Connected with Truth — The Soul
Rooted by the River Yoga aims to connect mind, body, heart, and soul with the truth of Jesus through the tools of yoga and meditation. This is the framework, the basis from which I teach.
The soul we will distinguish this as the eternal position, as opposed to the heart as the emotional. Therefore, it is of utmost import to align our soul with Truth, because there is only one way to God and that is through Jesus — fully God, fully man, lived a perfectly righteous life and through His death and resurrection He became sin for us and made a way to cover our unrighteousness with His own so we might approach the throne and stand in the presence of the Holy God. Because these truths hold the life or death of our eternal existence, we must get them right, and keep them at the forefront of our lives.
Connect the *SOUL with Truth
The soul that sins must die. The soul is the essence of who we are*. It is the spiritual aspect of who we are. In Ezekiel 18:20, we read that, because we sin, our soul is destined for death, eternal separation from God and His goodness. But likewise, as we read further in verse 32 it says, “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.’” We must connect our soul with Truth because God has a plan of salvation and without aligning our soul with this plan – Jesus Christ, the Savior of Mankind – we are doomed to eternal despair in hell.
God offers blessings for our soul. God makes a point to tell us that our souls are blessed in Him. Psalm 103 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems you from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (103:1-5). Paul writes another list of blessings for our soul in Ephesians 1:3-14. It is important to remind our souls of these many blessings in Christ.
Eric Ludy often speaks of the importance of remembering our position – we are in Christ. To remember our position allows us to live from a place of security and power knowing God is who He says He is and does all that He promises to do. But as we have already seen, we are prone to forget or as the hymn** puts it “prone to wander.” We need to tell our souls what to do, keeping truth always before us.
Our soul needs Jesus. Psalm 42:2 says, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God, When shall I come and appear before God?” and Psalm 84:2 repeats this truth, “My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.” The only thing that provides life and hope for the soul is the One True God. We saturate our lives with God’s Word because by it we know Him. Our soul’s thirst and long for God’s presence. Augustine said it this way, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”(Confessions). We are satisfied only when we find our satisfaction in Jesus.
We build our faith by the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says this plainly, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” And in Isaiah 55:3, the Lord is speaking to Israel when He says, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” We cannot know truth; we cannot believe; and we cannot live by faith, unless we hear the Word of God. This is not just a one time thing, it is a relationship, an interaction with, and a building up over time. We need to regularly be spending time in God’s Word to know Him and trust Him. Eternal and abundant life are found between the pages of Scripture as we continue to deepen our relationship with Jesus. And as we strengthen our faith we are able to glorify Him with our lives.
*For our purposes, I am differentiating the heart and soul but if you were to study the heart, mind, and soul from an ancient Hebrew perspective, you would see that there really is no reference to the mind, and the heart and soul are quite similar. But here I am distinguishing the heart as the emotional center of our being and the soul as the spiritual essence of our being.
** “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” – Robert Robinson
