Destiny of the Soul

The preceding lessons have painted a pretty grim picture of the leadership in the Body of Christ. The question now is how do we walk out of such perverted mentalities. Yes, these mindsets all spell perversion. Any form of rebellion against the truth is perversion. But God the Father is always faithful; He has provided a way of escape. He simply says, “Humble yourself.”

Humility – the state or quality of being humble of mind or spirit; absence of pride or self-assertion. To bring down low; to lower in condition; rank or position; to abase. Lowly in mind, to abase the pride, to make meek and submissive to the divine will of God.

Humility is a garment for the heart. It is an attitude that says I am willing to obey God at any cost to my flesh.

Philippians 2:8

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus humbled Himself. This is the power of the Christ within us, the ability to humble the flesh. Christ became obedient unto death. He came into agreement with God. Before Christ could make this decision He had to be void of any hidden agendas. The same is true of us. We must make a conscious decision to obey the Word of God. In doing so we must not be offended by the restrictions the Word places on our flesh.

Psalm 119:165

165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

2 Corinthians 4:1-2

1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

The ministry Paul received brought him face to face with God’s purpose for his life. We, too, must realize purpose and place it at the forefront of all that we think and feel. Working in the souls of God’s people places leaders in the spotlight of the conscience of every born-again believer. Failure to commend ourselves to every man’s conscience allows us to hold on to the hidden things of dishonesty.

Furthermore, if a man will not be honest in submitting to his conscience, he most certainly will not submit to another. Therefore, it becomes easy to lie and pretend that we are in agreement with the will of God. Religious jargon and superficial acts of kindness become the order of the day and false humility becomes a way of life. The servant of the Lord must accept his ministry as his life. The disposition of the Lord’s people becomes the breath the servant breathes. The servant must draw his life’s substance from the light shining forth from the conscience of the believer. He must live to walk in the light of the Holy Ghost living in the spirit of the believer.

To remove himself from the purpose for which he is placed in the heart of the believer would be to commit spiritual suicide. This must become living truth. Anything else, or any other reason to exist, is vanity. The war against humility is waged in the mind. There are some things the soul has desired to live out and has promised itself that it is going to have. It has so much as said, “Nobody is going to stop me from doing this, not even you God! I have promised myself this for a long time and I am going to have it. I have heard what you have said, God, about reckoning this flesh as dead, and that we are not debtors to the flesh, and not to live after the flesh, but I have to have this one thing that I want- and then I will die to my flesh and fulfill my purpose.”

When this is the mindset, there are many hidden agendas residing within the work of the ministry and soon they become mixed with ministry. In a ministry where the word constantly challenges negative mindsets, the minister must operate more subtly. Therefore, much energy is spent deceiving and attempting to cover these agendas. This means that anything or anybody who interferes with the acquisition of these agendas must be eliminated.

Galatians 6:7-8

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Every time we sow unto our flesh we are going to reap corruption. Your wants and refusal to deny yourself will keep you sowing in the flesh. You have to make a decision to accept that you are not in the flesh and that its affections and lusts have been crucified with Christ at salvation (Galatians 5:24). If you do not, then you will keep sowing to the flesh. To do so is to surely reap the corruption that follows. Will this be the destiny of your soul? Is the pursuit of earthly lusts worth turning your back on God’s grace, mercy and love? Is it worth forfeiting your ministry? I think not. Leaders must learn to humble themselves under the hand of God and His instituted authority in their lives. Choose wisely. Let the destiny of your soul be the kingdom of the Most High. I love you dearly. Pray for me. Call my name before the Lord, that I might not be, as some have become, a castaway. Mary Banks, Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ