How You Interact with the Spiritual Realm Daily (Body, Soul, Spirit EXPLAINED)

When you were born again, you received a new nature, a supernatural nature. You were born again of the Spirit. Now, I wanna reveal from the Scripture the truth about how you interact with the spiritual realm. I'm explaining the differences between spirit, soul, and body, and this will help to bring a lot of clarity, not just concerning your own identity, but also how you interact with the spiritual realm, why you feel certain things at certain times and certain times you don't. But first, I want you to comment in the comment section right now, Let this be your public prayer of faith. Write these 3 simple words, take me deeper, because I believe you're going to deeper depths in the Spirit as you hear the Word of God. Now, the Holy Spirit has much to offer the believer. There is power untapped, lying dormant within you that you might not be using. Every believer has the Holy Spirit. When we are born again, we don't get a new convert Holy Spirit. We don't get a baby Holy Spirit. We don't get just a portion of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you in the fullness of his presence and power. You get all of the Holy Spirit the very moment you're born again. Sadly, many times we think about the Holy Spirit as if he's a reward for good behavior, but truly the Holy Spirit was deposited in you as a guarantee As a mark of God's divine favor and blessing upon your life. He seals that salvation that God has gifted to you when you believe. Now that power rests in you. Now all that God has for you has already been deposited. It's just a matter of walking in that power. So this really is the secret to unleashing the power and the ministry of the Holy Spirit within your life, because everything that he has and all that he is, has already been deposited in you. Now I know it may not feel like that sometimes. I know at times you might feel like you lack power or you lack peace or you lack joy or you lack love or you lack revelation, or maybe you lack holiness or grace or compassion. Maybe you lack the boldness that you need to step into the call of God. Maybe that's how you feel, but I promise you, you lack nothing in Christ. So to understand how all of this works, to understand how you interact with the spiritual realm, how the spiritual realm affects you, and how the earthly realm affects you, you first need to understand that man has 3 components to his nature. Now, you are not a Trinity. You're not 3 persons, 1 human. You are a human with 3 aspects or 3 parts of your nature. And that is your spirit, your soul, and your body. You are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body. I wanna say that again, get this in your mind. You are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body. Your true identity is ultimately the spirit. Your true identity is ultimately that part of you that connects with God, that already is connected with God. And so, as we begin to understand these 3 different aspects of our nature, a lot of things begin to make sense. Prayer makes sense. Ministry makes sense. Your relationship with God, at least your interaction with the Lord, begins to make sense. Why you feel certain things, as I mentioned a moment ago, why you feel certain things at certain times and you don't feel certain things at certain other times. All of that's gonna make sense as you begin to understand these different components of your nature. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says this, Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way. And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. So here we see in scripture that there's a distinguishing line between body and soul and spirit. Now, let me be very careful about the way I say this, because I don't wanna cause a misunderstanding. When it comes to your spirit and your soul, though these are 2 different aspects of your nature, That line of distinction is not as bold as some of us have been led to believe. Like, for example, maybe you've seen the illustrations where there's a body, a soul, and a spirit, like 3 sections, and they're very clearly walled off from one another. Now, I think those illustrations are helpful. I myself use those illustrations. I think I used those illustrations in one or 2 of my books. So they're helpful to a degree, but they don't necessarily give us the whole picture, especially when it pertains to the soul and the spirit, because there is a little bit more crossover between soul and spirit than we realize. Again, it's not this very clear, distinct line that creates these compartments. Though again, visualizing it that way can help you understand certain things, but we can't forget about the nuance because the scripture does describe this mingling of the soul and spirit, that they're not exactly separate, especially in Old Testament perspective. We don't have time to get into that, but especially in the Old Testament perspective, it was understood that the soul and the spirit had more of a connection than we realize for the most part and how we talk about it today. So let me just create these distinctions using the scripture, or I should say, highlight these distinctions using the scripture, But all the while, keep in the back of your mind that soul and spirit aren't exactly compartmentalized to the point where they're absolutely distinct from one another. I think this may be just be describing different functions of the human experience. So first we have body. Now your body is your earth suit. This is how you communicate and interact with the physical world around you. These are your senses, what you see, what you hear. What you feel. Your body is how you are tethered to the earthly realm. Now we understand that when the body is broken to a certain point, there's a disconnect from this realm and you are completely and totally only connected to the spirit realm. But again, this is how you interact with the world around you. It's how you interact with other people for the most part, because the conversations you have are communicated in the physical realm. When you see one another, that's done in the physical realm. So we interact with those who are also here upon the earth using our physical bodies. Now the body is not inherently evil, because I think that we get this picture in our mind concerning the body. And we imagine that the physical body is in and of itself a sinful thing. Part of this misunderstanding comes from the fact that sometimes in the New Testament, when you see the word flesh, that word flesh is describing the physical being. And other times when you see the word flesh, that word is describing the sin nature or the cravings of the sin nature. And so sometimes the word flesh means body, other times the word flesh means sin nature. And because of that crossover with the terminology, We just get it in our minds that the body is outright wicked, evil, demonic, all unto itself. But really, your body can be used as an instrument of disobedience, but it can also be used as an instrument of obedience. In fact, the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, what know ye not, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? So we see that the physical body is actually the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit's presence in a physical way. So your body is your earth suit. Your body can be used for good or for evil, but you are not your body. You are a spirit who has a soul that lives in a body. The body is just a tool. The body is just a vehicle that carries the rest of the aspects of who you are. Now, this is not where you find your identity. When you look in the mirror and you see your reflection, you're seeing the reflection of your body, but you're not seeing the reflection of your identity. You can see your face, but you're not looking at your spirit. You can see your features, but you're not looking at the soul. Instead, you are looking at the physical vehicle that you are using to experience the world around you. And when you begin to think about it this way, it helps you to be more heavenly minded. It helps you to be more aware of the supernatural when you recognize that this physical body is just the connection between you and the earthly realm. But again, You are not your body. Your body can be used for good or for evil. So that's number one, that's your body. And then we look at the soul. Now the soul is the realm of decision, your mind, your will, your emotions, your personality. You might've heard that, but why do we say that? Why do we say that the soul consists of the mind, the will, and the emotions? I'll give you one example, Psalm chapter 40, Psalm 42:11. Why art thou downcast, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. So the psalmist here is describing this sense of depression, this emotion of sadness and dismay. Now, where does that emotion express itself? Where is that emotion felt? Why so downcast, O my soul? So the soul is definitely one of the places where emotions express themselves. Now, the definition of soul, according to the Strong's Interlinear Reference for this particular portion of scripture, Psalm 42:11, we take that word soul here. And the definition is a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion. So it's your mind, it's what you think. Your will, what you desire. Your emotions, what you feel. Your personality, how you express those different aspects of the soul. And also we know that the soul is the realm of the mind, the will, the emotions, and the personality, because the Scripture makes a distinction between body, soul, and spirit, and then goes on to clearly describe what the body and the spirit are. And therefore, by simple deductive reasoning, we are left with the rest of the aspects and expressions of the human nature, and therefore what's left over and not described as soul, or excuse me, not described as spirit and body, are by deductive reasoning seen to be the soul. But again, as it pertains to the soul and spirit, remember there is still some crossover there. For example, like this strange doctrine that gained some popularity in 2020 or so, but thankfully is now becoming fringe again, this doctrine that Christians can have demons. The idea they would say things like, well, you know, the demon can't dwell in the body 'cause the Holy Spirit's in the body. It can't dwell in the spirit because the Holy Spirit's there. Oh, but it can dwell in the soul. All the while, people who say that don't realize there's actually a lot more crossover between soul and spirit. But that's just one example of how making that line of distinction too bold can lead to a misunderstanding of your own nature. Whatever the Holy Spirit is doing in your spirit definitely affects the soul. So this is the neutral ground. This is the place of decision. This is where you exercise your free will. Now, if you try to encounter God using the body, that's religion. If you try to encounter God using the soul, that's emotionalism. True encounters with God originate from the mind. from the Spirit. True encounters with God are inspired by the Spirit. Now, if the Holy Spirit moves you, if the Holy Spirit begins to affect your life, if the Holy Spirit should reveal the Lord Jesus to you in some way, then naturally you may react to that encounter with emotion. You may react to that encounter with some celebratory expression in the physical body. For example, praising, dancing, shouting, clapping. These are expressions of praise that come from that revelation of the Spirit. However, you cannot clap, sing, jump, or shout your way into an encounter with God, nor can you feel your way into an encounter with God. And I wanna be very careful about how I say this because I wanna make sure we see that very subtle distinction. Can an encounter with God cause you to shout and dance and sing and jump and praise? Absolutely. Can an encounter with God cause you to feel emotions? Absolutely. Can an encounter with God cause you to physically feel his power on your physical being? Absolutely. But a true encounter with God begins from the inside and then goes outward, man's attempt at connecting with God begins outward and we think it'll affect us inwardly. So when you view worship as a performance to gain God's approval and acceptance, then you begin to forget about the work of the cross. Then you begin to forget about the fact that you are already connected to the Holy Spirit, that he already dwells in you. But when you recognize that you have this relationship with the Holy Spirit, that you have God's approval, that you are his child, that he already loves you, it is out of that relationship that you begin to express thanks unto God through things like worship and praise. And so our encounters with him can certainly cause us to express emotion and express Physical celebration. But physical celebration and emotion cannot take you into an encounter with God. When you try to encounter God through physical actions alone, that is religion, that is legalism. When you try to encounter God through the use of emotion and intellect, that is emotionalism. And my friend, that is humanism. Amen. I'm cutting to the root of where New Ageism and humanism come from, even to some degree paganism, because it's to try to treat the spiritual realm as if it's transactional, as if I can do something in my own power and strength to cause the Spirit to move upon me. Now you obey him and he'll do what he does, but you can't force the Holy Spirit to do anything. And so we recognize the place of the body. It can be used as an expression of what is happening in the spirit, but it can never cause something to happen in the spirit. The same is true of the mind and the emotions. And so I like to say, you can sing without a revelation, you can dance without a revelation, you can shout and clap without a revelation, but you can't worship without a revelation, for all true worship comes from first the spirit. So just to recap, before we start talking about the spirit, we saw that the body is like unto an earth suit, It's how you interact with the world around you. It's not inherently evil unto itself. And also it's what keeps you tethered to this realm. But if you try to seek God from the body alone, that's religion. Then we saw the soul, it's the realm of decision, the mind, will, emotions, and personality. We concluded that based upon the definition of soul from Strong's Interlinear. This was an Old Testament reference. So that would be Hebrew, that's Psalm 42:11. a word definition search over there from that scripture. And then also by deductive reasoning, we saw what was left over. What is described as the body is one thing, what is described as the spirit is another, and the body and the soul and the spirit, biblically speaking, are different from one another. And so by deductive reasoning, we see what aspects are left to be expressed in the soul. Now I'm gonna read something interesting to you. It's found in Matthew 10:28. Don't be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. You notice what's missing here? What's missing here is the Spirit. Because those who are born again of the Spirit do not experience the torments of hell. Now, the Spirit is your connection with God. Before you were saved, you were dead in your trespasses. You were dead in sin. When you are born again, you become alive unto Christ. You're born again of the Spirit. I'll read a portion of scripture here found in John chapter 3. I'll read verses 5 and onward. Jesus answered, verily I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it, you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. So when your mother gave birth to you, you were born into this world with a physical body. Physical body has the senses. If you're healthy, all of them, you can see, you can hear, you can touch, you can taste, you can smell, and you exist here physically in this world. Jesus is saying that when you are born again, you are born again of the Spirit. Now you're born again with spiritual sight and spiritual hearing and spiritual sense. You're alive now unto that realm. Before you were born again, you were dead to that realm. You were not aware of that realm. You had no sense of that realm. Your spirit is who you are. If you're a born-again believer. Your spirit is the source of your identity. This is the very depth of your being. Remember what Jesus said. Jesus said, out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Think about that, your innermost being. The body is the outermost. The soul is the middle ground. The spirit is the innermost being. So think about yourself in layers. Remember though, that each layer touches the others. So again, there's not necessarily this distinct line between them. So the influence of the Holy Spirit to some degree affects every aspect of your life. And that degree of influence depends upon the degree of your surrender. So your spirit is the very depth of who you are. The very depth of your being. And this is actually where fellowship with the Holy Spirit takes place. 1 Corinthians 2:9 and onward, one of my favorite portions of scripture right here. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit, for his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit. And no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. And we have received God's Spirit, not the world's spirit, so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it. For only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him? But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. This is, by the way, where I get the title, one of the titles for the Holy Spirit as the mind of Christ, because it's the Holy Spirit who searches the deep things of God. So no one knows you like your spirit knows you, your innermost being. And no one knows God's spirit like the Holy Spirit knows, or no one knows God like the Holy Spirit knows. He searches the mind of God. He understands the will of God, the ways of God, the nature of God, the power of God, the plans of God. the complexities of God, he understands all of it. And he takes these wonderful treasures of revelation concerning God, and he shares them with you. Where does this take place? This takes place in the Spirit. So this is why at times you may wonder why you feel God in some seasons and why you don't feel him in others. Why you feel like praying in some seasons and why you don't feel like praying in others, where you have kind of this ebb and flow. Now I'm gonna show you something here. You can choose to live either from the exterior or from the interior. What do I mean by that? Well, imagine that there are 3 individuals standing before you shoulder to shoulder. All facing the same way. And the one in the middle can either face the one on the left or the one on the right. So 3 people standing in front of you, they're all facing you, and the one in the middle turns to one or the other. What are those one or the other on the sides? That's the body and that's the spirit. Now, most Christians sadly live their lives facing exterior. They're looking primarily through the eyes of the physical body. Now remember, the eyes of the physical body are not necessarily evil. However, if you see from this perspective only, all you're going to be receiving are the things of the world. Even the revelation you receive of God will come from the exterior. You're receiving teaching and preaching and sermons and content. Nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing wrong with having an experience as a human being in the earthly realm. That's where God put us. He designed this world. It's his world, by the way. But when we face outwardly, then the circumstances that occur around us affect the emotions and the thoughts within us. Please hear this. I know this is for someone watching right now or someone listening. If you're listening to the audio, this could be for you too. The Holy Spirit lives within you. Yes, he also dwells in the physical body, but that influence can either come from within to without or from without to within. Now, when you're facing the exterior, everything around you is shifting constantly, up and down, back and forth. On some days, good things are happening. On other days, bad things are happening. On some days, the finances look great. Other days, not so much. On some days, you feel connected with others. On other days, you feel completely disconnected from everyone. On some days, you feel physically refreshed. On other days, you're just physically drained. And sometimes, if you hit one of those weeks, it all hits at once. And you have a choice now. Do I face the exterior and have everything within me unstable? Or do I face the other way? Because you know, this is gonna challenge you right here. You know you're an outward-facing Christian if your emotions are constantly up and down. You know you're an outward-facing Christian if your thoughts are constantly chaotic and confusing. Why? Because I'm facing outward. facing outward. But there's a shift that you can make. And here's the problem. Christians think that their breakthrough is gonna come through some dramatic change of exterior circumstances. And by the way, many Christians use that word breakthrough as code for the day I never have to struggle again in my life. I can't wait for my breakthrough. And in the back of their minds, they think breakthrough is the day that everything works out perfectly all the time for it. If you think breakthrough means that you'll never have any troubles and everything will work out exactly as you want it to work out, breakthrough's never coming. But if you see breakthrough as a shift internally that allows you to live and think victoriously, even in life's most challenging circumstances, then that's the right definition for breakthrough. Because breakthrough doesn't always mean a change in circumstance. Sometimes breakthrough isn't a major change in circumstance. Most of the time, breakthrough is a small shift in internal perspective. Just a slight variation within. Instead of staring outward, you now shift to inward. And when I say inward, I'm not saying look unto self. I'm saying that self now begins to look unto the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17 tells us that the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Psalm 42:7 says, deep calleth unto deep, the noise of thy waterspouts, at the noise of thy waterspouts, and thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. This is talking about that inner fellowship, that inner knowing, that inner— Peace. Stability. To face inward is to face the Spirit, to live in that way. Let me tell you something that maybe you don't believe, but it's true. You have the mind of Christ. You already know God. You already have power. You already have revelation. In the Spirit, you're already one with God. What does the Bible say? He that is joined to the Lord is one. Spirit with him, period. Are you joined to the Lord? You're not 2 spirits, you're one spirit with God. He's already joined with you. And that's the deposit, that's the guarantee. So all that God has for you is already yours. You don't need more love. You don't need more peace. You don't need more power. You just need to make use of that which God has already placed in you. Amen. So when you pray, are you praying from the outer shells? If I pace enough, if I shout enough, God will hear me. If I cry enough, if I feel enough, God will hear me. Or the Spirit, I know I'm already connected. When you read the Word, are you reading from just the outer shell, just the intellect? Or are you reading the Word with the help of the Holy Spirit within you? When you worship, are you just giving outer expression for something you don't really see? sense in the Spirit, or are you allowing what you know in the Spirit to bring forth true Spirit-led worship? When you serve in the church and you serve in the ministry, are you doing this from an outer sense of obligation or an inner stirring of the Holy Ghost? And this is why many believers are tired, because they're giving from the wrong source. They're giving from the physical, they're giving from the soul rather than giving from the Spirit deep within. Because when you give from the Spirit, it keeps flowing. It's a river that never runs dry. You can give and give and give and give, and you never grow tired. Why? Because you're giving from the Spirit. So it's not a matter of you getting more of the Holy Spirit. It's a matter of the Holy Spirit getting more of you. It's a matter of learning to face inwardly so that you allow that peace to affect you. And when you're facing inwardly, the Holy Spirit does not change. The Holy Spirit does not shift up and down like your circumstances do. And so with that, With that focus on the Holy Spirit, with the focus on Jesus now, nothing can change you in a bad way. Nothing can move you from off of your commitment. Nothing can trip you up. Why? Because no matter what's going on around me, I have that fellowship within me. No matter what's going on around me, somewhere, even if I can't, Please hear this. Even if I can't understand it in my mind, and even if I can't feel it in my emotions, peace is in my spirit. So then spiritual growth isn't really your spirit growing. It's your spirit gaining influence over the rest of who you are. Revelation isn't really me getting new knowledge. Revelation is when that which I already know in my spirit actually begins to affect the outer shells of who I am. That's what it means to live in the spirit. So you talk about, what does it mean to live in the spirit? Well, live in the influence of the spirit, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in obedience to the Holy Spirit, trusting the Holy Spirit. To face inward. And that's the place of retreat. Because when there's nowhere else to go, I mean, when things are upside down, they're upside down. There's nowhere to turn. You turn to people, people fail you. You turn maybe to finances, maybe you're struggling there. Maybe you have an issue in your health. You turn— To God. And from the outer shells, there's pain, there's disconnect, there's sorrow, there's trouble. In those seasons and in every season, you can retreat to the inner place. What do I mean by that? I simply, when I say inner place, I just mean turn your focus to Jesus. And out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water.