Every part yielded to Him?

The above diagram explains to me much of what the Bible says about the way I am made and what God has done in His transforming work.

The first and primary grace of God is giving life to the inner man through His Spirit. That life changed the way I think, feel, and choose. He does not remove those faculties but make it clear to me that all three must function according to the new inner life directed by Him. He tells me not to trust in my own understanding (mind), or trust my emotions, many of which are contrary to His. He also gives the example for volition when Jesus said, “Not my will, but thine be done.”

However, I’ve noticed that there are three major denominational groups that tend to focus on the importance of one of those three faculties. While all three facilities should be yielded to the Holy Spirit, there is a danger that the arrows in the diagram run the wrong direction. Instead of being directed and controlled by Him, the mind, emotions, or will is given a high place of importance. For instance…

Some denominations might say: “The will is the stronghold of our being. If God is to get complete possession of us, He must possess our will. When He says, ‘Give me your heart, it is equivalent to saying, ‘Surrender your will to my control, that I may work in it to will and to do of my good pleasure.’ It is not the feelings of a man that God wants but his will.” (Joshua 24:15)

Others might put it this way: Thinking right means living right. If God is to get complete possession of us, He must possess our thoughts. When He says, ‘Give me your heart,’ it is equivalent to saying, ‘Surrender your mind to my control, that I may work in it to will and to do of my good pleasure.’ It is not our feelings or choices that are vital, but God wants us to think right.” (Romans 12:1-2)

The third group might say: “Our feelings are vital to worship. If God is to get complete possession of us, He must control our emotions. When He says, ‘Give me your heart,’ it is equivalent to saying, ‘Surrender all of your feelings to my control, that I may work in you to will and to do of my good pleasure.’ It is not solid thinking or choices alone that God wants but the full expression of how we feel about Him.”

All of this reminds me of the blind people describing an elephant as they touch its different parts, but more than that, thinking each part is all there is to an elephant. Walking with Jesus means realizing that none of the three are supposed to be the ruling force in our lives; He is!

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:6–7)

The following passage is about the direction of the arrows in the diagram. Doing my own thing apart from God is sin (Isaiah 53:6) so…

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (Romans 8:3–9)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery... I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5: 1; 16–17)

PRAY: More than ever, I know that I need to be filled with the Spirit so that my old nature is not the controlling factor. My will is flawed without You. My thinking is selfish without You. My emotions take me away from faith… but the fullness of Your Spirit means  I can obey You with godly thoughts, godly choices, and experience Your deep joy. Thank You, Jesus.

All for Jesus…

Today’s devotional builds a bit on yesterday’s thoughts. It begins with, “pure religion resides in the will alone” meaning that our will governs our nature and if the will is set right, all else will come into harmony. It goes on to explain that our emotions should not be allowed to govern our lives.

By this he means that as our will is not those sinful I-wants but our deciding power. I assume he means the deciding power of a will that is yielded to God and not the will yielded to the flesh. However, it seems to me that if my will can be in submission to God's will, then also can my intellect and my emotions. (See Nee’s diagram)

The Bible says of the human capacity called intellect:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5–8)

This is plain; don’t let my human thinking determine my actions unless that human thinking is totally submitted to the Lord. He will use my brain but my brain is not useful unless it is motivated by His Spirit. If I’m dismissing God's guidance and going with my way of doing things, then I’m not in God's will.

What then about emotions? Interesting that those who say facts must lead our faith always put emotions as the last item on the ‘train’ of how to live for God. They do not leave it off. I cannot either. Emotions are part of our lives, saved or not. I’ve known people who shut down negative emotions like raging anger only to find that they are not able to feel positive emotions like empathy and pity. What about God’s emotions? Cannot the Spirit convey to us the burdens He wants us to feel for others (so we will pray and/or act on their behalf)? Cannot He motivate my feelings about needy people that match His? I know He can; otherwise my fleshy emotions would not care at all about many things. He even says things like:

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26–27)

His Word does not forbid the emotion of anger but forbids me to allow it to motivate sin, a strong suggestion that it can motivate repentance or even action — quickly, before the sun goes down —  if it is yielded to God. I need to carefully consider how Jesus displayed anger and realize not all emotions are fleshy and sinful if they are governed by the Holy Spirit.

It is the same with my will vs. my I-wants. The Spirit of God can motivate me to want certain things. A simple illustration is the times I’ve been in Christian book stores without any particular book in mind, yet one catches my eye and the thought “buy this” comes to mind. I do and it turned out to be just what I needed to read at the time. Without that “I want this” thought, I would not have purchased that book, but God gave me the will to buy it.

Months ago, God spoke to me about organizing a family reunion. I resisted, had no desire to do that. His Spirit worked on my will so that I eventually said yes, but He also worked on my intellect and emotions so that I also heard His instructions on how to do it, but became excited about it. My flesh still resists and will whine about the work, but I know that God is still telling me to keep at it.

Being yielded to God is not confined to the will as the only motivating part of me. God uses emotions to move me to action. He also uses logical thinking to enable me to solve problems. The will is heavily involved in paying attention to His Spirit, yet He is able to get my attention in many ways and help me say yes to Him rather than resisting His voice or simply not listening at all.

PRAY: Jesus, each day brings varied challenges and varying emotions. If I listen to You and let You motivate my mind, emotions, and desires, then the day is so much different than when I make my own plans, or entertain my own feelings, or stick to whatever I want. You truly do bring “healing to my flesh and refreshment to my bones” for which I am joyfully grateful.

God sings over me ? ! !

A few years ago, our friends invited us to their son’s wedding. It remains in my heart as special because this young man wrote a song and sang it to his new bride. Romantic, yes, but also emotional. I think of him reading this verse because what he did helps my efforts to imagine God rejoicing over me as He sings . . .

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

Tozer says, “Here is emotion on as high a plane as it can ever be seen, emotion flowing out of the heart of God Himself.” Wow!

Tozer concludes that emotions are not part of our sinful unbelief as often taught by some Bible teachers. Rather, our ability to feel is a mark of our divine origin. Joy, love and even singing are from God.

Well, not all of it. Those who laugh at the faults of others are not showing godly emotion. Those who love their neighbor’s wife aren’t either. As for music, some of it is outrightly dedicated to the devil or has lyrics that distain all that God says, so that is not divine, but there are emotions that come from the heart of God, joy being only one of them.

I’ve often thought that some of my emotions are His. For instance, when I watch the news and see injustice or injury or tragic situations, I weep. I know that if Jesus was not in my life, I would not care about much of that. These are people I don’t know. Why should I cry over their pain? However, because Christ lives in me, I’m bound to think His thoughts and feel His emotions, at least some of the time.

For that reason, I should not struggle with tears or laughter. I need to watch out for sinful motivations, but never withhold emotions that demonstrate the way God is — sometimes grieving, sometimes angry, yet always rejoicing, loving and even singing.

This reminds me that that the human soul is intellect, emotions and will. The Bible is clear: I have the mind of Christ and can think His thoughts. I know the Holy Spirit and can live in harmony with the will of God. Nothing tells me to leave out my emotions. Rather I read verses like these:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)

“Rejoice always.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)

“You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Hebrews 1:9)

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I’m still trying to imagine You singing over me. It is far too amazing to picture now, but someday I will clearly see Your smiling face and hear Your songs of joy. In the meantime, I’m delighted to be a vessel for You to express Your emotions. Help me know and discern — and always be glad that You love me.

Do this . . . not that . . .

1 Samuel 5:1–7:17, James 1:19–27, Psalm 119:33–48

Watchman Nee, a Chinese Christian who was martyred for his faith, wrote several books about the nature of human beings. He believed that we are body, soul, and spirit. He also believed that the soul is the seat of our emotions, intellect, and will. Of course these ‘parts’ work together and are often indistinguishable.

However, in my observations when we Christians rely on ourselves instead of Christ, we tend to focus on one of those three aspects of the soul. Even denominations do it. That is, some put emphasis on feelings/emotions. Others focus on their ability to choose, and still others are all about intellect and knowledge. This is not to neglect the other two facets. Of course, I am also generalizing.

My other observation is that those who rely on their intellect tend to take pride in how much they know. If they are like me, they also are prone to assuming that if they know the truth, then obedience will just happen. That means much less effort is taken to do what God says and therefore applying all that knowledge can fall by the wayside.

This is often illustrated in the Old Testament. The Israelites knew they were not to worship idols, but that knowledge was not enough to overcome their sinful tendencies. They were often told and told again to stop this sin. But just knowing that idol-worship was wrong was not enough . . .

And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only. (1 Samuel 7:3–4) This sounds great, but reading the rest of the OT reveals that their obedience didn’t last.

When Christ came, died for our sin, and sent the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts, it seems this would end idolatry, but not so. As it has been said, the human heart is still an idol-making factory. Even as Christians, this remains part of our sinful human nature. So also is the tendency to think knowledge is enough, at least for some people, including me. I read to learn but so easily neglect to obey what I know.

Today’s NT reading once more rebukes me: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:22–27)

Knowing something is sin is not enough to stop sinning. Feeling bad about it will not stop it either. Sin is simply too powerful for any part of our souls to overcome. I cannot beat it with emotions, will power, or intellectual understanding. I need the power of Jesus Christ to overcome sin.

The Bible speaks of ‘besetting sins’ meaning those that seem to cling like glue, to hover, to pull us in more easily than others. I have a few of those, and as I struggle to understand the reasons I’m so vulnerable, God says that my problem is not about understanding, either. I need to do what He says — instead of simply trying to stop sinning by figuring out what caused it. Understanding only has one purpose; it is to turn me from my own wants and efforts and yield to God in obedience.

The 119^th psalm is all about understanding and knowing the will of God, yet sprinkled throughout are verses that make plain the importance of doing what I know:

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. (Psalm 119:34)

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. (Psalm 119:37)

I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. (Psalm 119:44–47)

Instead of focusing on what I want, God tells me to focus on what He wants and what others need. Only then will I be able to resist and conquer those sticky sins that I already understand far better than is necessary!

Jesus is the answer…

When my hairdo will not cooperate, I usually call it a “hair don’t” which is something like my description of the opposite of willpower – I call it “won’t power.”

Some say that the human will is God’s avenue into the soul. While He can touch our emotions and wants to reform our thinking (see Romans 12:2), He must first find a surrendered heart and life. Of course, Jesus is the perfect example. He came to do the will of God. He gave up His life from the time He was born and did as God asked right through to being crucified for the sins of mankind.

He speaks of His surrendered will when talking with a woman at a well. The disciples had gone to buy lunch and when they returned, the woman had put her faith in Christ. As she left to bring others who hear Jesus, the disciples returned. Seemingly oblivious to the spiritual significance of what was happening, their focus was on lunch.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:31–34)

This is total surrender, yet when Jesus identified with humanity in becoming one of us, He was sinless. No part of Him resisted the will of God in a selfish way. That is why I need Him to conquer sin. My will is too often ‘won’t’ and cannot trusted.

Watchman Nee, a Chinese martyr, separated the soul into those three parts: intellect, emotions, and volition. He said that none of these connect with God. That connection happens when the Spirit of God speaks to our spirit and transforms it from a dead and silent part of our being to a living, God-fearing force. His Spirit unites with our spirit to make a new creation, and out of a new inner life our soul begins to function as God intended. 

The intellect or mind cannot understand the things of God apart from the Spirit. They are hidden to even the most wise on this earth, but “…these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 2:10)

Emotions are universally known to be unreliable also. Consider those with a crush on a movie star, or fury at a child for spilling its milk. Consider the feeling of loneliness in a room full of people, or sudden overwhelming grief when you thought grief was finished. While emotions have great purpose, their whimsy means I cannot plan or rule my life by them alone.

My will is tainted by sin as much as every other part of me. I have those days when my will power is ‘won’t’ power and days when my will to do right battles with what seems a stronger desire to do the opposite. While God wants a surrendered will, that too must be touched by His Spirit. As hard as I try, I cannot make it happen by the powers of my own soul. Even if I want to do right, and my brain tells me it is right, and my emotions are on the same team, sin can stir the pot so that I still don’t do what I want to do.

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:15–20)

Paul wrote this. Many argue that he was not saved at the time, but if Christians are honest, all of us struggle with this perplexity. Paul’s solution to the problem is my solution too… recognizing first that this is sin in my flesh that causes all the trouble and second, that the only way to battle it is in the power of the Holy Spirit given through faith in Jesus Christ.

Not only that, this battle would not exist apart from Jesus for I would just do whatever I wanted. It is because of Him that I am aware of sin and that old nature that still wants to take over and rule my life. So much for my willpower. It cannot rescue me, just as logic or even a strong hatred for sin are not enough to deliver me from its power.

The pat answer in Sunday School class is Jesus Christ, and despite our chuckles about that, the pat answer for life’s moral and daily choices is also Jesus Christ. I can want to do the will of God, but without Him supplying the power, my will is useless.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)