Talking to my soul
Do you talk to yourself? Because if you don't, I don't know if we can be friends. :)
Seriously, I talk to myself all the time. Not so much when other people are around, even though sometimes I forget and that becomes awkward really fast.
Typically when I talk to myself, it's either making a verbal list or trying to remember something I forgot.
But I've been inspired lately to start talking to myself in a new way. I find myself digging through the Psalms frequently (you might want to look here for one way to organize them yourself) and I have noticed that King David, who wrote many of the Psalms, often talks to his soul.
In the Hebrew, the word for soul is one of the most amazing you'll ever find. Here's the definition from my concordance:
"breath; by extension, life, life force, soul, an immaterial part of a person, the seat of emotion and desire, a creature or person as a whole: self, body, even corpse," (bold mine, Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, Second Edition).
Your soul is the REAL you. It's the INSIDE you. It's the WHOLE you.
It's the you that can know God. It's the only you that will go into eternity.
HUGE.
And though we pay attention to ourselves, our body, our hair, our faces, our feet, our emotions, our brains, and our feelings, when was the last time you sat down and had a talk with your soul?
Because King David did it all the time:
"Why are you downcast, O my soul?" (Psalm 42:5, 11, 43:5)
"Wake up, my soul!" (Psalm 57:8)
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone," (Psalm 62:5)
"Praise the Lord, O my soul," (Psalm 103:1, 2, 22; 104:1, 35; 146:1)
But the one that got me today was Psalm 116:7:
"Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee," (AMP)
(Or this translation...)
"Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you," (HCSB)
Did you catch that? David is telling his soul to return to resting.
Is your soul at rest? Is it calm? Is it at peace?
Because that's what Jesus gives. Your hair, body, emotions, and feelings may be total chaos; but in Christ we have the ability to have total rest in our souls.
But, obviously, sometimes we choose to let our souls wander. Fret. Worry. Stress out. For no reason. Because our soul, our eternal self, has NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT if Christ Jesus is our salvation.
Yes, you have plenty of reason to be stressed. You have tests, deadlines, and papers. You have strained relationships, ruined families, and torn friendships. The world is full of hatred, disease, hurt, and evil. You have more on your plate than your mind can handle.
But that has nothing to do with your soul. And if the stresses of this temporary world are affecting your eternal soul, you need to stop and have a talk with it. Do like David; tell your soul to "return to its rest."
Why? Because the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. Now, you know I don't normally speak in the King James, but this wording is just too beautiful. God could have dealt with you in a million ways that you deserve. You deserve punishment, judgment, wrath, and chastisement. And so do I.
But He chose to deal bountifully with us. More than we deserve. Overflowing. He's given us more blessings than we can hold on to.
But we must acknowledge it. We must look around our lives and, in the midst of the craziness and stress and chaos, we must see that bounty. And acknowledge Him for it.
Why? Because it brings our soul back to rest.
So push aside that paper, set down that text book, block that stressful person from your phone.
And go have a good talk with your soul. Return to your rest. And focus on the bounty God has given you.
#talktomysoul
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
Seriously, I talk to myself all the time. Not so much when other people are around, even though sometimes I forget and that becomes awkward really fast.
Typically when I talk to myself, it's either making a verbal list or trying to remember something I forgot.
But I've been inspired lately to start talking to myself in a new way. I find myself digging through the Psalms frequently (you might want to look here for one way to organize them yourself) and I have noticed that King David, who wrote many of the Psalms, often talks to his soul.
In the Hebrew, the word for soul is one of the most amazing you'll ever find. Here's the definition from my concordance:
"breath; by extension, life, life force, soul, an immaterial part of a person, the seat of emotion and desire, a creature or person as a whole: self, body, even corpse," (bold mine, Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance, Second Edition).
Your soul is the REAL you. It's the INSIDE you. It's the WHOLE you.
It's the you that can know God. It's the only you that will go into eternity.
HUGE.
And though we pay attention to ourselves, our body, our hair, our faces, our feet, our emotions, our brains, and our feelings, when was the last time you sat down and had a talk with your soul?
Because King David did it all the time:
"Why are you downcast, O my soul?" (Psalm 42:5, 11, 43:5)
"Wake up, my soul!" (Psalm 57:8)
"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone," (Psalm 62:5)
"Praise the Lord, O my soul," (Psalm 103:1, 2, 22; 104:1, 35; 146:1)
But the one that got me today was Psalm 116:7:
"Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee," (AMP)
(Or this translation...)
"Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you," (HCSB)
Did you catch that? David is telling his soul to return to resting.
Is your soul at rest? Is it calm? Is it at peace?
Because that's what Jesus gives. Your hair, body, emotions, and feelings may be total chaos; but in Christ we have the ability to have total rest in our souls.
But, obviously, sometimes we choose to let our souls wander. Fret. Worry. Stress out. For no reason. Because our soul, our eternal self, has NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT if Christ Jesus is our salvation.
Yes, you have plenty of reason to be stressed. You have tests, deadlines, and papers. You have strained relationships, ruined families, and torn friendships. The world is full of hatred, disease, hurt, and evil. You have more on your plate than your mind can handle.
But that has nothing to do with your soul. And if the stresses of this temporary world are affecting your eternal soul, you need to stop and have a talk with it. Do like David; tell your soul to "return to its rest."
Why? Because the Lord has dealt bountifully with thee. Now, you know I don't normally speak in the King James, but this wording is just too beautiful. God could have dealt with you in a million ways that you deserve. You deserve punishment, judgment, wrath, and chastisement. And so do I.
But He chose to deal bountifully with us. More than we deserve. Overflowing. He's given us more blessings than we can hold on to.
But we must acknowledge it. We must look around our lives and, in the midst of the craziness and stress and chaos, we must see that bounty. And acknowledge Him for it.
Why? Because it brings our soul back to rest.
So push aside that paper, set down that text book, block that stressful person from your phone.
And go have a good talk with your soul. Return to your rest. And focus on the bounty God has given you.
#talktomysoul
@leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
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