 Okay, good morning everyone. Welcome to 214, developing the human spirit. Thank you all for connecting. Let's pray and then we will start. Can somebody pray please? Father God, we thank You for this day and thank You for this day. We surrender everything into Your hand and when we learn about developing the human spirit God, You help us, You guide us by Your Holy Spirit God. Give us new revelation and give us the understanding, the knowledge God and we submit everything into Your hand. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Alright, so let's just quickly review what we did last week from lesson two and we'll try to pick up some speed otherwise we may not cover everything. So last week we talked about just some aspects of the human spirit. That's the real person. It has traits and characteristics. We talked about, we mentioned some of the faculties of the human spirit which we're going to look at each of them in detail. And we mentioned seven functions of the human spirit. And we will look at each of these in detail. And we also mentioned that the born again human spirit, it needs to be nurtured. That is, it needs to be fed and it needs to be exercised. So just like our human body, just like our human body that we feed, we exercise, we rest, all of that the human spirit has to be nurtured. You have to care for it and then it will grow. So lesson number three, chapter three, what we want to talk about is see the connection of how the spirit affects the soul and the body. If your spirit is strong, then your soul and body can be healthy. It's all connected, spirit, soul, body. So if your spirit is strong, soul and body can be healthy. And in this chapter, I'm just going to go through, there are many scriptures. I just put them all here in this chapter. But you can see various conditions of the human spirit. So you can just look, some of it is good, some of it is not good. But to understand that the human spirit can be in different conditions, just like the body. Body can be tired, body can be sick, body can be hurt, body can have pain. And if the body is not in good condition, then we cannot perform. You can't do something, but if the body is in good condition, you can do. Similarly, the condition of the human spirit. We will see that the human spirit can have different conditions. And the goal is for us to learn how to keep our human spirit strong and healthy. How to keep building it, how to keep nurturing it. And let the human spirit then affect our soul and body. So this is going through a list of scriptures. And we won't read all the scriptures, but you can study these scriptures in detail. But we see that the spirit can be an anguish, anguish of spirit. Anguish means, or the anguish of spirit means the spirit can be very, in a very difficult position. It's almost like if you tie up a person physically, you put them in chains. It's going to be very uncomfortable, very pain, very restrained, painful, so on. So imagine the spirit being like that. There's anguish, the spirit is very discouraged in pain, crushed, because of things that are going on around us, it's affecting us. Sometimes the human spirit can be against God. That means in the spirit, people are against God. They don't want anything to do with God. Spirit can be angry, so their anger can come up from our spirit. You can feel bound in the spirit. Now here, Paul was feeling something in the spirit. And he was feeling as though he was bound in his spirit. So there's a restraining, something's restraining me, holding me back. You can feel that. You can be broken or contrite in your spirit. That means there is a sense of brokenness. The Bible talks about this, a broken heart, a broken and contrite heart. The spirit is broken, a broken spirit. It can be broken in a good sense. It can be broken in a bad sense. A good sense means there is a lot of contrition. There's a lot of I am sorry kind of feeling. But it can also be broken in the sense of being hurt, being crushed, being wounded. So if I am broken in a good sense, that I'm repenting before God. That's a good thing. But broken in the sense of being wounded, then I need healing. I need to ask God to heal me. And the Bible says, for example, you look at some verses here on page 10. Proverbs 15, 13. A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. I mean, sorrow, very feeling, very sad for water. You know, there could be so many things. The spirit is now in a very wounded, broken state. Proverbs 17, 22. A merry heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit drives the bones. Think of this. A broken spirit drives the bones. The spirit is broken, but it's affecting the body. Drives the bones. Drives the bones. It's another way of... So if you think about it, the bones, if I'm there, that's where all the red blood cells come. It's produced inside the bones. And the bones are drying me. There's no life in this person. But why the spirit is broken? The spirit has been crushed or something has happened. And now, though, even their health is being affected. Proverbs 18, 14. The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness. But who can bear a broken spirit? I mean, if the spirit is strong, even through sickness, he'll be strong. He'll be sustained. He'll fight. He won't give up if the spirit is strong. So the body is suffering, but spirit says, no, I want to fight. I want to live. So the spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness. But if the spirit is broken, who can help him? They say, I don't want to live. I'm ready to go. I just know, like the spirit is giving up. Then we can't do much. So you see how the condition of spirit is affecting the body. We also read about the spirit of heaviness. So there is something that's causing heaviness on the spirit. Spirit is feeling burdened, depressed, weighed down. You can also have a calm spirit. That means there is a sense of calmness, peacefulness, quietness. We can be compelled in the spirit. The spirit is urging us, motivating us, prompting us and go, go, you know, something you're feeling inside. I have to do this. The spirit is compelling you. The spirit can be... So Caleb had a different spirit. That means he was very daring. You know, others were all being afraid, but he was one person saying, let us go. A daring spirit, courageous spirit, a different spirit. You can seek God. By my spirit within me, I will seek you early. So a spirit that is hungry for God. We can err in spirit. That means somehow the spirit is... We can err in spirit. The spirit is now caught up in some form of error. What the spirit is pursuing, understanding is wrong. Erred, erred in spirit. We can be a person of an excellent spirit. That means in your heart, you want to, you know, do things well. You are pursuing excellence. It can be of an excellent spirit, outstanding. But you can be a person of a faithful spirit or unfaithful. So faithfulness or unfaithfulness is something that's coming from the heart. A faithful spirit or unfaithfulness. So somebody can have a very faithful spirit, very faithful, very sincere, or somebody could be very unfaithful. Today they are on your side, tomorrow they are on somebody else's side. It's like that. It's the condition of the spirit. You can have a very fervent spirit. Fervent meaning very zealous, always wanting, you know, ready, full of zeal, fervent in spirit. Fire is always burning, very zealous, very passionate. There could be also people are grieving in the spirit. They are, you know, they are grieving over something, very sorrowful over something. And the spirit is, you know, just coping with that or handling that, processing that grief inside them. You can also see page 12, people can be hardened in their heart or in their spirit. That means it's almost like no matter what you say, I'm not going to change, you know, they're so hard, hard in their spirit. They're made up and, you know, sometimes it can be because of pride that the spirit is hardened. So we also see pride can be something in the spirit. So these wrong, you know, pride or humility, these what we refer to as a fruit of the spirit or good traits, character traits are from the spirit, pride or humility, the opposite. So we can be of a humble spirit, poor in spirit. Somebody could be of a hasty spirit. That means they're just very rash, hasty, impatient. Or, you know, the opposite would be, of course, they are patient or in spirit. There is the heat or the spirit is very agitated, stirred up. You know, the spirit is really on, moved to do something. God can inspire us in our spirit, Job 30 to 8. There's a spirit in man and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding. In our spirit, God gives us wisdom. The spirit can make diligent search. That means the spirit is seeking for truth, seeking for information. Psalm 77 verse 6 is searching, it's seeking, wanting to learn. You can also feel overwhelmed in the spirit. The spirit is feeling like, this is too much for me. I cannot handle it, feeling overwhelmed. I see many. You can be patient in spirit. Patience is a fruit of the spirit. The spirit can perceive. That means the spirit is picking up, what it's seeing, perceiving in the spirit. The spirit can be pure, a spirit in whom there is no deceit, no heart, pure spirit. The spirit can be revived. That means it can be refreshed. It can be renewed in its strength. The spirit rejoices. The spirit has rejoiced. It's being able to rejoice. Self-control comes from the spirit. You have a rule over your own spirit. I'm just going through some more here. Please bear with me. Self-governing means you're able to self-control, govern yourself. So the spirit, from inside, you are controlling, governing yourself, keeping your whole being in control. So no matter what people say, you're governing self-governing or self-control. Your spirit can be steadfast. That means steady, unshaken, faithful. The spirit can be stirred up. As we saw earlier, the spirit can be moved to do something. Sometimes people are stirred up in their hearts. I feel like I want to do this, God is intentionally moving them in the spirit to do something. The spirit can become stronger. You can see here that they became strong in spirit. We are strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. The inner man is being strengthened. The spirit can be troubled, disturbed about something. So we see examples of that. We struggle to become anxious. My spirit is anxious about something. So you can see those examples here. Last few thoughts. The spirit can be willing. So everyone whose spirit is willing. So many times when we ask people to do something, we let them make the decision. If you feel free in your spirit, you do. So let the willingness come from your heart. The spirit is willing. I went through this long list very quickly. You can think about each of these. The spirit inside us, the human spirit, can have all of these emotions or can experience all these things. So it's to show us that there's a lot that happens in our spirit. And we need to recognize this. We need to deal with the wrong things. But the good things we need to develop. Wrong things like being hasty, unfaithful, angry, jealous or wrong things that come in the spirit. God created me a clean heart. Oh God, deal with my spirit. Change me there in my heart. So if the change happens in the spirit, then it is a permanent change. That means you really changed. Otherwise, simply, if it's only an external thing, the pastor is watching, so I'll feel like this. He's not watching, I'll do what I want. That is not a permanent change. That is only temporary. That's only for sure. But permanent change happens in the spirit. We go before God. I want to be a man of a patient spirit. I want to be a man of a calm spirit. I want to be a man of a humble spirit. I want to be a man of a clean heart. So you go before God like that. Then God works that in your heart. When that happens in your heart, then that's who you are. That's who you become. That's a permanent change. Then you don't care. Anybody watching, not watching, doesn't matter. That's who I am. It's always like that. Because God has worked that in your spirit. God is the only of a bold spirit, of a strong spirit, of a courageous spirit, of a steadfast spirit. Make me like that. God will work it in your spirit. When your spirit becomes like that, then that's who you are. Nobody can shake it. Nobody can change it. And regardless of what situation you're going through, that's how you will be. You'll be strong. You'll be courageous. And if you're feeling things in our spirit, Lord, I'm feeling overwhelmed in my spirit. Oh, go before God. God help me. God refresh me. I'm feeling tired in my spirit. God refresh me. You know, strengthen me. He'll do that. Okay. So the goal is... Go ahead Prince. Question? We have seen how the condition of our spirit affects our soul and body. Is it also the same opposite way, like the condition of how, what we think, how we behave also affects our soul? We must come to a place where it shouldn't. Example. Normally, I'm just saying generally speaking, the condition of the body and the mind will then overpower the spirit, human spirit. Like a body is sick, then the person immediately feels very discouraged, very depressed. Maybe God is angry. Maybe God is teaching me a lesson. No, no, maybe you ate spoiled biryani. Maybe that's the problem. Not God is teaching. But anyway, generally people are like, Holy Spirit is God angry. No, no, no, no. I have some problems. So people, something is happening in the body. Then the spirit gets affected. Or something is happening in the mind. They let the emotions affect the condition of the spirit. I'm saying generally, but we must not allow that to happen. Our spirit must be so strong that even if we face something in the body or something comes in the mind, we must be strong in the spirit and our spirit must rise up above that and say, no, body, you listen to me. I'm the boss. Body is not the boss. Body is the house in which I live. Mind, listen to me. People like you, for example, you find the Psalmist, he's talking to his mind, Psalm 42, I think. Why are you, I memorize it in King James. It comes out in King James. Why are thou cast down on my soul? Hope thou in God. So he's talking to his soul. Why are thou cast down on my soul? Hope thou in God. The health of your countenance. The strength. So he's talking to his soul. All we know is Samantri. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. So he's saying soul, come on, bless the Lord. You don't feel like it? Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord of my soul. All that is within me, blesses holy. So sometimes soul says, I don't feel like blessing. I want to sit, I don't want to praise God. Come on, bless the Lord. So what is happening? Spirit is telling the soul and the body. What to do? That is how we must come to that place. Otherwise what happens? Body and soul suppress the spirit. Then we actually live defeated lives. Because body can face so many things. Same thing with our emotions. We can face so many things. Somebody says something, somebody says something. Whether it's not good. Whatever the feelings, the emotions keep changing. But we cannot let that affect our spirits. The spirit has to be strong. And the spirit has to dictate to the... And also Pastor, like... Is it also like demonic operations or... Demonic act can also influence in our spirit condition. Like if a person is having a... Like depressed spirit or broken spirit or angry spirit, anguish. Can it also be a reason of demonic activities or... Normally for the majority of the time, The way the devil works is he tries to do it through the mind. So the devil can... So especially for a believer. The devil cannot touch our spirit. Our spirit is protected. We're covered by the blood of Jesus. Holy Spirit is living there. It's a temple of God. He can't go directly there. So what does he do? He tries to play with our minds. Wrong thoughts, fear, guilt, condemnation, accusation. Those are the things he tries to put in our mind. And from there through that, we'll try to affect our spirit. So he can't go directly to the spirit. But for an unbeliever. If the unbeliever opens the door to sin. Basically sin opens the door. For an unbeliever, they don't think about sin. They think it's okay. So that is an easy entry point. And if they open the door, then the wicked spirits can inhabit not only the soul. But go straight into the spirit. That is what we call as demon possession. Believer cannot. But it can trouble the mind. Page 15. So we have to intentionally take that out. Spirit, soul and what? Strengthen the spirit all the time. Live out of the spirit. And in any situation, we say, okay, let me start with the spirit. God, what are you saying? What is the Holy Spirit telling me? From there we live. Spirit, soul and what? When people will get panicked when real situations in life. So first you're telling that we have to deal that conditions with the word of God, right? Whatever. Some bad news comes. Somebody says something happened. Immediately our mind starts thinking, what happened? So some bad news. Our mind will immediately work and think about so many things. What happened? And then that will cause emotion. Fear, anxious, feels sad, whatever. Depending on that news. Okay. We're not denying the situation. We're not denying how we are feeling. That is normal. Any human being will feel. When you get a news, you'll feel sad. You'll feel anxious or whatever. That is normal. But the next step. Are we going to let that news affect our whole person, including our spirit, then fully dip down, fully depress? Or are we going to let our spirit rise up and do what God wants us to do? So example, at that moment you say, what does the Bible say? What did God say? God said, in everything, give thanks. But this is the will of God concerning you. So at that moment you say, God, I received this news. I don't know why it happened. I'm feeling, maybe I'm feeling sad, or I'm feeling anxious, or maybe I'm feeling afraid, whatever that news is. But God, you said, in everything, give thanks. So God, I praise you. I praise you that you're a good God. I praise you that you're bigger than the situation. I praise you that you're faithful to me or to whoever's concerned. But you're faithful. I praise you that you will solve this problem. And then if you have to deal with the situation, you deal with it. How sometimes you may have to speak to it. Example, Jesus and the disciples are going in the boat. There's a big storm. Decidibles are afraid. That is normal reaction. You're seeing a storm. Nobody is going to be happy. They're afraid. The emotion is affected. Jesus is very peaceful. Still sleeping. So they go, wake him up. Lord, we're going to sing. Now when Jesus woke up, I'm sure he saw the storm, the wind, the waves. Yeah, it's real. But you see what he did from the spirit. He said, peace, be still. Then he turns around to his disciples and he asks them, where is your faith? So meaning, hey, you should be living out of your faith. His faith is in the spirit. Yes, the wind is real. The storm is real. The boat is full of water. All this is real. But you have to live out of your spirit. Where is your faith? But Jesus is telling a very beautiful example. Yes, there is a storm, but let your spirit, what you have in the spirit, dominates. So sometimes you say, Lord, I pray to you. Then what else? I must speak to the storm. So you say, in the name of Jesus, I speak over the situation. I speak peace over it. I command every work of the enemy to stop. So you're letting what is your spirit dominate the situation. That is how we are supposed to live. Otherwise, we'll be like Paul rebuked to Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 3, he said, you're living like ordinary people. If you look at it this way, 1 Corinthians, we're not supposed to live like ordinary people, like just the others. You're living like me and men. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 3. He's actually rebuking them because they are fighting with each other and all of that. But notice what he's saying. 1 Corinthians 3, 3, somebody can read it. You're still worldly. 1 Corinthians 3, there is jealousy and quarrelling among you. Are you not worldly? Are you not acting like merry men? So, you are fighting, there is division, there is jealousy. That means all these things are worldly things, fleshly things. You're behaving like mere men, like ordinary men. You're behaving like that. He's rebuking them. You're not supposed to live like, you're supposed to be different. To live from the spirits. To live from the spirit, no jealousy. No, no, no. Let's go back to the lesson of this. We'll go off somewhere. Page 15. So, we must maintain a strong, healthy, wholesome, human spirit. So, that is the focus. We want to learn how to do that. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians 4.16. We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing. The inward man is being renewed. So, see the difference. Outward man. It is growing old. Outward man is perishing. Inward man is becoming stronger. That is the difference. He's not saying, I'm growing old. My spirit is also growing old. No, no, no. Physically, I'm growing old. Spirit in a man is being strong. Being renewed. So, what is in our hearts affects our lives. And what's in our hearts is released into our lives. We will see that. Now, in all of this, words, you know, words that people speak or words we speak can affect our spirit. So, last Sunday we talked a little bit about that. Sometimes people can speak words and hurt us. They speak words, condemn us. You know, it can hurt us. Actually, they are saying something, but the wound can go to our hearts. Feel pain. Why he said that? Very painful like that. They criticize or like that. So, we have to be careful about the words. What they say and what we say works both ways. But wounds can hurt. Words can wound the spirit. So, be careful. It can break the spirit, it can crush the spirit. So, understand that the enemy uses this. So, what can the devil do? He can only plant words, ideas, thoughts, imagination here. So, he can whisper. Like, wrong word, wrong idea. But if you don't stop it here, it can crush our spirit. Like, oh, your thought comes suddenly. God doesn't love you. It's a thought, but it is made up of words. God doesn't really love you. Something just making up. But those words come, thoughts come. If you don't catch it and don't deal with it, it goes into our heart. It can crush us. We feel weak. We feel, oh, God doesn't love me. I'm not worthy. I can't do this. So, be careful of words. Let me just see. Let me just see if there are any questions online. Any questions from online class students? All right. Let's go to Proverbs chapter four. Just want us to look at something here. Proverbs four and verse 22. Proverbs four was 22, 23. Proverbs four, 22, 23. Somebody could read it. Proverbs chapter four was 20. My son, pay attention to what I said. Listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them. And health to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart. For it is the wellspring of life. He says, verses 20 to 22. Now he's saying, pay attention to my words. He's saying, keep my words in your heart. Keep, you know, the word of God has been our heart. But look at verse 23. He says, keep your heart. That means your spirit. Guard your heart with all diligence. Protect your heart because out of it come the issues, the matters of your life. So the things that come into your life or the forces that shape your life, the things that you produce in your life, come from your heart. Guard your heart. Guard your heart with all diligence. Like security guard, don't fall asleep. Protect your heart because from there are coming things into your own life. So that means what happens in your life is determined by what you put in your heart. That's why he's saying, pay attention to my words. Keep them in the midst of your heart. Keep God's word in your heart. Then it will shape your life because our spirit, the condition of our spirit affects our life. So this is our principle that we keep in mind. If you build a strong, healthy spirit, put God's word in it, God's word, the fruit of the spirit, the character of the Holy Spirit, you build a strong, healthy spirit, it will bless. What comes out in your life will be good, strong, healthy. The things that God wants will release into your life. So we are going to focus on that. Now let's go to the next chapter. I'll just introduce that chapter. We will continue that next week. In the next chapter, what we will see chapter four is that there are analogies of the human spirit or the human spirit is compared to certain things. We'll just do a review. We'll study it in detail next week. For example, the human spirit is like a house. So you think about this. My heart is like a house. So some things about a house. Somebody can come and live in that house. House is meant to, for somebody to live. And Jesus wants to, or God wants to live in our hearts or in our house. House also must be kept clean. So that's another thing to think about. So really we are the house of God. God wants to live in our hearts, keep the heart clean. Another picture of the human spirit was lamp. If the Bible was being written in our day, is it torch light or you'll say, phone light or something. On those days, lamp. Basically lamp. What is the lamp? It gives light. And because of that light, you can see the path you're going. So the human spirit is like a lamp. And we will see scriptures. So when we want guidance, when we want to know which way to go, it is that we're going to receive it in our spirit. Of course we can discuss with people and have conversation. We can get counsel. We can get input. That is a good thing. But for God, God will normally speak to us by lighting our lamp. Now spirit. So we must, it is good to get counsel, all that fine. But to listen to God, spirit. The human spirit is also a place of deposit, like bank account, deposit, place where you put your treasure. So those days they talked about treasure. Today we talk about money. Where do you put your money? Put in the bank. It's a place of deposit. Okay. It's also a spring. We read about this. Out of your spirit will flow. The issues of life will come. The issues of life. Very interesting. It's also a womb. John 7, the Greek word there that is used is womb, like giving birth. So if you and I want to give birth, it takes place first in our spirit. And then we release it into our world. We will look at all these verses, you know, next time. I'm just going, giving us an idea. The human spirit is also like a ground, like a field. What can you do on a field? If you want to leave it like that, don't do anything. Or you can plow the field, put seed, put rain, and you'll get nice harvest. So it's like a field. You want to harvest? So some good seeds. Take care of it. You'll get the harvest. If you don't put any seed, you can keep on praying. Nothing will happen. Because seed, the field, you have to put seed to harvest. Take care of it. Another picture of the human heart is like stones or tablets to be written on. Now in those days, they use that picture. Today we can say, maybe it is some, you know, a place where you can write some or you can write or imprint things where you, Paul is saying, you are letters written by me through the Holy Spirit. I've written on your heart. I'm imprinted on your heart. I've put the truth of God into your heart so we can think about something that we write in a permanent way that I've permanently marked in your heart the word of God by the Spirit. And lastly, another picture is, it's a vessel, a container. That means you can fill it with something. It can be used for something. So we need to think about this because God is saying, I want you to know that your spirit is like this. It's telling us, it's like this. That means it is serving these functions for you. It's like a field. So put some seed in it. You'll have a harvest. It's like a vessel. You fill it up with good things. You can pour it out. I can use you. It is like a deposit. You put good deposit in. When you need, you can take withdrawal. If you have no deposit, no withdrawal. It is like a womb. You want to give birth to something. Yeah. Start with the womb. You can give birth to things of God. So like this we will discuss, right? We'll do that next week. And yeah, go for it. Do you have a question? Oh, online. Okay. Online, Jachan has a question. Generally, women are more emotional, but mostly men deal the same situation differently, mostly by logic. So here it is not from a quiet spirit. So there's a difference when we train our spirit in God's word and remain in that still place, taking our decisions. Just a thought, not sure if I am right. So, so there is, so, so there is, I think, if I understand what Jachan is saying correctly, the way the brain operates for men and women is quite different. So there are lots of studies on that. Men are very compartmentalized, very logical. Generally speaking, I am not saying everybody, generally they are more compartmentalized, logical. Women are more intertwined in their thinking. They look at the big picture, how everything connects with each other. So everything in the world is connected to everything. So they generally like that. That's the logical, the psychological part. But as believers, if we are living out of our spirit, then both men and women can basically display the same fruit of the spirit. We can all, believers, men or women, walk in love, gentleness, kindness, meekness, you know. Yeah, psychologically, then it's the how we process things will be different. But the character that comes through would be kindness, kindness, gentleness, self-control, the fruit of the spirit. That means the spirit is dominating regardless of how our individual psychological makeup, you know. Some people are extroverts, some people are introverts, you know, all those things are there. That is true. That is how we're made up. But even the spirit dominates what we will see is the fruit of the spirit through both men and women. So I'm not sure I understood you just in what you said, but hopefully I'm in this red line of thought. Okay. All right. We'll continue this next week. We will look at these different pictures and see what they mean to us and how we should apply them. Okay. Somebody get close and then we'll dismiss. Thank you for this time, Lord Father. We thank you for all the insights that you have given us or Lord Father Jesus. Everything that we have learned, Lord, help us or Lord Father to apply it or Lord Father in our lives or Lord Father help us or Lord Father to live from the place of spirit or Lord Father and to walk in your spirit along with you Jesus. You come and you have your ways in our lives. We thank you for everything. We give you glory and honor. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you everyone. God bless you next week. Bye.