Which Way Will Your Soul Pivot?

(Isaiah 26:3 KJV)  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”.  We have been looking at Isaiah 26:3 for over a week.  We will go back to this verse again today, but within a broader context.  The Lord has spoken to me about living this year out with a level of focus that exceeds any previous year.  This year I am determined to cooperate with God in order to maximize the purpose and potential He has placed down in me from the foundations of the world.  I pray you take the same approach.  With that in mind, I will share with you the thought God gave me this morning.

We are called to live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God (see Mat 4:4 & Duet 8:3).  In other words, we are called and commanded to live by faith (see Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11 & Heb 10:38).  In order to live by faith our soul must decide to do so.  Allow me to explain.  Let’s imagine for a minute.  Picture the three parts of you as separate entities.  You are a spirit, you possess a soul and your spirit and soul in a body.  Your soul is in the center and it contains your mind.  Your mind is the control center of your life.  In your mind you decide which side to accept influence from.  Your spirit, which is Born-Again and connected to the Holy Spirit, is your only connection to God.  Your spirit receives divine input from God Spirit-to-spirit.  Your body, on the other hand, is nothing but flesh.  Your body cannot communicate with God.  Your body communicates with this world through its senses.  

Daily your soul is receiving spiritual input from God and sensual input from this world.  Your mind, at the center of your being, must then decide which way to pivot your soul.  If your soul pivots in the direction of your spirit, you will accept, embrace and experience divine results.  This is how you live a supernatural life.  But if your soul pivots in the direction of your body, you will live solely based on sense-realm evidence.  Living this way your life will be completely natural.  So the question is, which way will your soul pivot?        

So what does this mean to you today? I have two main points.

1.  Your soul decides.

a.  Your soul receives constant input from both your body (natural and sensual) and your spirit (supernatural and spiritual).

b.  Your soul contains your mind.  Your mind is the control center of your life.  In your mind you decide to either accept the input from your body (natural) or the input from your spirit (supernatural).

c.  The more your mind is renewed, the more conditioned you will be to accept the things of God.

d.  The more Word you get down in your heart, the more apt you will be to live by that Word.

e.  God’s Word and His plans for your life are established.  Your role is to now condition your mind to pursue His plans, by His grace, for His glory.

2.  Living by faith means you are not moved by your senses.

a.  Living by faith means you are sure of what you hope for (based on what God said) and certain of what you cannot validate with your senses (Heb 11:1).

b.  God is a spirit.  Therefore, His instructions are spiritual, not sensual.  To live by faith you must accept what God said, even when you cannot validate it with sense-realm evidence.

c.  Satan will do all He can to present sense-realm evidence that is contrary to the Word God spoke to you.  If you have the discipline to keep your mind fixed and focused on what God said, you will have perfect peace (Isa 26:3).  If you don’t, you will succumb to the pressure of this world, you will fall back on your senses, and your faith will fail.

Closing Confession:   Father, this is a season of refined focus for me.  You made plans for me before the world began.  Your plans for my life are established.  Your written Word is also established.  You now give me spoken Words that line up with Your written Word and the plans You already made for me.  I declare by faith that I live by both what You said in Your written Word and what You are saying to me every day.  I condition my soul to pivot towards my spirit.  This way I accept, embrace and experience what the Holy Spirit is saying to me daily.  I choose the Holy Spirit over my flesh, spiritual over sensual, and supernatural over natural every day.  No matter how much pressure I feel to accept the input from this world over Your Word, I refuse to do so.  I am the just and I live by faith.  I live by every Word that proceeds from out of Your mouth.  You keep me in perfect peace because my mind is stayed on You… because I trust You!  I declare this by faith!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.