The Holistic God

The more I read, study, listen, and discuss, the less I seem to know. While that can be frustrating (if that's all I focused on), my mind has been continually renewed regarding the incredible nature and nurture of God.

We all know that transformation of the mind is often, and necessarily, painful. That is a transforming concept in and of itself! Once we realize that God is continuously redeeming the chaos of fallen nature, man's strife, our violence, the Enemy's chaos, life's tragedies, sickness . . . . basic pain in general . . . Once we realize He redeems it for our ultimate good, we see through different eyes. We understand. We bear our cross more willingly. We endure because we see the purpose for the pain, which is our ultimate pleasure in God.

I have long studied the body, soul, and spirit. I have come to realize that when one area suffers, every area suffers. I have seen this in my own life, and to be honest with you, I have felt like a 5-year-old trying to juggle steaknives. Disaster!

I recently led worship for a Healing conference with Tommy Hays (Messiah Ministries). Tommy has an excellent insight with Scripture and many of the things he talked about went right along with what I have been studying. I give him credit for opening my eyes to see our "holistic nature". I had some thoughts while I was at the conference and wanted to blog them for discussion.

The term "Holistic" means "emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts". Interdependence means "Mutually dependent on one another for survival". The importance of the whole summed up by the interdependent parts. This easily represents our different areas of our "person", the whole summed up by our different parts. A scripture comes to mind.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". In my studies of each of these areas of our "person", I can think of numerous commands, principles, and expectations found in Scripture. For example: Jesus gives us three commands/expectations of a Christian.

1. When you pray . . . do so in secret.

2. When you give . . . do not let your right hand know what your left is doing.

3. When you fast . . . do so privately

Why these commands? Why these expectations? Why are we to do these secretly? Why in private? So that what we give the Father in secret may be rewarded in public. So that He can be honored by our wholeness.

1. Praying sets apart/sanctifies our Spirit (allows the Spirit of God to manifest)

2. Giving sets apart/sanctifies our soul (allows our SELF(mind, emotions, etc.) to surrender)

3. Fasting sets apart/sanctifies our body (allows our flesh to be crucified)

What we are commanded to do is to consecrate all three areas of our life to God . . . all the time. To be honest, many of us control our own politics, finances, health, relationships, desires, religion, and keep our Church life separate. I have been guilty of that. We try so hard to "control" ourselves, to be "good stewards" of our lives. We fail miserably unless we first consecrate ourselves, setting apart each area to God, giving Him full control. Only then can we be effective and happy . . . and joyful . . . and at peace. Period.

I have come to realize that we are made in the image of God to the greater detail than we can even imagine. A Triune God has created us in His image, with our own "triune nature" if you will, stressing and "emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts".

You who are sick, you who are shallow, you who are enslaved by sin, you who are hopeless, you who are wounded . . . let the God who wants you to be WHOLE and AT PEACE sanctify you through and through, healing your entire Spirit, Soul, and Body. This is where true Healing is found . . . at the end of our control.

See, God doesn't want your control. It's like my 18-month-old when he wants to open his sippy cup and fill it with more juice. He can't do it. He tries and tries. Sometimes he cries. It won't happen. I wait until he gives it to me. I fill his cup. God knows you can't do it all. He is waiting to fill our cup.

Our responsibility is NEVER to control our lives. It is ONLY to give Him everything, and He will wait until we do. We must let him sanctify this "triune nature" created in us, so He can make us blameless. We must live up only to these expectations: We must pray. We must give. We must fast.

Let us repent of our pride. Let us repent of our fear. Let us repent of our gluttony. Let us be found blameless. Our God, The Holistic God, yearns to give us Himself . . . entirely, so we can be entirely whole.

Peace.


© Copyright Derek Hickman 2008