From the Pastor's Heart: September

By: Pastor Scott

For the last several weeks, we have been going through a study entitled, "SOUL SHIFT".  A "Soul Shift" is a radical rewiring of our instincts.  It is a change ("shift") that occurs at the deepest, most fundamental level of our being - our souls.  A "Soul Shift" is not the same as getting saved or deciding to follow Jesus.  A "Soul Shift" is a change in the deepest part of our being, usually after we are saved and before we die, that makes us more like Christ and less like our old selves.  We may be saved, have repented, and decide to follow Jesus.  All of that is good, and if we died today, we would still go to Heaven.

BUT HEAVEN HAS NOT YET COME INTO US.

Our souls may be saved, but they are not yet converted.  They have not "shifted."

Why is this so important?  Because the soul is where God wants to meet you.  Your soul is where you experience eternal life both now and after these bodies of ours have gone back to dust.  It is the state of your soul that will determine your eternity.

"Imagine if every morning when you woke up, your first instinct was to do what is right.  And you loved it.  Imagine being just as concerned about other people - about their marriage, kids, or job - as you were once concerned about yourself.  Imagine knowing the will of God so well that you don't have to ask all the time.  Imagine living on a fraction of your income and still feeling that it is plenty, and then using the rest for something bigger than you.  Imagine praying twenty times as much as you do now and doing it because you like to, not because you had to, just as you like hanging out with your best friend.  And what if your heart was broken by things that break the heart of God?  Imagine what all this might be like, with your soul shifted toward God in every way."  (Soul Shift, pgs. 24-25)

It is my prayer that god would use this study to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ.  That we would talk like Jesus; that we would walk like Jesus; that we would act like Jesus; think like Jesus;  and behave like Jesus in everything we do.

Believing in you,
Pastor Scott