"With All My Soul"

"Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early." (Psalms 108:2)

 Just to be perfectly clear, sin is not only the things that we do, but sin is also the things that we do not do. As a matter of fact, I am under the opinion that it maters more that we do what God wants us to do, more than it does for us to do the things God does not want us to do; as if there really is any difference between the two, in the eyes of the religious. Listen carefully to what the Lord said, because most of all He instructed us in was to be servants unto others and to love one another. We must replace the bad with the good; we cannot just stop doing evil, the evil must be replaced with doing good. I see this verses as something of a wake-up call for our soul; it is more about a readiness and availability to be used by God, and it makes us rise up out of bed early with anticipation for what God will do with us today. You know that old saying, "the heart is willing, but the flesh is weak," well this speaks of the soul, our inner most desires and ambitions, the things that keep us from falling fast asleep and wake us up early with excitement and anticipation. I really enjoyed watching the playoff yesterday morning between Pernilla and Inbee; I looked forward through the night to see who would have what it took to win the to championship. When I watched Pernilla go for the green on the 18th hole, I knew that she was the one; whether she won or lost, she proved that she wanted it the most. It is very much like that in our walk with the Lord: How much do we want to be used by God? How much do we want to please Him in everything that we do? Does it move us, or are we just along for the ride? God looks at the heart, and if our hearts are not right, then that should concern us and make us want to get our hearts fixed. But more than that, we need to be constructive in doing those things God wants us to do; we can't just get a new heart and then not put it to use, it must be put to use and be busy doing those things that please the Father. This is one of Paul's main points within the book of Romans: "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." (Romans 8:5) In a way, doing the things of the Spirit is more important to our walk than not doing the things of the flesh, even though we should not be doing those things which cause us to stumble. But if we do not do the things of the Spirit, then those old things that once moved us will creep back into our lives. Something must be manifested within us that makes us become offensive and stop just trying to live defensively...

"The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore,   dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heir's of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering." (Romans 8:11-17) NLT