Is it just me, or have you ever attended a funeral and just before they begin to lower the casket into the ground, the Pastor says something in closing similar to this…”and may God rest his Soul.” Is it just me or have you ever thought that was kind of a weird thing to say. The typical thinking or association with this phrase, is that once our loved one is dead, gone and buried…then and only then will they have “rest for their Soul.”

The truth is, their Soul, their Spirit is no where to be found at this stage of the proceedings. Their Spirit or their Soul if you will, left this earth along with their last breath. A more accurate parting statement would have been, “God rest his weary bones.”

This misunderstanding or misuse of the phrase lead me to ask a few basic questions. Can we have rest for our Soul WHILE we are still alive? Isn’t that WHEN we need peace, comfort, reassurance and rest…during our time here on earth? I believe the answer to both these questions is a resounding yes!

But I wanted to make sure, so I launched a little study into this topic on the Soul using the YouVersion Bible app I mentioned the other day in our Therapist show, episode 263. Within the app, I found several mini studies on the topic of the Soul and on The Spirit, that Christ promised to send to all of us upon his departure. There’s a reason why Christ did so. Because the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Counselor, Strengthener, Revealer of the Scriptures, Convincer of sin, Caller of ministers and our Intercessor in prayer. These are things we need DURING LIFE…NOT AFTERWARDS.

So one of the series that I found worthy of sharing was called “Soul Care.” It’s in the YouVersion app but you can also find it and other contributions at www.whoisgrace.com/read.

The Soul is the most important dimension of you. Your soul is the real you. In fact, Jesus claimed that there is nothing more important. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his very soul?” (Mark 8:36)

According to John 7:38, Jesus has a way to avoid this. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ””

Not just “refreshing” water…but “living”, regenerative, water.

Jesus’ yoke is an invitation to the life we ache for. A life that can be found only by moving through the world shoulder-to-shoulder with Jesus.

Your soul will be revived as you learn to live your life WITH God.

The Holy Spirit serves as a teacher, counselor, comforter, strengthener, inspiration, revealer of the Scriptures, convincer of sin, caller of ministers and intercessor in prayer.

So to summarize…death is not the rest we are promised…but rather it is the LIFE we LIVE shoulder-to-shoulder, side-by-side with the one Christ left for us to HELP us … the same wonderful, powerful, awesome healing and refreshing Spirit that raised Christ from the dead…IS the SAME SPIRIT THAT DWELLS in US! This is the Soul we want to protect, nurture, fed and cherish.

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