THE BATTLE FOR OUR SOUL

 

CHAPTER I

 

 The battle for our soul began following our commitment to Christ.  When we committed our life to Christ we became a New Creature created in theImage of God.  Everything became new.  Everything around us suddenly looked like heaven.  We experienced the Kingdom of God on earth.  And behold, old things were passed away.  Remember that Jesus said we should not look anywhere but within ourselves for the Kingdom of God(Luke 17:20-21).

It is important to be completely aware of this:  The Kingdom of God is within you.  Jesus specifically told us not to look for it anywhere else for the Kingdom of God is within us. When we received Christ as our Savior and Lord the love of God was shed abroad in our spirit by the Holy Spirit of God.  We are born again by the Spirit of God.  We are created in the Image of God.  We received what Jesus came to give us.  We received life and life more abundantly.

God's loving presence in us is overwhelming.  We are actually having a heavenly experience.  We are experiencing the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven opening up within us where we are risen with Christ and our life is hid with Christ in God, (Colossians 3:3).  We are born again by the Spirit of God.  We are created in the Image of God.  We received what Jesus came to give us:  ETERNAL Life, a gift to live in NOW!
 
We did not realize all that took place in that memorable moment that suddenly came upon us but it is written of in the Bible for us to understand as the Holy Spirit reveals it to us.  Pray for the spirit of Wisdom and Knowledge when you read God's Word that you will receive revelation of God's Word by the Holy Spirit of God.  I pray that I am prepared by God to always rightly divide the truth when I share it with others.  I have a fear of God and I highly respect His Word.  I earnestly pray that I write it or share it as it is written and as the Holy Spirit has given me revelation to His written or spoken Word.
 
I will share a part of the Apostle Paul's revelation of God's Word referring to what happens when we are born again by the Living God: "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us," Romans 5:5, and  "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." and" We are risen with Christ" and "Our life is hid with Christ in God," Colossians 3:1-3;
 
It is important to understand that our being born again from above by the Spirit of God took place in our spirit and in the spirit realm.  We are a three part being: Spirit, soul and body.  What took place in our spirit is often interpreted as having taken place in our heart.  We need a clear understanding of our spirit being, in regards to our three part being. I will need to describe the scriptural differences of our three part being in order that I might explain the battle that we have discovered is going on within us following being born again.

The battle we are experiencing is between God and Satan.  This is very important to remember.  It is not between you and Satan but between God and Satan.  Satan captured the first Adam into his kingdom and, as a result, death came upon man.  Jesus said the thief came only to rob, steal and kill, but I have come to give you LIFE AND LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY, (John 10:10).

Jesus is the SECOND ADAM.  Through His life of victory, His victory over death, hell and the grave, and by His resurrection power, He reconciled man back unto God while we were yet dead in our sins, (Ephesians 2:1-10).  And now, through believing in Christ's shed blood, (V. 13), and in His resurrection on our behalf, receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we are in fellowship with God again.

We can now go directly to God the Father and communicate with Him> personally.  He is our personal Father even as Jesus is our personal Saviour and Lord.  We can worship God in our spirit.  Our spirit is made in His image, we are one IN Him, 'Our life is hid WITH CHRIST IN GOD', (Colossians 3:3).

Jesus said in Luke 11:2-4; And he said unto them, When you pray, say,
> Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom
> come.  Thy will be done, as in heaven so in earth.  Give us day by day
> our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone
> that is indebted to us (or who has sinned against us).  And lead us not
> into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
>
> (VV.9-10) And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and
> ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one
> that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
> knocketh it shall be opened.
>
>
> Jesus also said we should ask for the promise of the Father, The Holy
> Spirit.  And in (VV.11-13) He says:  If a son shall ask bread of any of
> you that is a (loving) father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a
> fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?  Or if he shall ask an egg,
> will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, (being yet in
> sin) know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall
> your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
>
> In John 14:6 we read: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
> and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.'  And in VV.
> 12-14, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the
> works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he
> do; because I go unto my Father.  And whatsoever you shall ask in my
> name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If
> you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.
>
> VV. 15-17; If you love me, keep my commandments.  And I will pray the
> Father, and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with
> you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive,
> because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but you know Him; for He
> dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you
> comfortless: I will come to you.
>
> VV.19-21; Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but you
> see Me: because I live, you shall live also.  At that day you shall know
> that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He that hath My
> commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that
> loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will
> manifest myself to him.
>
> V.23; Jesus said, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father
> will love him. And We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
> V. 26; The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send
> in My name He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your
> remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
>
> Look again at V.23 'We will come unto him, and make Our abode with
> him.'  The Holy Trinity All Three making Their abode in us, abiding in
> us.  We can worship Them together, All Three in our spirit where They
> have made their abode.  They have made Their dwelling place within us.
>
> In John 15:26-27; Jesus said:  When the Comforter is come, whom I will
> send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which
> proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me: And you also shall
> bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
>
> Psalm 91:1-2;  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
> shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  Praise God, I am dwelling
> in the secret place of the Most High God where He dwells within me!  'I
> will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; in Him
> will I trust.
>
> He is saying to me here in  VV.15-16; He shall call upon me, and I will
> answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and
> honour him.  With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my
> salvation.   He has provided the safest place there is for us to dwell
> with Him.  We dwell with the whole Godhead together in our spirit.  They
> are with us, All Three of them, in our spirit and we are created in
> Their Image.  In the Image of God, They created us. And our body is the
> temple of the Holy Spirit.
>
> So, Satan in all his blindness and darkness sets out in battle to
> maintain possession of our soul.  Our soul consists of our mind, our
> emotions and our will.  When the enemy attacks us he comes through our
> old man that is now dead, (Colossians 3:3) For you are dead and your
> life is hid with Christ in God.  Remember this: The battle for our soul
> is the Lord's.  It is between God and Satan over the possession of our
> soul.  And in patience we will possess our soul, Jesus says in  Luke
> 21:19, In your patience possess ye your souls.
> We may feel at times we are outnumbered and surrounded but be sure the
> battle is the Lord's.   And the Victor and His victorious life abide
> within us.   Jesus already fought and won the battle for us over Satan.
> I John 4:4; Greater is He who is within us than he that is in the
> world.   II Chronicles 20:15b; Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of
> the great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
>
> And God has a host of angels that are ministering to us and for us:
> Hebrews 1:14; Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
> minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?  Psalm 103:20-22;
> Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that EXCEL IN  STRENGTH, that do His
> commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.  Bless ye the Lord,
> all ye His hosts; ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.  Bless the
> Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion: bless the Lord, O my
> soul.
>
> The Psalmist, David, speaks to the angels exhorting them (encouraging
> them) to 'Bless the Lord' and then David tells his soul to: 'Bless the
> Lord, O my soul.'
>
> PSALM 103:22
> A Psalm of David
>
> Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion: bless the
> Lord, O my soul.
>
>
>