The Spirit in Our Souls

“Every time you say ‘God,’ I want to curse,” said Juan.

The two of us sat across from one another in a conference room. And he did profane the Lord’s name. I winced.

“I want to strangle you and throw you out of a window,” he continued.

I looked for some sort of cue that would let me know he was joking. He wasn’t. I could only stare back in fear at his espresso-colored eyes laser-focused on me. But even before this meeting with Juan, I suspected his recent hostility toward me had to do with God.

As a counselor at a crisis hotline, I talked to my callers about God and Jesus for hope and healing. Apparently, Juan despised this. In recent weeks, he bumped into me with an air of disgust. He would also mutter under his breath, audibly enough for me to notice I had mentioned God.  

Jesus warned us that we would share in some of His sufferings. The world will hate us as it hated Him. I don’t think I’ve ever been on the receiving end of more hatred for anything other than for being a born-again, Bible-believing Christian. I’ve been persecuted by more coworkers at other jobs, lost a relationship with a sister, and threatened with death for reading my Bible on a New York subway.

Being despised and rejected is not easy. We naturally want people to like and accept us. When they do, we get up and look forward to going to our jobs. Family functions are more fun. But if they don’t, we need to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to endure hatred and forgive. We must also have fellowship with and love from other believers going through the same trials. Both will be like shots of B12 to our weary souls.

If people make you want to compromise or keep quiet about your faith so that you won’t suffer persecution, walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and fellowship with other believers. 

Sometimes we don’t know what to say when someone—maybe even someone hostile toward us—asks about our faith in Jesus Christ. Many of us get tongue-tied. We often lament that we aren’t versed in theology or may not know the Scriptures well. Regardless, we do have one profound truth to share. Like the blind man, we can share our encounter with Jesus.

The blind man in this story knew little about Jesus before or even after his encounter with the Savior on that fateful date when Jesus restored his sight. In fact, when the Pharisees questioned him about Jesus and how Jesus had changed him from being blind to seeing, he couldn’t answer.

“I don’t know who this Jesus is. But I do know one thing,” he said with confidence. “I was blind, but now I see!”

In his new-found faith, the once-blind man knew only one truth: because of Jesus’s grace, mercy, and kindness, he was a different person. Jesus had given him a new physical and spiritual lease on life. And that was enough knowledge for him.

When sharing our faith, we need only share what we have experienced—we were once dead in our sins but then met Jesus Christ. He offered us forgiveness of our sins, restoration with God, and eternal life in heaven. We were once one way—blind spiritually—but are now new people.

Remember, your testimony needs only to express your wonderful encounter with Jesus. Then, let the proof be your miraculously changed life. 

Even after walking with the Lord for some time, I still wrestle with sin. During one particular time, I felt I was tested and tempted much more than before—so much so that it sometimes felt overwhelming.

Something I learned during these heightened and elevated levels of spiritual warfare—when it was hard to stand firm—was to keep my eyes on the Lord Jesus and not on what the Enemy was trying to focus me on. It became much easier to resist and stand firm through the testing.

I have fallen short of the glory of the Lord God and can’t do this life alone without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When the Enemy attacked Eve, his whole purpose was to get her eyes off the Lord God and her covenant relationship with Him. He even left out “Lord” when he asked Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

Satan intended to get Eve to look at the one thing she couldn’t have, which was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He wanted her to look at the good part of it without considering the bad part. In this way, she couldn’t have the thing she really wanted, which was found in the Tree of Life and her covenant relationship with the Lord God. This was Satan’s goal the whole time.

Satan’s tactic hasn’t changed since the Garden of Eden, and it was what cost Eve the Tree of Life and her covering with the Lord God.

But we can stand firm against temptation by keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus. Through keeping our eyes on Him and submitting to His will, we can resist the Devil, and he will flee from us.

When dealing with spiritual warfare, remember the whole point is to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He is doing, not what the Devil is doing.

In the church’s foyer, a young boy looked at a plaque on the wall with the names of men and women who had died in various wars. He asked the pastor who the people were, and the pastor told him they were church members who had died while in service. To which the young lad said, “Which one, the traditional or the contemporary service?”

After centuries of traditional liturgical services, praise services have quickly taken hold. Initially, the change involved an uphill battle in many churches. I can still hear one lady say she would leave the church before attending one of “those” services. 

Today, however, most churches have either a separate time for contemporary worship or a combined format. Some churches have even eliminated most of the worship traditions altogether. But if we look back at original worship in synagogues, we recognize almost everything included in the traditional format.

Some of the components of the original services were Old Testament readings, psalms, prayers, and preaching/teaching. The first-century church body “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, and the breaking of bread, and the prayers.” During Jesus’ time, about four hundred synagogues emphasized learning, philanthropy, meditation, and prayer. They needed no priest, just ten males and a learned rabbi or teacher.

Today’s churches choose their form of worship. The church leader or worship leader may tweak the format, but most people expect certain traditions at particular churches. To me, the format isn’t that important. Instead, the essential thing is that the worship should be a microcosm of our lives in Christ.

We should worship regularly. Our worship should include praise for God, prayers for each other and those in need, fellowship with other Christians, tithing and extra giving when needed, and teaching or preaching of the Word. How each of us fits that into our lives is a personal decision.

Find your niche and worship the Lord. 

Many times, I have longed for the whisper.

I have desired the strength to confess the passion that stirs within me. Whispers can expose how we have betrayed our souls to assimilate into society’s norms.

We whisper, convincing ourselves that speaking the truths of time will not destroy us. A whisper gives life to thoughts and ideas, igniting the fire within and exposing it to the world. Scripture tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue; however, actions do not bring life. Air does.

The dry bones in Elijah’s story came together physically but were brought to life by God’s breath. By adding wind to the movements of our mouths, we release our dreams and fears, turning them into reality and unlocking their power. But the impact of our words is not determined by the volume of our speech, nor is it limited by the lack of it. Conviction drives the force of nature that sound creates, leaving a wake that ripples in the realm of silence.

A sound so light can be a formidable weapon destroying hope and instilling fear, or it can be the anchor of resolve to annihilate fear and hopelessness.

Confidence screams in the hushed tones that become a whisper. Fear fades as life is given to words floating on the wings of faith. Enemies will fall, and alliances will be made based on the almost silent confessions of the heart.

Whispers often expose the truth we pretend to be lies because freedom frightens us.

I am tired of living in the shadow of self-doubt and lack of confidence in my worth. I want to experience the shaky, jagged breaths as I force sound into the admission of love, shattering the foundations of expectation.

Let the joy of new birth illuminate the darkness of silence. Let the resounding truth be found in your heart's confessions, evoking confidence in the words you have given life to.