We have the ability to release order or produce chaos on every level of life. I’m aware of a situation where a man had an affair on his wife after twenty years of marriage. There was devastation on so many levels for the wife and the children. The wife retaliated with a one-night stand and contracted a sexually transmitted disease that will now require her to take medication for the rest of her life. None of this speaks of the flourishing life God designed us to experience.
Genesis 2:8-14 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
These four rivers speak of 4 streams of provision:
Genesis 2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” ESV
God calls us to be good stewards of his creation and awaken its potential to cause flourishing life. Adam had not sinned and was told to work. God created us to worship and to work and doing our work as unto the Lord is worship to God.
Jesus spent the first 90% of his life working a job. God comes to the earth, and he goes to work. That means it's godly to go to work. Some people would rather vote for a socialist than work. This is not God’s design.
In the days of Creation God was speaking things into existence. But when it comes to mankind God was more intimately involved. There was this shaping, forming and intentionally designing of the clay into his own image. The Bible gives the image of how He is the potter and we are the clay. God literally handcrafted human life which involves the body being formed from clay, spirit from the breath of God and the soul that has the ability to release order or produce chaos within us and all around us.
Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit]. AMP (One translation says man became a living soul)
My soul is where I connect heaven’s breath and earth’s dust. The story I tell myself in that space really matters. Developing healthy self-talk addressing your inner narrative is Biblical:
Lamentations 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope. ESV
David models self-talk to the soul.
Psalm 42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? (Put your) Hope in God…” ESV
The battle for the soul is real and requires the continual narrative of the goodness of God to function properly.
In the same way your body requires continual strengthening. Your energy today did not come from willpower. It came from food grown in dirt. We must receive life from the earth again and again, repeatedly. Every meal is a reminder that I’m not self-sufficient generating my own life.
It is the same with your spirit! You must return to the origin source, the breath of God, to receive spiritual life! My spirit must receive life from God again and again, repeatedly. I was never designed to run on yesterday’s breath.
Ephesians 5:18 “be filled with the Spirit…” ESV (That verb is ongoing. Just like eating. Just like breathing.)
Job 33:4 The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. ESV (Not gave. Gives. Present tense.)
You were designed to live in God’s nourishing presence as your way of life!
Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden... NIV
Late Dr. Myles Munroe explained how Eden is actually written with five strokes and each stroke has meaning:
This is the spot where we exist on the earth in the presence of God that becomes an open doorway to heaven making our world a delightful place of flourishing life.
Just as the water was made for the fish and air for the birds, the presence of Yahweh was made for humans.
Leonard Ravenhill said, “The praying man is not sinning, and the sinning man is not praying.”
Angels in presence God angels Outside of God’s presence angels malfunction - become demons.
Kings, priests and prophets in the presence of God are kings, priests and prophets. Outside of the presence of God they malfunction and become slaves to sin.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 “May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless…” ESV
GP2RL: Give careful consideration to what you are feeding your body, soul and spirit this week!
