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The International Order of St Luke the Physician

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Nurturing The Human Spirit

    
 

Beula Cooke

    
       

 

  Scripture talks about an assembly of the firstborn ... of the spirits of the righteous made perfect.  (Hebrews 12:23)  This is a picture of Christians whose human spirits are so healed that they portray the Christian gathering as God intended.  The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord and searches the depths of our heart.  (Pr. 20:27)  If our spirits were completely whole in Christ Jesus, we would be lights that would stand out and illuminate our dark world.  Assembled together we would project a beacon of light!  If we have joined ourselves to the Lord Jesus we are one spirit with Him (1Co 6:17)  and it is the light of Christ Jesus which shines out from the assembly.

    
       Despite secular philosophy that has infiltrated into Christian theology, we do have a human spirit.  Aristotle, Augustine, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin all said “Man is body and soul.”  Plato, Pseudo-Dionysius and Thomas Aquinas all said, “Man is body and soul; the soul of man is that part of him that is spiritual.”  Many Christians have been so influenced by this philosophy that they do not realize they have a human spirit, distinct from the soul and from Holy Spirit.  They have believed that they have soul, body and a bit of Holy Spirit influencing the soul; however, scripture has much to say about our human spirit.     
       Paul prays in 1Th 5:23 that the God of peace Himself sanctify us entirely; and that our spirit, soul and body be preserved complete, without blame.  He exhorts us to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. (2 Co 7:1)  David prayed in Ps 51:10 that God would renew a steadfast spirit within him.     
     A dormant spirit is like a balloon lying flat just waiting to be blown up.  A fully healed functioning human spirit will soar like a balloon filled with helium. 

A dormant spirit is like a balloon lying flat just waiting to be blown up.  A fully healed functioning human spirit will soar like a balloon filled with helium

The healed human spirit will be one with God’s spirit.  Our western culture emphasizes soul and body, neglecting nurture of the spirit.  The secular healing professions support soul and body with medical and psychological treatment.  Only Christians can understand how God heals the human spirit.  Unfortunately many Christians are not even aware that they have a human spirit.  They minister inner healing, deliverance and healing of memories to the soul.  Their souls and bodies are well developed, but their spirits are in various states—dormant, crushed, fearful/timid, imprisoned, defiled, broken, starved, orphaned, unanchored, functioning at some level or fully functioning.

    
 

     God cares deeply that our human spirits are whole.  He loves us and desires to fellowship with us through His Spirit in our spirit.  Though we as His created people are very precious to Him, our human spirit is key because our spirit is that part of us that connects with His Spirit.  Since He so desires this intimacy with us, He especially desires to nurture and mature our human spirit into the function that He designed for it originally.  Our worship is very precious to God.  In worship God has access to our spirits to nurture and develop them.  The more we mature in worship, the greater is our ability to hear from God and enjoy intimate conversation with Him.

You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in Your providence watched over my spirit. (Job 10:12)

Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?  James 4:5  

    
       The human spirit, in right spiritual alignment with the Holy Spirit will be nurtured by Father God.  Holy Spirit will feed life with comfort and encouragement; truth and knowledge; conviction of right and wrong; strength and power into our human spirit. When we have aligned our spirits with Jesus’ Spirit, we bring the Light of Christ Jesus through our spirits, souls and bodies to the world.  We are able to meet people spirit to spirit.  Spiritual life flows out from us as the water flows from the temple. Ezek 47.  Rev 22:1    
       The sensitive Christian living from the spirit is very vulnerable. When you open your spirit (your 'inner being') to someone else, you risk your spirit being trampled on.  In the Temple, the Holy of Holies is on the inside, the Inner Sanctuary next and then the Outer Court.   The Holy of Holies is like the human spirit.  It is that inner part of a person which needs to be guarded and treasured, but ready to be revealed to those who wish to draw near and meet, spirit to spirit.    
       A healed human spirit is empowered and strengthened by Holy Spirit.  As human spirits are nurtured and healed God is able to breathe new life into His body. Members of the body can be life givers to one another.  Human spirits have tremendous power to give life or death.  We will be able to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for our spirits will be sanctified by Holy Spirit.  The bible record shows that Jesus was continually teaching and/or ministering, or seeking the Father in prayer.  Even when He went to social events, He did miracles—the wedding in Cana.  As our spirits are healed we will be able to be seamlessly in the world and not of it and bring light to the world.  Healed human spirits serve Christ the King, building His Kingdom rather than their own.    
       If a Christian does not understand that He has a human spirit, his soul will usurp dominion over spirit and body and deaden the spirit.  God is Spirit.  The highest form of life is spirit life.  When the spirit of a Christian leads the soul and the body the Christian can be more Christ-like, enjoying life in the spirit.     
       The purpose of our human spirit is to fellowship with God, be led by Holy Spirit and this can only be enjoyed when our spirit is nurtured and healed to maturity so that we know that our spirit is communicating with Holy Spirit.     
 

       Jesus’ viewpoint was from eternity.  Perceiving in the spirit, not thinking through the knowledge of the soul, enables this fellowship with God.  The soul lives the worldly life and is incapable of living the Christian life.  Only through our spirits can we live the Christian life. 

     We have no higher calling than to pursue that which Jesus Christ pursued while He sojourned on this planet—to know, walk in, walk with, enter into fellowship with our indwelling God.   Jesus is able to pass His higher spiritual life form to us.  As He lived by His Father, so we shall live by Him. John 6:5.  When we are born anew from above we receive God’s own life (uncreated and spiritual).  We become partakers of the divine nature. (2Peter 1:4)  The Christian becomes an organic expression of the divine life.  As the human spirit is indwelt by Holy spirit and made one with Christ Jesus in his spirit, the soul is also transformed.

     A healthy plant has deep roots buried deeper than the plant growth above ground.  Healthy well balanced Christians have deep spiritual roots in the rich spiritual ground of Christ Jesus.  Dig deeper into scripture to understand how Holy Spirit fellowships with your spirit, nurturing and healing.  May your spirit, through the power of Holy Spirit soar to new spiritual heights (like a helium balloon).  May your human spirit rise in dominion over your soul and body, bringing nurture and healing to both so that you shine brightly through the lamp of your spirit!

Resources:   God’s Power to Change: Healing the Wounded Spirit by John Loren Sandford, Paula Sandford; Charisma House / 2007 / Paperback     The Highest Life by Gene Edwards  1993   (out of print)     Nurturing your Spirit DVD’s and CD’s by Arthur Burk   http://www.theslg.com store   

 Beula Cooke is a retired secondary school teacher and former Christian bookstore owner.  She is a long-time member of OSL, chapter organizer and former Convenor.  A perpetual student, Beula leads retreats and workshops on healing, enjoys preaching and leading sung worship at church, and is a frequent contributor of Book Reviews for the OSL Region 8 Newsletter.  She is also  a member of The OSL Online Telephone Conference Call team.  Beula is a contact person for Lone Members, and is available at beulac@storm.ca