined the soul and found that it is the personality. According to God, the personality lives forever. Amazing.

We’re not finished investigating all this, though, because, as the soul is made of three parts—mind, will, and emotions—so, also, the soul is one of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. And just as the will decides between facts and emotions, so also, the soul (personality) resides between the spirit and the body.

Deep. I know. But true.

Time for more definitions.

Body – The easy one, the part of us we can see, the flesh and bones, the blood, sweat, and tears. Easy.
But here is a new thought: All living things (plants, animals, and humans) have a body of some sort. And miraculous as the body may be in all its workings, it, at least, is visible. Handy for definitions.

Soul – Not too hard. We defined it last time, and although we cannot see the soul or personality, we can tell lots about it, identify it, label it, even anticipate it according to given patterns.
New thought: Plants do not have souls. Animals and humans do.

Spirit – The tough one. Can’t see it. Most people have to wait for it to manifest to know it is there. God’s Spirit is good and loving. All the others may fake goodness awhile, but will eventually show themselves to be imposters.
Plants and animals were not intended to be spiritual, although spirits can inhabit them, if briefly. Only people were intended to be spiritual, to contain God’s Holy Spirit. All the other spirits fight for a person to own and inhabit.

Not so many people want to know this. Not so many people want to give others some space to know this. Doesn’t make it untrue, though. Throughout the ages, truth never changes. Truth tellers may have to hide, but truth remains, no matter what the attacks.

So the soul is fighting on two fronts.

First, within itself is constant arbitration between thinking and feeling. Second, it becomes the rope in a tug-of-war between physical and spiritual.

Thoughts and feelings, body and spirit, all are nuances and facets that can color responses from person to person, or even within the same person from time to time.

For a small example, let’s take a box of candy. In your mind you know it is bad for your health. In your emotions you associate this type of candy with childhood Christmas favors. You must decide.

If your personality, or soul, is well-trained and healthy, you will forego eating the entire box, having maybe one piece, savoring it and remembering past fun, and stopping there.

If, however, your soul or personality is warped, you may skip it altogether and throw it away, or you may eat the entire thing, perhaps not even tasting much of it.

Still, if your body has an addiction to sweets, you might take over and eat an entire box every night, steal to get the money for it, and lie about it afterward.

If you are so entrapped, though, you might be so scared of the spirits inside yourself that you ask Jesus Christ to save you and put His Holy Spirit inside you, which would teach you to say no to all the things warring against your personality, and He would then have saved your soul.

Unpopular, but no less true for it.

___________________

Image by dnnya17 via Flickr

Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Health, Inspiring, Photos, Scripture, Wisdom

Psyching Up for the Great Psyche-Out

Posted on November 8, 2011November 8, 2011 by Katharine

What is the soul? Any idea?

Do you wonder, worry, about the state of your soul, desire your soul to go to heaven, or fear your soul will go to hell?

If we have any Bible knowledge at all, we know, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” We sin. We wonder.

It’s not just Christians, though. No, not at all. Most religions at least wonder, if not make claims to know, how to get the soul to a better place after this life, and how to keep it out of a worse place. It’s like we have this built-in KNOWLEDGE that the soul continues in the great beyond.

Yet, most do not know what the soul even IS.

Here’s a clue: The Greek for soul, in the Bible, is psuche. This is also the root word for our psychology – the study of the psyche or psuche. Are lights coming on for you already? Good.

Most who study the soul or psuche divide it into three parts. Everyone likes three parts, but with the soul, it actually applies. Freud (whom we will not be quoting much) called the parts id, ego, and superego, not necessarily in that order. We will call the parts by English names: Mind, Will, and Emotions. That is what makes up the soul, the psuche-psyche, the self.

For today, we will define those terms.

The Mind – The mind is the product of the organ we call the brain, and is the part that deals in facts. It takes in, stores, and/or produces our thoughts. With the mind we can read, remember, rationalize, think ahead, etc. The mind is where we learn, and can be strengthened by learning anything that is true, weakened by learning the false. It’s a big job, yet it is only 1/3 of your soul. What we think is not all there is to us. There also is what we want.

The Will – This is the part that determines what we want. It chooses. It should be in control, well-informed by both the mind and the emotions. It is the scale where the soul weighs the mind against the emotions, facts against feelings, and decides what the outcome will be. The will grows stronger by “exercising the will” and weaker, even unstable, by continuing in indecision. A strong-willed soul may even superimpose its wants onto someone else, if that someone is weak-willed. And stay out of the way if two strong-willed persons have opposing desires: That can even cause wars.

The Emotions – This part of the soul feels sad, happy, attracted, repelled, etc. Genuine smiles come from the emotions, as do tears. Many of the noblest emotions find expression in poetry and drama. With our emotions, we consider the feelings of others, and choose words according to their connotations. The emotions are strengthened by expression, and weakened by squelching. The emotions can be stored for later, as during mourning, when most people take about two years to process all the emotions of a normal loss of a loved one, and longer with a wrongful loss.

Enough for today. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will use this foundation to build more understanding of the soul.

See ya!

_____________

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Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Photos, Scripture, Wisdom

And What If I Don’t Wanna?

Posted on November 6, 2011June 1, 2019 by Katharine

What if I do not forgive? What happens then?

Several things:

I am not forgiven. In the book of Matthew 6:14-15, as Jesus is teaching His followers how to pray, He adds the admonition that if we do not forgive others, then God does not forgive us. Unforgiveness sounds like the unforgivable sin, to me!
I bind the sin to my children. In the book of Exodus 20:5-6, God tells us the consequences of unforgiven sin pass down to several generations. It makes sense. If I dwell on someone else’s sin for years, I start acting on this input. But there is more. If I am not forgiven, then instead of being in covenant with God, I covenant with His enemy. How can that bring any good?
I do not loose the sinner. In Matthew 16:19 and 18:18-35, even Jesus’ own followers had questions about forgiveness. (It’s always been a tough topic!) He then taught them: when we forgive something on earth, it is forgiven in Heaven. This very thing happened to Saul of Tarsus, who later changed his name to Paul. When Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:60,) his last words were of forgiveness for his killers, one of whom Saul was. What if Stephen had not forgiven him? Would we have the writings of Paul, today?

Here is what I used to teach my children when they were young and beginning to discover that relationship is not always all fun. Sometimes they would experience childish tussles and strike back or hold anger against others. So I said:

“If someone does something bad to you, it hurts. I know.

“But if you just do something back to them, it does not help you. You still hurt, and now they hurt, too. What good does that do?

“If you stay angry and then someone innocent comes along and, because of your hurt that you failed to get rid of, you strike out at that person, you STILL hurt, and that new person hurts, too.

“You are trying to get rid of your hurt by giving hurt to someone else. But when you give it to someone else, it does not mean they can take it AWAY from you. They may take it, but they cannot take it AWAY. You leave them hurting, too, and they may try to get rid of their hurt by giving hurt to yet someone else, who also cannot take it away.

“It’s a little like the flu. I can give it to you, but then I still have it; we both will have it. It just spreads.

“Only One person can take hurt AWAY, and that is God. If you give your hurt to Him, He can take it away from you and make you feel much better.”

Now, maybe that was too simple for an adult, but it is true. It’s what He died for. Why not try Him out?https://homescool.blog/2015/10/25/wrapped-in-a-bedsheet/

TOMORROW: A STORY ABOUT FORGIVENESS!

_________________

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Inspiring, Photos, Sayings, Scripture, Wisdom

Denial, Excuses, and Folly, Oh No!

Posted on November 5, 2011May 22, 2015 by Katharine

There sure are a lot of wrong theories and sayings about forgiveness out there, these days! Most people have heard them all, too many times.

Still, although logic tells us something is wrong, we strain to forgive according to all the wrong theories we’ve heard.

We cannot figure it out.

Nothing seems to happen.

Several of our victimizers do not stay forgiven very long at all.

What!

To get a grasp on exactly what we are supposed to do, let’s first eliminate all wrong thinking upon which some people may be trying to convince us to act. For instance, forgiveness is not:

Denial

Forgiveness is NOT saying, “Oh, it’s okay.” When someone has done hurtful wrong against you, IT IS NOT OKAY!

It should make us feel all rotten inside to say it is.

Why? Because spreading wrongful hurt is not okay; it is sin. Sin is not okay with God; how could it be okay with us?

Saying it is okay, is denial. It’s just plain ol’ living a lie.

Only say, “It’s okay,” when it was not sin, was not intended as sin, and was not received as sin.

Only say, “It’s okay,” if you truly would be okay with it happening again.

Excuses

Forgiveness is NOT forgetting. How can anyone forget something on purpose!

We have miraculous brains that function largely by memory. We do not have back-space keys for our brains.

God can decide to forget something, if He wants, or He can cause us to forget something, but we do not have that kind of power.

Thinking we must forget, in order to prove we have forgiven, sets us up for making excuses. We say, “I’ll never be able to forgive that, because I just can’t forget what he did.” Or we think we have not forgiven because memories keep resurfacing.

We haven’t forgiven, obviously, because we still remember it?
So it must be hopeless to try?

What a wide-open door for excuses!

Folly

Forgiveness is NOT trusting. It is neither safe nor wise to trust someone who has proven himself to be untrustworthy.

To send a youngster back to a bullying classroom or molesting teacher, to lend more money to someone who has not repaid, to tell a secret to a gossip, is just plain folly.

Yes, we must forgive those who sin against us, but we do NOT have to trust them again, in order to prove we have done so.

We certainly do not have to feel guilty for helping put such a one in jail, if his sin was illegal.

Besides that, trust, by its very nature, must be earned, cannot be demanded.

So What IS Forgiveness?!

If we look up the word, “forgive,” we can find the original meanings of its ancient parts: to give far away, to “far-give”.

Think: Where would you put all that pain, if you could download it somewhere else? How far away would be far enough? Would sending it into another existence be far enough? It would do fine, for me.

The farthest possible distance from me, from this existence is:

In God’s hands. When He takes it, it’s gone.

Giving it to Him can feel like work, but it is forgiveness. And is far less work than dealing with your current agony. I know.

Forgiveness is SAYING, “I forgive it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Yes, it is like writing a check on His checkbook to pay a debt, which we cannot actually do unless we are actually His.)
It is a transaction, like writing off a bad debt. Our feelings may be screaming, but it is not about feelings; it is about getting past this great wrong and moving on with this life. It’s about positioning ourselves for the next life beyond.
Forgiveness is REFUSING to remember the sin against the sinner.
Yes, it was a bad debt; no, we will not continue mentally sending bills to “debtor’s prison”. That part is over.
Forgiveness is MINISTERING to the sinner.
Maybe the only safe or possible thing we can do is pray for him, but because we, ourselves, have been forgiven by so marvelous a God, we are free and power-filled to do so.
Seeing this is a mark of true forgiveness.

Now we have dealt with the why’s of suffering and forgiveness, and we have defined terms. Come on by tomorrow and get the HOW-TO and some FAQ’s.

________________

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Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Photos, Scripture, Wisdom

Dust to Dust Do-Over

Posted on November 4, 2011May 22, 2015 by Katharine

Let’s lengthen yesterday’s list of sins against us:
rape,
lying,
rejecting,
breaking and entering,
laying-off.

Have I hit you yet?

What to do! Outside of calling the police, or suing, which can be legitimate actions, how do we finally get some peace about the hurtful things people do to us?

Forgiveness.

Yes, that’s the answer; that’s how we get peace. And forgiveness is often the one thing we least understand and least want.

Like bad-tasting medicine.

I know.

Just as in yesterday’s post, the first reason is God.

1. God. God requires us to forgive. This is the best reason because when we are wounded and aching on the inside, we don’t understand much—but we don’t even have to think. We just know what He requires and we prepare to go there.

God also promises to reward our forgiveness toward others with His forgiveness toward us, which, if we are honest, should highly motivate us.

And like any good father, God teaches by example. He shows us how to do forgiveness, in the most radical, graphic way.

2. Man. Man wants and needs forgiveness. Who among us is innocent?

To keep God’s forgiveness, we must be forgiving. Since He has shown us His awesome power to forgive, how can we do less than try to imitate Him? That is His thinking.

Forgiveness also frees man to be able to hear God. Before we forgive, all we can hear from Him is how we ought to forgive. Once we are over that hurdle, He can show us so much more.

Lack of forgiveness binds us to the sinner we refuse to forgive. This is so scary. What it means is that when we refuse to forgive sin against us, when we hug it up to ourselves and get it out and look at it every day, we start BEING like that sin.

Look at it this way: With a physical wound, if we treat it correctly, we can greatly minimize the scarring. But if we refuse to remove the dirt, refuse to medicate it, refuse a bandage, and continue picking at it, we make it worse. Bigger. Deeper. Uglier. Longer-lasting. More painful.

With a spiritual wound, we can even pass it down to our children…

3. Satan. Of course, he hates forgiveness, a real no-brainer, right?

The fun thing about this is when we obey God about forgiving, we SHUT THE DOOR TO HIS ENEMY. This is exactly what we need.

The reverse is also true, though: when we disobey about forgiving, we open a door to him and his horrible ways.

Stop by tomorrow for Part 3, about what forgiveness actually is.

I promise you, you will find it WONDERFUL NEWS!

_________________________________-

Image by Andreas Winterer via Flickr

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Sayings, Scripture, Wisdom

Ashes to Ashes Again

Posted on November 3, 2011May 22, 2015 by Katharine

Usually, if I talk on this subject, I ask everyone who has ever suffered unfair treatment to raise his hand.

This is not about illness, but about medical error. This is not about car wrecks, but about DUI. Ever suffer from either of those? This is not about miscarriages, but about forced abortions—I know you are out there.

If you have never suffered from someone mistreating you, then I KNOW you know someone else who has so suffered. It is altogether common.

I want to begin addressing it and giving you tools to help yourself or help that acquaintance. Someone you know needs this post and the ones that will follow, so listen up and spread the word.

Why Does Suffering Come to Us?

1. God. Common folks blame the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Why do we never blame any other presumed gods?!) But those who blame Him must first believe that He exists, so if you claim atheism or agnosticism, do NOT let it be because you blame what you consider a non-existent entity. Is that fair? Of course.

So if we believe He exists, if we believe He is “up there” to be blamed, then the main way we can know anything about Him is to consult His writings.

In His writings, we find that He made everything very good. Not messed up, like it is now.

It. Is. Not. His. Fault.

2. Man. God gave man choices, Life and Death, and we chose death. So here we are. He TOLD us, for our own good, what to do and we did the opposite, did not obey. Even today, even those who think maybe there is a God, even those who claim to love Him totally, do not always obey and thereby choose death. Admit it.

And what a lie, today, that the only way to be pro-choice is to choose death! Really, we do NOT think!

However, the only way God’s creation can work well, is if every part is working together, just like a motor or a body. Anything wonky messes up everything. We must fall in line with His business plan if we hope to benefit from all His goodness.

Many people do not line up with Him. They line up with His enemy, instead. This is the constant battle between good and evil. Helping the hurting. Protecting the innocent. Guarding the airports. It is a constant battle—even inside ourselves—to make any good thing happen, because of the constant attack on all things good.

3. Satan. According to the words of the God we are tentatively agreeing might exist, Satan hates God and all things good. So—he hates all creation. He personally hates every human being because they are all potential containers for God, his chosen enemy. He especially hates firstborn children, because they remind him of Jesus. Are you a firstborn? Ever notice anything?

To give himself significance, Satan thinks he must fight God. Steal! Kill! Destroy!—that is his motto. And his secret formula is to get man to join him. Anything he can do to trick man into cooperating with him, he will do, if he can. Anything to cause thievery, death, destruction will suit him just fine.

So, if you are not a Christian, you truly could say, “The devil made me do it.” But it doesn’t get anyone off the hook . . . .

Okay, all this was introduction. Tomorrow we begin the main deal and you won’t want to miss it, so sign up, so you won’t forget!

And share! Thanks!

See ya’ tomorrow

_______________

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Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Homemaking, Inspiring, Photos, Sayings, Scripture, Wisdom

Cheery Tomatoes

Posted on November 2, 2011November 2, 2011 by Katharine

I can’t exactly call them cherry tomatoes, although they are of that variety. Trouble is, cherries are red.

But these are cheer, personified. I planted them beside my front porch because they would be yellow and everything in the front of our house is yellow, from the roses, to the foundation plantings.

: Happy Fruits

As you can see, the vines have become bedraggled, as is normal for all annual type plants in fall. What you cannot see is how much better they look than they did even a week ago. I mourned all the promising green fruits because I thought they were dying. Maybe they were.

But they did not give up. They eventually received some rain and the temps are so much milder, now, these poor South American natives can finally breathe and reproduce! Like the “Little Engine That Could” they thought they could until they did.

I love how the most hope-giving mottos of life are from the Bible: “Do not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season, ye shall reap, if ye faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

How many times have I held on because of those words! How many times have I not wanted to forgive, but did, anyway. How many times have I feared, but followed through; have I reached out, tended to, lent a hand, smiled, listened, when I really wanted to go my own way.

How many times have I offered to help and been handed something too hard, something I then had to learn how to do, because, after all, I offered? And then I learned more than I knew was possible for me to grasp. And my life became richer. And my thanksgiving became more sincere. And my love became deeper.

Let’s keep on keeping on. Let’s not give up. Let’s “faint not”.