Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. (Corrie ten Boom)
And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from the Christ, rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts, deciding and settling with finally all questions that arise in your minds ..And be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always.
(Colossians 3:15, The Amplified Bible)
Soul Harmony, sounds like a disco band from the seventies. But still, the term soul harmony is an accurate description of inner peace. I believe that as human beings we are composed of three parts. We have a body or a vehicle to move about with, we have a spirit, which is eternal and lives on, and we have a soul made up of our mind our emotions, and our will. When our soul has conflicts within, we have no inner peace. Some examples of soul conflict in my life would be when my emotions are stable, and my will seems to line up with what God wants for me, but my mind is racing. I might have facts that I am trying to remember, calendar dates coming up, scheduled appointments, and on top of that I impose the everyday tasks of living, and I find one part of my soul, the mind to be overwhelming. The result will be no inner peace. Then on the other hand if my mind seems to be stable, but my emotions are flared up because of any number of self-centered character defects such as fear, anger, resentments, jealousy, or self-pity, I find myself once again without that precious inner peace that I strive for. Another example is when my mind is stable and my emotions are level, but my actions are not up to par. My behavior might be out of what I know to be Gods will for my life, and deep in my soul covered up by layers of denial can be found some guilt and remorse. I am responsible for my own will and will power, and if what I am doing I know to be wrong, the result will be no inner peace. In times when I feel a well being about myself I find my soul to be in harmony with itself. I remember when I was in the grips of a terminal addiction to drugs and alcohol, how there would be no peace in my life. As I would pour into my belly the burning liquid, a sense of calm would come over me and I would feel a sensation of well being. My mind would lie to me and tell me that my soul was in harmony. Everything would be all right for a few hours until I woke up, head hurting, body bruised, in a spiritual void, and emotionally drained. With my soul singing a dissonant chord, the solution seemed to be alcohol, which once again would appear to bring harmony to my soul. It took years of this cycle taking place to come to the realization that my mind had been lying to me. In AA we have a slogan, To Thine Own Self Be True, these few words can bring the mind and emotions into harmony. For the orchestra to play in harmony it takes a conductor. For my soul to be in harmony it also takes a conductor, or an umpire as the Amplified Bible has it. I am so grateful that today I am not alone in my mind. I have a living and loving God that settles the disputes I find going on within my body, spirit and soul. At times I may object to the call that the umpire makes, but complaining does nothing but prolong and make the situation worse. I live and learn. Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself ..JRE
And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from the Christ, rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts, deciding and settling with finally all questions that arise in your minds ..And be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always.
(Colossians 3:15, The Amplified Bible)
Soul Harmony, sounds like a disco band from the seventies. But still, the term soul harmony is an accurate description of inner peace. I believe that as human beings we are composed of three parts. We have a body or a vehicle to move about with, we have a spirit, which is eternal and lives on, and we have a soul made up of our mind our emotions, and our will. When our soul has conflicts within, we have no inner peace. Some examples of soul conflict in my life would be when my emotions are stable, and my will seems to line up with what God wants for me, but my mind is racing. I might have facts that I am trying to remember, calendar dates coming up, scheduled appointments, and on top of that I impose the everyday tasks of living, and I find one part of my soul, the mind to be overwhelming. The result will be no inner peace. Then on the other hand if my mind seems to be stable, but my emotions are flared up because of any number of self-centered character defects such as fear, anger, resentments, jealousy, or self-pity, I find myself once again without that precious inner peace that I strive for. Another example is when my mind is stable and my emotions are level, but my actions are not up to par. My behavior might be out of what I know to be Gods will for my life, and deep in my soul covered up by layers of denial can be found some guilt and remorse. I am responsible for my own will and will power, and if what I am doing I know to be wrong, the result will be no inner peace. In times when I feel a well being about myself I find my soul to be in harmony with itself. I remember when I was in the grips of a terminal addiction to drugs and alcohol, how there would be no peace in my life. As I would pour into my belly the burning liquid, a sense of calm would come over me and I would feel a sensation of well being. My mind would lie to me and tell me that my soul was in harmony. Everything would be all right for a few hours until I woke up, head hurting, body bruised, in a spiritual void, and emotionally drained. With my soul singing a dissonant chord, the solution seemed to be alcohol, which once again would appear to bring harmony to my soul. It took years of this cycle taking place to come to the realization that my mind had been lying to me. In AA we have a slogan, To Thine Own Self Be True, these few words can bring the mind and emotions into harmony. For the orchestra to play in harmony it takes a conductor. For my soul to be in harmony it also takes a conductor, or an umpire as the Amplified Bible has it. I am so grateful that today I am not alone in my mind. I have a living and loving God that settles the disputes I find going on within my body, spirit and soul. At times I may object to the call that the umpire makes, but complaining does nothing but prolong and make the situation worse. I live and learn. Thanks for letting me share. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself ..JRE
