POSSESS YOUR SOUL
By Dr. Betty R. Price

Luke 21:19, it says, By your patience, possess your souls.

Our souls and bodies are not saved; only our spirits are saved when we’re born-again. In the soulish area, is the area where the majority of the problems are in the Body of Christ. Many times people get the soul and spirit mixed up and sometimes they act in the soulish area thinking they are in the spirit.

Your soul contains your will, your emotions, your intellect and your desires. It makes up your personality; that’s the thing that makes you different, makes you you and makes me me. So we have to possess or take control of our souls that’s what possess means. We have to take control of our souls, because if we don’t, then we’re never going to reach the goal that we should in our Christian life.

Man is a three-part creature made up of spirit, soul and body. The spiritual man is dominated by the Spirit of God. When man’s spirit is indwelled by the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit energizes the renewed human spirit. This means that we have to get our minds and souls renewed by the Word of God. The Spirit of God and the Spirit of His Word are the same. Because God is not coming down here in person, we have to spend time in His Word. Too many people are run by their soulish area because most of the time they do not hear God’s Word. They go to church and they hear some nice energetic message and then they live the rest of the week on emotion. But, their spirits haven’t been fed.

The carnal man is the one that’s dominated by the flesh and fleshly habits or desires. The flesh has a lot of power and so if the soul hasn’t been renewed by the Word of God, then the soul will go down to the level of what the flesh is telling it. That’s why we’re always in trouble as Christians. Instead of being dominated by God’s Word, we are dominated by our emotions, desires and feelings.

At the new birth, we receive a new spirit. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “if any man is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature.” That means our spirit is born-again, but our body and soul is not affected in the new birth. It is our spirit’s responsibility to control our soul and body.

Romans 12:1-2 says:

1.	I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present our bodies [not our spirits] a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable [intelligent] service.
2.	And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, [we renew our minds by the Word of God] that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

If we would renew our minds on the Word of God, we would prove what is that good, perfect and acceptable Will of God. But I know that a lot of Christians are not doing so because Christians do too many things contrary to the Word of God. They haven’t dealt with that soulish area so that’s why they can do so many things like not love one another, hating, lying and doing all kinds of evil things. When you have renewed your mind then you’ll do what the Word of God says and He says to love one another. If you loved me you wouldn’t lie about me, you wouldn’t gossip about me, so that’s an act of our will and all of that comes out of the soulish area.

The soul, which includes the intellect, imagination, thought, will and affections are governed by the life of the first Adam, which is fallen, and corrupt. Therefore, it is open to every power of the devil, if we don’t renew our minds by the Word of God. This fallen nature all started when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This sin nature was passed on to their children, Cain and Abel.

God told Cain, you don’t have to be upset with Abel because you have the same opportunity to do what’s right. But, Cain didn’t choose to do what was right, he went on and killed Abel.

Genesis 4:3-7says:

3.	And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4.	Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5.	but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6.	So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7.	"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

I used to wonder why God took favor over Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. I can understand the reason now. Let’s read verse 7 again, God said to Cain, "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

God says that sin’s desire is in us, but we should rule over it. So that’s what we need to do with our souls, we are to rule over it. What we have done is overlook things and we don’t take or rule over them. When we do not take possession of them they end up messing us up. But, I think when they ate of the fruit (this is my own revelation); when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil some of us got more good and some got more evil. That has to be what it is! Why would some people be so mean and others are so nice? And, there are some people that are not even born-again and they’re nicer than some Christians. This explains how some Christians mistreat one another, talk about one another instead of doing what God’s Word says pray for one another and love one another.

Romans 6:11 tells us to reckon ourselves to be dead to sin and alive unto God. We must crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Galatians 5:24). So we as Christians must possess our souls which again is our will, our emotions, our desires and our intellect.

This article by Dr. Betty was excerpted from her teaching
delivered during Wisdom From Above luncheon 2004.