It’s important to shut down certain voices like sinful thoughts.  You don’t argue with those thoughts. You don’t examine those thoughts, you just cut them off in Jesus name. It is scriptural to talk to your soul.  David, if you remember, told his soul to bless the Lord (Psalm 103:1).  In last week’s podcast, we also talked about the multitude of arrows hitting the soul. The point being, we often live overloaded lives. How many irons in the fire can you have before it affects your ability to divide spirit and soul? How much mental angst can we have before our heads are roaring so much we can’t hear our hearts?  For this series finale, let’s go down two separate tracks as we look at the important idea of slowing ourselves down so we can better hear our hearts.

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In Order to Slow Down Ask Your Soul Questions

Psalm 42:5 (ESV)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

• The sons of Korah wrote Psalm 42:5.
• In that psalm, the psalmist talked to his soul also just like David did.
• But, he directed his remarks to his soul in the form of a question.
• He asked his soul the ‘why’ question.
• Why are you cast down oh my soul?
• Why are you down?
• Why are you depressed?

What is the advantage of asking your soul questions?

• It’s not like your soul knows the answer.
• It’s not like your soul is going to communicate and have a running conversation with you.
• Asking questions helps you to examine what’s going on.
• It causes you to slow down and examine ‘What’s ‘all that going on in my head?’
• It causes you to look at the traffic that’s going on in your head instead of just being carried along by your thoughts.
• Their is great virtue in slowing things down and putting your thoughts under the microscope of God’s Word.
• Have you ever just come to, you know got lost in your thoughts and all of a sudden you snapped out of it and you were embarrassed about what you were thinking on?
• Remember what the Word said, Cast down imaginations. Pull down logical conclusions.
• You see, you can control your soul by quoting the Word to it when it’s thought patterns are out of line.
• The Word is light Psalm 119 declares.
• Light always displays darkness.
• Light always set’s things in order.
• Ask your questions.
• What kind of thoughts are you thinking there up in my head?
• What is that thought about?
• Why are you thinking like this?
• Is this right?
• The key is slowing down enough to consider.

[Tweet “Their is great virtue in slowing down and putting your thoughts under the microscope of God’s Word.”]

Hastiness and the Soul

• In the realm of faith, haste has no place.

Isaiah 28:16 (ESV)
16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

• Faith is a rest not a rush.
• The enemy would like to push any human person into making quick decisions.
• Just bombard the head with thoughts.
• Overload the soul with additional arrows and push for a quick decision.
• Above all, discourage anyone from slowing down long enough to look at the Word.

Proverbs 19:2 (ESV)
2 Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

• Desire without knowledge is not enough.
• According to the wisest man on the planet at that time, the knowledge of God’s Word is necessary to not miss the way.
• It’s God’s clear direction that leads us to victory.
• A mess is always made in the muddled maze of overloaded thinking.

It’s Wise to Use God as Your Example of Pace

• God never gets in a hurry.
• When God desires fruit, He plants a seed and then he waits.
• He waits for the seed to germinate. He waits for the germinated seed to break ground.
• He waits for the tree to grow.
• He waits for the tree to through it’s maturing cycle which often takes years.
• He does all that waiting just to get one apple of that tree.
• Why not just take the short cut and make an apple?
• It’s not God’s way.
• When God desires a man to do a great work to build up the kingdom of God, what does He do?
• He puts into the heart of a couple to have a baby and then He waits.
• He waits for the child to become a toddler and then the toddler to become a young adolescent and then for the young adolescent to become a teenager an then for the teenager to become an adult.
• Many times He has to wait years for that man or that woman to answer the call.
• He may even have to wait years for Him to even recognize there’s a God who wants to have something to do with his or her life.
• But that’s okay. It God’s MO.
• It’s how He operates.
• Know that this is how your Father is, patient and never in a hurry.

Sometimes God waits until tomorrow before He acts on the problems of today.

2 Chronicles 20:1–4 (ESV)
1 After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi). 3 Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel.

• In the natural, it’s wonderfully maddening to have a slaughtereing hoard of enemy camped at your front door and then have God say, “You know what, let’s handle this tomorrow.”
• Your immediate reaction?
• “Why Lord, how about handling it today? Why wait until tommorrow?’
• If you could see it, like He sees it, you would understand that handling the problem tommorrow is no real problem at all.
• Faith says, “it’s no sweat, we can handle this tomorrow.’
• The same God who made today also holds tommorrow in His hand.
• There’s no need to be hasty.
• He’s already seen the problem long before it develops.
• Long before you ever even thought to talk to Him about the problem.

Isaiah 65:24 (KJV)
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

• We get all in a hurry so much of the time.

Proverbs 19:2 (ESV)
2 Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way.

• At times we feel pressured to make a decision.
• Our cramped up soul is telling us we have to do something or we are going to miss an opportunity.
• We have to do something or it will be too late.
• It’s never too late with God just ask Lazarus.
• Strike while the iron is hot, we tell ourselves.
• Does God do that?
• Does He strike when the iron is hot or does He strike when the appointed time has come?

Romans 5:6 (KJV)
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

• As a general rule of thumb understand and know ‘if it’s God today, it’s God tomorrow.’
• God has waited 6000 years to completely fix Adam’s transgression.
• What are we in such a hurry for?
• If you find yourself in a place where your soul is being bombarded, if your emotions are highly active, by all means wait on God and make no decisions of consequence.
• Being hasty is a sure way to error.

Clearing Out the Clutter

• It seems if you want to help yourself in these areas, then it’s necessary to simply your life.
• Ditch the overload.
• Clear out the clutter.
• The less clutter, the less arrows.
• Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the idea of adding another arrow to their collection, the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:5 (ESV)
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• The knowledge of good and evil they had acquired was in the physical sense realm.
• It was in the soul.
• It was soul knowledge.
• This knowledge did not enhance the Presence of God in their lives.
• It didn’t help them to grow spiritually.
• They didn’t know more about God by acquiring this knowledge.
• All this knowledge did was hinder them.
• Certain kinds of knowledge are not good to have in your arsenal.
• The truth is, you don’t have to know everything about everything.
• I know this runs counter to this ‘the public has a right to know’ information drenched society in which we live.
• There was a lot Adam didn’t know.
  • He didn’t know about the Name of Jesus although there was an enemy on planet earth.
  • He didn’t about resisting the devil though there was a serpent loose in the Garden.
  • He didn’t know about binding the strongman.
  • He didn’t know about the armor of God.
  • He didn’t know about any of these areas.
• But you know what?
• He didn’t need to know.
• He was so close to God, the wind of God would blow through his hair.
• Everything Adam needed was in the closeness of the relationship he had with God in the garden.
• It’s the same with us today.
• We probably don’t need to know as much as we may think we need to know.
• Do we really need to know everything that’s happening in the realm of television today?
• Are you sure you need to know all the local news, national news, political news, international news, technology news, soap opera news, lifestyles of the rich and famous news.
• We surely don’t need to know all the inner workings of the enemy.
• Not when the Word of God says to be simple concerning evil.

[Tweet “The more you are engulfed by the the light, the less likely you are to see the darkness.”]

Romans 16:19 (KJV)
19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

• We need to know God’s Word and we need to know about the area God has called us to.
• The point here is to get us to think about how much we may be spreading ourselves out trying to keep up with everything.
• Is it true that we may even be trying to keep up at the expense of spending time trying to know God better?
  • Have we laid down our Bibles for the tabloids?
  • Have we set aside reading the Word for reading the newspaper?
  • Have we set aside our prayer and devotional time just trying to keep up with all that we are involved with so we can stay in the know?
• Think about it.
• Consider the ninety-first psalm here.
• When you read it’s almost like you are reliving the experience Adam had with the Lord in the garden.

Psalm 91:1 (KJV)
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

• Getting into the shadow of someone is getting pretty close, wouldn’t you say?
• What is the result of being so close to the Lord?

Psalm 91:10 (NKJV)
10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

• Can you now see why being ‘simple concerning evil’ works?
• You don’t have to concern yourself with the attacks of evil.
• Just get into God’s shadow.
• You don’t have to think about the newest plague in the land. It won’t befall you anyway.
• These are less arrows pointing to my head.
• Don’t have to think about that stuff.
• Some people say, “I’m just fighting the devil.”
• Why waste your time?
• The enemy is insignificant when your walking with God in the cool of the day, when you are abiding in God’s shadow.
• The more you are engulfed by the the light, the less likely you are to see the darkness.

Call to Action:

The call today is a call to simplify. It’s a call to clear out the clutter. It’s a call to slow down. How will you answer the call? What will you do differently today? How will you put the Word into action in your everyday life?

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Question: What have you done to simplify your life and de-clutter your soul? Please leave your comments in the comments section below.