WHAT IT MEANS TO BELIEVE WITH THE HEART !

WHAT IT MEANS TO BELIEVE WITH THE HEART : We hear people say all the time that they believe God with all their heart, referring to the physical organ that pumps the blood through the body and keeps it alive. However, The New Birth is not a rebirth of the human body, but a rebirth of the human spirit. And the infilling of the Holy Spirit is not a physical experience, but a spiritual experience. The apostle Paul said we have two present our bodies to God a living sacrifice. We have to get our minds renewed with the Word. Notice that this is something that we do--- not God. God the Father has already done everything that is needed from before the foundations of the world. God gives eternal life. He offers us His Spirit. But God doesn't do anything with our bodies or our minds. If anything is done with them, we have to do it. The Word says that you present your body unto God. Well, what are you presenting your body to God with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, No, all those things brings death. Nobody else can do it for you. The word says that you are to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind." Our minds are renewed through the Word of God. Just as a computer is wiped down and restored. When you begin this process of not being conformed to the world and being transformed by the renewing of your mind the enemy will fight you every step of the way. We know that man is a spirit, made in the image and likeness of God. Some people believe that man is just a animal. However, if that were true, it wouldn't be any more wrong to kill a man eat him then it would be to kill a cow and eat it ! Man has a physical body that he is living in, but he is not an animal. He is more than just mind and body. He is spirit, soul, and body. He is a spirit: he has a soul; he lives in a body. Animals have souls, but they are not spirit. There is nothing in animals that is like God. God took something of Himself and put it into man. He made the body of a man out of the dust of the earth, but He breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life. The word "breath," are ruach in the Hebrew, means breath or spirit, and is translated "Holy Spirit" many times in the Old Testament. God is a Spirit, so He took something of Himself--- spirit--- and put it into man. When He did, man became a living soul. He was alive until then. He became a living soul. He became conscience of himself, because the body was dead without the spirit. That's why you and I cannot serve God with an evil conscience ! The soul possesses an intellectual and emotional qualities, and animals have souls. But when their physical bodies are dead, they are dead. Human souls----or intellectual and emotional qualities-- are not based upon the physical, but upon the spirit; and when our body is dead, our spirit and soul still exists. (Luke 16:19--25). "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." In this passage of Scripture we have a very vivid illustration of man's three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Notice verse 22 says, "the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." Who was carried away ? The beggar. Not his body, but he. His spirit is the real person. His body was put into the grave, but he was in "Abraham's bosom." The rich man also died. His body was put in the grave, but "in hell he lifted up his eyes." Although Abraham's body had been in the grave many years, the rich man saw him. He also recognize Lazarus, as well as Abraham. Therefore, in the spirit realm, men and women looks very similar to what he or she does in this life. The rich man cried out to Abraham, " . . . Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember. . ." Man is a spirit, and he has the sole. We see in this scripture that his soul is still intact. He can still remember. He has emotions. He was tormented. He was concerned about his five brothers still living (v v. 27-28). God is a spirit. He became a man, for Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, living in a human body. He took on a physical body, and when He died, He (Jesus) was no less God than He was before. We know that man leaves his physical body at death, and when he does he is no less man than he was when he had his physical body, as proved by the story of the rich man and Lazarus. We cannot know God through our human knowledge--- through our mind, this is part of the problem of why so many people are messed up in their religious thinking. God is only revealed to man through his spirit. It is the spirit of man that contacts God, for God is a Spirit. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10)