soul

My Bible is back! My Bible is back! It has yet to be rebound, but it is back and I am happy!
So this morning as I sat at my dining room table, wondering where to go in my time with God I began with, "There is an ache in my soul, Father." My spirit felt dull, restless, anxious, polluted, contaminated, and unpeaceful. No sooner were those words out of my mouth when the tears began to flow (I just heard someone say tears were good so I decided to let them flow). I didn't even know what this "ache" was. As I sat there quietly, in between sobs, with my Bible (my precious, wonderful, I know where everything is, Bible) opened to James, I began to read James 4. I began at verse 4;

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?....Or do you think that Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely....Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded."

Other verses kept coming to mind as I simpliy sat, cried, listened to His whispers and read His words. He brought to mind;

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:..........to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

and;

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
2 Corinthians 7:1

So, my interaction with God looked like this:

"Oh God! I feel polluted. I feel contaminated. I just need to be with you, to draw near to you. Am I adulterous? Am I double-minded?Jesus- Nothing on this earth satisfies my soul like you. This ache, this dullness alerts me to my need to be with you and decontaminate. You really care for my soul don't you? It's you and you alone that gives life, peace, and joy. I can pretend to be peaceful and joyful on the outside, but you, my Father, want it at the deepest, most real, most inner place. According to Scripture, you are the, 'Overseer of my soul" 1 Peter 2:25

I am happy to say after 1 1/2 hours of "decontaminating"- My ache is gone. Well, the intensity of it. I think I will always have a little ache this side of my true home.

May I encourage you today to be very in touch with your "soul". It is how God alerts us to issues that need to be addressed. He is the "overseer of you soul" and cares about it deeply. You will only be truly, deeply happy when He is your first love, when you are NOT double-minded, when His words dwell in you richly and you allow His healing presence to minister to you.

Proverbs 19:8 says, "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul." May you love your own soul. May you be wise and "decontaminate" regularly as this world is full of pollutants. May you have deep, pure peace and joy. Blessings from Bombadil. May your soul be watered.
Kristy Joy Link