In Patience Possess Your Soul

When Jesus talked about the end times, he told his disciples to be prepared. A lot of challenges would come into the world at the end of the age, and Jesus wanted his people to be ready. One important way Jesus told us to be ready for the end times is to possess our souls (Luke 21:19).

Jesus commands all Christians to possess their souls. 

The soul is part of our inner man. Our inner man is primarily made up of our spirit and our soul. These are the invisible parts of a person. The soul produces our thoughts, desires, emotions, intentions, etc.

Before we were born from above, our spirit was dead, enslaved to Satan (Ephesians 3:2). After becoming spiritually alive by believing the gospel, the Holy Spirit came into us. This introduction of spiritual life into us began the process of possessing our souls.

To possess something means to dwell in it, own it, and control it.

The Bible teaches that the soul has rooms (Proverbs 20:27). These rooms of our soul contain the various facets of our inner man such as desires, thoughts, imaginations, motivations, intentions, wounds, grudges, hurts, bitterness, pride, insecurities, etc.

We need to open the rooms of our soul and allow the Lord to shine light upon us. The entrance of God’s words will give us light. The word of God will search out the thoughts and intents of our heart (soul) (Hebrews 4:12-13).

When a person does not possess his soul, he is subject to the influence of evil spirits, the flesh, the world, circumstances, and other people. The soul produces bad things such as anger, bitterness, sin, and hatred. When a person possesses his soul, he is filled with God and the fruit of God comes out of his soul.

Our soul is like land (Psalm 143:6). Jesus said the seed of God’s word is sown into the land of our soul (Luke 8:15). The Holy Spirit is the water in the land of our souls (John 7:37-39). 

When the Israelites went into the Promised Land, they had to defeat strong nations. Only after defeating these nations would they be able to possess the Promised Land. This is an example for us.

Our soul is like land that we need to possess. In order to possess our souls we must wage spiritual warfare. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers.

We must drive out 7 nations from our soul – the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7:1). These 7 nations represent things today that we must overcome in order to possess our souls. The spiritual meanings of these nations is found in the meaning of their names.

The name Hittites means Terror. Through fear, we come into bondage and limitation. In order to possess our souls we must overcome fear.

Girgashites means Clay Soil. This speaks of the flesh, for man’s body was made of dirt. In order to possess our souls, we must overcome of the power of the flesh.

Amorites means Spoken Words. This refers to the negative words we speak about our lives, lies Satan speaks to us, or evil words spoken to us by others. In order to possess our souls we must overcome bad words.

Canaanites means Humiliation. We all have been humiliated at various times in our lives, and the memory of this can define who we are and drag us down. To possess our souls we must be healed from humiliation.

Perizzites means Without Walls. We need healthy boundaries in our lives so we are protected from evil. When we lack boundaries, evil spirits can come in and torment us. We need healthy boundaries if we are to possess our souls.

Hivites is related to the word Eve. Eve was our mother, and she was deceived by Satan. In order to possess our souls, we must overcome gullibility and deception.

Jebusites means Threshing. A threshing floor is a place of trial where the chaff is separated from the wheat. We will go through challenges in life, and we must do so successfully in order to possess our souls.

The weapons of our warfare are mighty to God to the demolition of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Evil hides in the land of our soul behind fortresses of vain imaginations and arguments against the truth. We must tear down these evil strongholds in our souls so the enemy is routed out. We must make no covenant with these things (Deuteronomy 7:2). We must completely destroy evil things out of our lives (Deuteronomy 7:5).

There can be weeds, thorns, and thistles in the land of our soul (Hebrews 6:8). Jesus said these things represent the cares of this life, deceitfulness of riches, and lusts (Mark 4:19). Thorns and thistles represent false teachings and false prophecies (Matthew 7:15-16). These things must be uprooted and thrown out in order to possess our souls. 

We improve the wastelands of our soul by planting God’s word into it (Hosea 10:12). We water the dry places of our soul with the Holy Spirit. Then our souls will become fruitful gardens that bring forth fruit to God (Isaiah 58:11).

Jesus fully possessed his soul, which is why he was able to overcome the devil. Satan had nothing in Jesus (John 14:30). To the extent we possess our souls, to that extent we will manifest victory in our lives over the devil.

When a person possesses his soul, he can yield his soul to be filled with God. God desires to dwell in the entirety of our souls. When our souls are filled with God, we fulfill our purpose of being made in his image.

It takes patience to possess our souls. This won’t happen suddenly. Victory will come battle by battle, and step by step. But as we keep pressing forward and believing in the power of Christ to give us victory, we will possess our souls. Then we will be prepared for the end of the age and emerge as conquerors upon the earth.