Stay Seated. Stay Well.

Flourishing for the Soul

Luke 4:18-19  (ESV)  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; (spiritual) he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,  (emotional) to preach deliverance to the captives, (mental) and recovering of sight to the blind,(Physical)  to set at liberty them that are bruised, (downtrodden)19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

“Jesus came to heal you everywhere you hurt” – Joyce Meyer

Ephesians 2:1, 4-6

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins… … 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus . 

> We have to learn to stay in our seat.

Ephesians 4:20-24. 

20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

2 Cor. 10: 4-5

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every high thing that exalts itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Galatians 5:1. (NIV)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:16-18

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Phantom Syndrome :  a condition where individuals experience sensations, including pain, in a limb that has been amputated or is no longer present.

3 different types of people:  

Natural man: Unregenerate, and devoid of the Spirit.  Dead in sin and has no appreciation for the gospel of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 2:14 

But the natural man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned

Spiritual man:  Regenerate, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  Possesses spiritual maturity.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16: 

But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ

Carnal man: Regenerate, but living much like an unregenerate, a believer with childish ways.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NKJV)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal

WHO IS SITTING ON THE THRONE OF YOUR HEART?

> Your spirituality, the level of your maturity, is measured by the way you love and treat people.

Mark 12:30-31

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself

Thermometer: Tells you the temperature of the room.   

Thermostat:  Tells  the room the temperature 

> No external person or event controls my level of

emotional health or happiness, my response to them

does.

> YOUR EMOTIONAL STABILITY CANNOT COME FROM THE ACTIONS OR LACK OF ACTIONS OF OTHERS, IT COMES FROM A HEALTHY HEART WHOSE IDENTITY IS IN CHRIST

2 Cor. 6:18

“And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

Galatians 4:7. Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

Romans 8:14. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

> GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW  WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST, AND EQUALLY IMPORTANT, WHOSE YOU ARE

> The birthright and DNA determines who we are,  not the turnings of our heart and the leanings of our soul.

> The day Jesus became your Lord, is the day your journey to your true identity began. 

Romans 12:2 … be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Colossians 3:2-5a, 9-10

2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ..

3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.5 Therefore put to death your members …

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him

Deut. 30:19

This day I  call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live