Week Three of The 40 Day Soul Fast

The Nature Of The Soul: The Essence of You

This week we will take a closer look at the life of the soul, what it is, and how it works.
You are not alone if you’ve ever asked yourself, “What is the soul exactly?” or wondered
why it is so important.

Sometimes the essence of who we really are is the most difficult thing to understand.
Consider how much research has gone into studying the human body—think of the
science that has been dedicated to understanding our cells and the chromosomes they
contain which make us who we are!

As much as our true nature is revealed on a cellular level, so is the truth of who we are
hidden within our souls! By understanding who we are on a “soulular” level, we are
better able to diagnose our vulnerabilities, supplement our weaknesses, and nourish our
strengths.

When I think of a healthy body, I think of a body that is able to defend itself from
disease. I’ve heard it said that you are exposed to enough germs at any given moment
to make you deathly ill, but as long as you keep our immune system functioning as it
should, you can fend off even the deadliest germs.

Likewise, the health of your soul depends on its ability to defend itself against whatever
may cause you dis-ease. You may understand how to keep your cells protected and
strong, but what about your soul?

Your body provides a beautiful metaphor for how your soul functions. There are always
forces at work bombarding your soul—attempting to get a foothold where there is a
weakness in order to throw your system off balance.

Just as a virus is a formidable enemy on a cellular level, so are the forces of darkness
when it comes to the life of your soul.

I think of how laser technology is able to destroy cancerous tissue or disintegrate a
malignant tumor, and how the light of truth with laser-sharp accuracy is able to destroy
all the works of the enemy.

Human souls are what kingdom forces are warring over. God’s primary objective has
always been to liberate the souls of humanity from the enslaving forces of the enemy so the sons and daughters of God can take rightful dominion of the earth.

Why is the human soul the frontline of this epic battle taking place between the kingdoms of light and darkness?

Because the soul is the driving force that causes a person to dream—it gives
every individual the power to create a new reality, a different outcome, and the
potential to change the course of history.

The soul is the engine that gives a person the power to imagine a desired outcome and
the determination to complete a goal. It provides the motivation, willpower, desire, drive, enterprise, passion, resolve, urge, and zeal to accomplish an objective. It is what makes the human will unstoppable.

The soul is both the navigational center as well as the engine room of a human being. It
determines whether you move toward or away from God’s divine purposes—and it
determines the speed at which you move in either direction, depending on whether it is fueled by Truth or deception.

Unlike the mind, the soul is the seat of one’s personality—it is where the genetic code of
each individual’s drives, temperaments, aptitudes, intrinsic motivations, inherent
desires, and innate abilities are imprinted. It is the “inner man” that is expressed through
the outer man we all see when we look at one another.

The soul is our life force. It is made up of electromagnetic energy that can be measured.
It is a substance that can be weighed.

In 1907, Dr. Duncan MacDougall of Haverhill, Massachusetts discovered that the
human soul consisted of a material substance that weighed approximately twenty-one
grams—just less than an ounce. Through a series of experiments, Dr. MacDougall
concluded that this substance was unique to human beings. How did he come to these
conclusions? As it was understood that the soul left the body upon death, MacDougall weighed his human subjects just prior to their dying and then again in the moments after they
passed on. It was ascertained that upon death, the standard amount of weight lost by
each of these subjects was twenty-one grams—whereas when he weighed various
animals under the same circumstances, no weight loss was measured.

Although Dr. MacDougall’s findings were never taken seriously by the scientific
community of his day, more sophisticated measurement tools and electromagnetic
detection devices have caused his theory to become more widely accepted in modern
times.

Today, it is believed the average person loses closer to two ounces when he or she
dies. Some scholars attribute this loss to what many have defined as a person’s
electromagnetic life force, which is strictly unique to the human species.
Therefore, when we are referring to the human soul, we are talking about a measurable
substance that has been scientifically proven to exist. This substance is what gives
each person his or her distinctive identity, personality, mental faculties, talents,
emotions, and will. It is from where we derive our sense of self and individuality.
In the words of Ray Charles, “What is soul? It’s like electricity—we don't really know
what it is, but it’s a force that can light a room!”

Our soul determines everything about who we are, from our appetites to our ambitions.
It is our life force that leaves an indelible mark on all we meet. We may forget a face,
but it is a person’s soul that leaves the most lasting impression.

The word “soul” comes from the Hebrew word nephesh, which when translated,
generally refers to a “breathing, thinking being with passion, appetite, and emotion.”
According to The Hebrew-English Lexicon, it literally means the “complete life of a
being” defined by the following characteristics: 1) soul, self, life, person, being, mind,
consciousness, desire, emotion, passion, appetite; 1a) that which breathes, the
breathing substance or being, the inner being of man; 1b) self, person or individual;
1c) seat of the appetites; 1d) seat of emotions and passions; 1e) activity of the mind;
1f) activity of the will; 1g) activity of the character.

The soul empowers a person to perform a task by providing an individual with ability,
potential, aptitude, competence, capacity, facility, skill, and wherewithal.
The soul, which sets humans apart from every other created being on the earth, is
governed by an individual’s will and unique pattern and process of thought—divinely
ordained and comprised of a person’s temperament, personality, proclivities, mindset,
disposition, destiny, and purpose.

The soul gives a person the mental faculty to make decisions including the power of
judgment, discernment, discretion, volition, prudence, insight, foresight, conviction,
belief, and faith.

The soul endows a person with the ability to think and apply knowledge via the intellect,
understanding, creativity, sensibility, wisdom, and what some have come to call,
intuition.

The soul is the seat of one’s intelligence, conscience, and reason; it houses the mind,
will and emotions of an individual. The soul is contained within a physical body that God
created from the dust of the earth—a body created from the earth to interact with and
function in the physical realm.

With the aid of five physical senses, the body enables humans to be conscious of the
world around them giving them the ability to discern earthly things.

In contrast, the spirit of man was created to reflect the image and likeness of God,
making him God-conscious, and giving him the ability to interact with and discern
spiritual things. So while the body is temporal and earth-bound, the spirit is eternal and
heaven-bound.

These two planes of existence—the earthly and the heavenly—come together in the
human soul. The great battles taking place between the kingdom of heaven and that of
the world—between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness—are for the
souls of humanity. These battles not only rage in our souls, but for our souls.

The soul, in essence, is where the temporal and eternal aspects of human existence
intersect. The soul gives human beings the ability to discern the divine self—to be selfaware—and to consciously live a life elevated by the Kingdom of God while still physically bound to the earth.

The soul is the seat of intention, conscience, and choice. In other words, the soul is the governing mechanism of your life, which in turn is either governed by Christ, the world, or the enemy.

What you allow to govern your soul is what you permit to occupy it.
• Is your soul governed by the love of things or the love of God?
• What do you spend the most time thinking about? What do you most hope and long for?

Hope acts like an anchor that will either tether your soul to the Kingdom of God or to the
kingdoms of this world—to your painful past or to the promise of your future. Paul told
the Colossians, “The lines of purpose in your lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they
are to your future in heaven, kept taut by hope” (Colossians 1:3-5 MSG).

It is our hope in God alone that provides “a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls”
(Hebrews 6:19).

From the beginning, God set mankind apart from the rest of creation by breathing into
him His very own breath and causing him to become a living soul—an eternal thinking,
feeling, rational, creative being like Himself. He created him in His own tripartite
image—spirit, soul, and body.

The Trinity of the Godhead is comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost. When we are born into the family of God, His DNA is activated within us—
His Spirit comes alive within our spirit, we are given the mind of Christ, and every cell of
our mortal bodies is revitalized by the power of His Resurrection Life.

Every aspect of the Godhead comes alive in our own tripartite being—His Spirit comes
to live in our hearts, His Nature takes up residence in our consciousness, and even His
eternal Word is made flesh in our mortal bodies.

So why doesn’t every believer in Christ walk in complete victory in all areas of their
lives? Why do God’s people struggle generation after generation, day after day, not only
with the multitude of opposing forces at work in the world, but the forces at work in their
own minds and bodies—even in their own souls?

The great Apostle Paul wrote about this very thing in his letter to the Romans, “But there
is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to
the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:23 NLT). What is this enslaving power? Paul
admitted that this power “makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do” (CEV).
How can you be a child of God and still a slave of sin?

This is the primary question we will be dealing with throughout The 40 Day Soul Fast.
• What are the toxins and ties contaminating and entangling your soul keeping it vulnerable to sin and cycles of failure?

Even if you don’t feel bound by sinful behaviors or victimized by continual defeat, there may still be other encumbrances within your soul keeping you from breaking through and achieving the greatness God has implanted in you.

“So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.” - James 1:21 NLT
©2011 N. Cindy Trimm. All rights reserved.