And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). Your innermost being is the place of the soul, the heart. The Bible plainly tells you that the Lord not only wants to keep your soul—your heart—He wants to keep your mind in perfect peace. He wants His peace to flow as freely there as it does in the born-again soul. Although God provided a means for peace of mind, many in this final hour are battling. When the peace in the soul is blocked from the mind, battles of the mind break out.

The soul is the reservoir for the mind, a storage place for the greatness of God. Many think that every time God blesses them it comes straight from Heaven. Not so. You who are born again have the greatness of God stored in the reservoir of your soul. Have you ever studied a reservoir? It holds a collection, a large supply or reserve of a substance. A reservoir is often a natural or artificial lake in which water is collected and stored to supply the needs of a whole community.

Cities that keep great supplies of water in reservoirs aren’t going to use it all at once but store it for years in the future. Most have not realized that the reservoir of the soul holds this kind of gigantic supply. Seek answers to prayer from the bountiful supply in the soul.

Ponder how incredible a soul really is. Its size and capacity have no boundaries. The mind holds a limited amount, but because the soul came from the breath of God, it has no limitation on how much of the blessings and greatness of God it can hold. It is the eternal part of you.

Jesus, talking to the woman at the well, said, But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). Jesus’ words puzzled her. She didn’t understand about the water of eternal life. She had come for natural water. Jesus was talking to her about soul water, water that will cause a person to never thirst again spiritually, a well of water springing into eternal life. How can this be? Through divinity; through the well of salvation that Christ brought to all who would drink of it. There is no limit on how much of God the soul can hold. What the soul contains depends on how much you want to store there. Eternal life dwells in the soul, life the world cannot understand. You will have no more life in Heaven than you have now. Eternal life can’t be added to.

Rivers of Living Water

Jesus spoke further about the great inner supply available: In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:37-39). Jesus was saying that when the Holy Ghost came, He would flow like rivers of living waters out of the innermost being of those who believe on Him as the Bible says. The Lord wasn’t exaggerating. Only through the Holy Spirit can we discern what the Lord has made available to and for us.

The Gap Is Bridged

Before you started living right, thinking right, you had to get your soul right with God. It wasn’t enough to decide to give your heart to God, you had to totally give it. The soul had to be delivered through the power of Calvary, redeemed, set free so that you could take on a new mind, be made new all over. Salvation begins in the soul. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9). You confess Jesus with your tongue, but you must believe in your soul.

Salvation in the soul affects the mind. Jesus bridged the gap between man and God, and the Holy Spirit bridged the gap between the soul and mind of man. The Holy Spirit is with us at all times providing us with that bridge through which He flows the love, faith and promises of God from the soul into the mind. But that flow can be blocked by not accepting what is available to you in the soul, for then the hands of the Holy Spirit are tied and He is unable to flood the mind with the greatness of God.

When you received salvation, you stored it in your soul. Nothing but willful sin can crowd salvation out of your soul. Ever since you became saved, you, through the Holy Spirit, have been able to draw on the benefits of that salvation again and again. Joy, peace and happiness have been available to you as you yielded to the Holy Spirit. Had that salvation been of the mind alone, it never would have lasted. Other things would have crowded it out.

Treasures of God

The soul is a treasure house when it contains God’s salvation. Only in your soul can His greatness be kept all the time. The mind is limited; it can never hold all of divinity. But Christ can be in us because the soul is unlimited in its capacity. The soul can contain the whole Jesus. Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (I John 4:4). Paul said, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Galatians 2:20). Christ does not live continuously in the mind but in the soul. It’s the mind and body that keep you from completely enjoying all the Lord has for you. But one day the body will be set free, changed into a glorified body, eternal to match the eternal soul. What jubilation that will bring! Until that wonderful day, you have the life of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost living with you all the time.

When God made man a living soul, He gave him everything. Man had plenty of room in the treasure house of his soul to hold God’s great love, faith, goodness, all of Him. Although the capacity is still there, some people don’t receive much of God because they try to keep Him in their minds rather than storing Him in their souls. Neglecting to store faith for answered prayer in their souls, many send up empty petitions to the throne of God. They little realize how much of the treasures of God the soul can hold.

The Soul Contains Either Good or Evil

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things (Matthew 12:34,35). What is in your soul will come out, good or bad. It can be possessed by devils—there is no limit to the amount of devils that can be in a soul, just as there is no limit to how much of God the soul can hold.

Thousands of devils were in a certain man before Jesus delivered him. Jesus asked, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea (Mark 5:9-13).

Many, many demons can be in one person. Demon possession is of the soul; it affects and takes over the mind. The devil knows the soul comes from God, that it is eternal like God Himself; and he makes it his business to move into every soul he can with every devil he can, every devil the human mind will accept. Again and again, people come before me devil possessed. Many devils can possess a soul.

There are devils that torment the mind but do not possess the soul. Only when the devils enter the soul is the person devil possessed. Until then, that tormented one is devil oppressed. As long as Jesus is in the soul, a person cannot be devil possessed although he may be tormented in the mind. A Christian, I repeat, can be oppressed by evil spirits but not possessed; for at the point of possession, salvation is lost, and the person is no longer a true Christian. There is a great difference between possession and oppression. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other (Matthew 6:24). You serve either God or the devil.

Out of the evil treasure of the heart comes forth evil things. The devil unpacks and delivers every evil he can to a willing soul and stores it there.

Many children today are devil possessed because the parents are ungodly. That resistance, that good character the Lord could have built into them never had a chance to take root. Without God’s protective power, the door is open for the devil to move in. Not merely affecting the child’s mind, the devil can possess the child’s soul. That’s the reason parents must be so careful to fight off the devil. Parents represent their children.

Your Birthright: The Mind of Christ

When Jesus, divinity, came to Earth, took on flesh, He used a human mind that contained the ingredients of Heaven. He desires us to have the same kind of mind that He had when He was here; it’s His divine will. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). What a wonderful statement! You can have the same kind of mind that Jesus had, the identical ingredients that made up His mind. His way of thinking, His thoughts, are yours. It’s your birthright, yours when you become born again. Not just His salvation is yours, but the mind of Christ, the mind He used when He was here on Earth. You will not act, think or talk like Him all the time unless you have His mind.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16). Everything that made up the mind of Christ is found in the Word of God. A blood-washed soul, one cleansed from all sin can hold the Jesus mind.

Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing (I Peter 3:8,9). How can you be of one mind? By taking on the mind of Jesus, by having Jesus in your soul. Jesus in your soul brings you into one mind with Him as you yield your mind to the Holy Spirit. That is one of the reasons it is a necessity for everyone to have the baptism in the Holy Ghost; He pours Jesus into the yielded mind.

In this final hour, we must have the mind of Christ just like the Early Church. Those with the mind of Christ will evangelize the world and bring back the King. They are the ones who will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye; for they will have the power of the Holy Ghost freely working within. This power came when they were baptized in the same Holy Spirit the Early Church received on the day of Pentecost.

John saw the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove on Jesus; Jesus had a Holy Ghost mind. Rejecting the baptism in the Holy Ghost is rejecting the mind of Christ. Again and again in various ways the Bible tells us why we must have the Holy Ghost to make the Rapture.

The Comforter

The Holy Ghost is so important to receive that Jesus said, It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you (John 16:7). The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26). The Holy Ghost is the operator, the helper, the One who will deliver that which is in your soul to your mind every time you yield to Him.

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:5). The Holy Ghost sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts to our minds. That great gulf, I say again, between the soul and mind is bridged by the Holy Ghost. Although in the same body, the mind and soul can be miles apart. Only death will cause the soul to move from the body, but the mind can visit far away places in seconds. The soul is steadfast while the mind travels to whatever catches its attention. It is essential to have the Holy Spirit to help bring the mind back into agreement with the soul. The Holy Spirit, in bridging the gulf, focuses your mind again and again on the essential things you need to think about and dwell on.

“Be Ye Perfect”

Jesus said in Matthew 5:48, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. We can be perfect in God’s love—and we must be. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you (II Corinthians 13:11). Through the apostle Paul, the Lord is telling us that we can be perfect, in one mind. What kind of mind is that? The mind of Christ, of course. Only through the mind of Christ can the children of God be in one accord, in unity.

Live in peace with God’s people. How tragic indeed the way some Christians fail to keep the mind of Christ, fail to use the things that make up His mind! Wrong ideas lodge in their thoughts, contaminating, breaking fellowship with the Lord. Venom filters down from the mind and out the mouth to cause damage and hurt to the Kingdom.

Weigh the damage inflicted by gossip, criticism and tale-bearing. It takes the love of God in the soul ushered into the mind by the Holy Ghost to squelch unkind words and hurtful comments. Embracing the love of God as the Holy Spirit sheds it abroad in your heart and mind gives you all you need to control your tongue with a bridle of love. Let the Holy Spirit fill your soul and mind with the goodness and greatness of God.

Enemy Seeds

If your mind is not filled with God, there is room for the devil to deceive you, to destroy all the good that God seeks to do. You can’t hold in your mind the things God hates and still be a fit vessel for Him. Clamor, revenge, jealousy, envy, strife, pouting are unacceptable to the Lord. Those things festering in the mind hinder the Holy Spirit from working in your life. Grudges, hard feelings, resentments choke out the flow of the Holy Spirit and render helpless the strength of God that you need to make you an overcomer. There you are with Jesus in your soul, but your mind is leeched, influenced by the devil. When enough leeches take over, they drop into the soul, and salvation is lost.

The devil works on the mind, trying to plant every little grudge, every unforgiving spirit he can. The seeds the enemy is able to sow in your mind strengthen his march to your soul. He is on his way to steal everything that God has given you, working to cause you to hold resentment, bitterness and anything else unlike God in your mind. Always remember, however, that God provides power to be rid of what the devil brings. You have salvation and the grace of God to overcome that which has been planted in your mind by the devil if you really want it out.

Sometimes the devil doesn’t need to put destructive thoughts and feelings into the mind; you do it yourself. You reach out to embrace the wrong things. Feeling justified to be resentful, you want vengeance. You’ve been treated unfairly, and you feel heads should roll. Jesus was treated unfairly; they killed Him. But while He was dying, He asked the Father to forgive His murderers. Jesus is our example.

Bless Them Who Curse You

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so (Matthew 5:44-47)? Some not only don’t love their enemies, they have trouble loving their brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

If you don’t keep your mind straight with the Lord, the seeds of resentment and anger can easily grow out of control. At best, you tie the hands of God, and the Holy Spirit cannot serve you the things of God. Consequently, you struggle in a terrible condition, another victim of failure to use God’s love in difficult situations. How long will you be able to continue in that dangerous state, robbed of joy, peace and love and still keep your salvation? Your very soul is in jeopardy.

Jealousy, pouting, gossiping destroy happiness. Peace is foreign to those carrying grudges. Resentment gnaws on them night and day; bitterness underwrites their main thoughts. Unhappy people reach out for unhappy remedies. But when you have peace of mind from God, the love of God in your mind, you have no room for destructive thoughts. You are able to love and bless the unlovable—not necessarily their actions but their souls. Looking and yielding to the Holy Spirit, you are served the goodness of God from your soul to your mind. Your mind thrives on such a diet; it’s in accord with the Holy Scripture, with thus saith the Lord. What a marvelous provision God has made for us!

Very God, yet Very Man

John saw the Holy Ghost descending on Jesus in the form of a dove. Jesus yielded to the Holy Ghost. As the Son of God, Jesus didn’t need to be baptized in the Holy Ghost, but as the Son of man it was necessary just as it was necessary for Him to be baptized in water. Jesus did it for the human race, not for Himself.

As very God, Jesus came to Earth, put Himself under subjection to the human mind, the human spirit. He was just like us but divine, very God as well as very man. The blood was divine, furnished by the Holy Ghost from Heaven, a holy conception. The life is in the blood.

Jesus showed us we could store the Word in our souls, the greatness of Heaven. He knew what we could have, and He brought it within our reach, asking the Father to send the Holy Ghost for all of us—another Comforter—to guide us into the fullness of Christ.

Press Toward the Prize

Paul had the mind of Christ when he wrote in Philippians 3:13, But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded (Philippians 3:13-15). With God, you live in the now, in the very moment of doing. God doesn’t take you back into the heartaches of the past. Regret doesn’t help or strengthen. Paul could have looked back to how his people had betrayed him, made him an outcast, disinherited him; but he didn’t. Because Paul had Jesus, many considered him the scum of the earth. But he didn’t wallow in self-pity.

Paul, hiding the treasures of God in his soul, was continuously looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Be like-minded in the Lord as He leads you, never looking back. Forget those things behind and press on toward the prize. All the help you need from God is before you. Keep reaching to it. Claim the greatness of Heaven, wonderful things God has promised.

Look to Jesus

If you want perfection in God’s love, be of the mind of Jesus. He never looked back. Even on the Cross He looked ahead. For the joy that was set before him [Jesus] endured the cross, despising the shame (Hebrews 12:2). Through the Spirit of God we can see all the way to Heaven. We understand that our journey on Earth is short, that this life will be over soon.

As you look ahead to the Lord, you find not too many people bothering you. The troublesome ones are those left behind. Look unto Jesus.

He, talking about fruit of the Spirit, not soul winning, said, Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me (John 15:4). As you look to Jesus and abide in Him, you will bring forth much fruit.

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us (Ephesians 5:2). You can’t walk in love without His love in your soul. Look to Him to supply that love. Daily you walk with what you have in your soul; you walk, for instance, according to the faith in your soul. If you don’t have God’s faith in your soul, you will not walk daily with Jesus.

One Way or the Other

Noah took on a God-soul in that awful period of time when minds of men were evil continually. The greatness of God in his soul flowed into his mind and rejected the powers of the devil. His soul contained God’s love, God’s faith. Noah, with that wonderful mind of God, could take in the plan of God. He was not lukewarm; he did not compromise with the world. Noah lined up with God all the way.

Many today cannot comprehend the plan of God because they do not have Him in their souls. Because they don’t think like Him, believe like Him or act like Him, they are drawn into the devil’s camp.

We have come to the time in this final hour of the great pouring out of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has been very patient, but you are going either one way or the other, saith the Lord. The Lord told me this hour would come, an hour when no one would be straddling the fence. People will line up either for God or for the devil. So great will these two supernatural powers be on Earth, that people will go to the left or the right.

If you are in a lukewarm condition, you’ll never know you are going the wrong way. Making the lukewarm think they are right with God is easy for the devil. He talks to the mind. When the soul is lukewarm, the mind rules, yields to the devil’s reasoning. Examine your soul with the Word of God to find just what condition your soul is in.

The body came from the earth, and it can be satisfied only with that which comes from the earth. The soul came from the breath of God and craves the Bread of Life. For the soul to be happy, to enjoy well-being, it must go all the way with God. Without God-nourishment, the soul is on dangerous ground in a desolate land inhabited by the devil.

Help as Close as Your Born-Again Soul

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26). Great help is available to God’s children from the Holy Spirit. He is our teacher, our intercessor, but He can only use the mind that is yielded to Him. You’re a free moral agent; the decision to yield or not to yield is yours.

If your soul is saved you will go to Heaven when you die; but if you reject the help and knowledge of the Holy Spirit, the devil will steal many of your blessings. Unless you yield to Him, the Holy Spirit cannot bring the promises of God out of your soul into your mind. God’s blessings, so close, will go unused. You have been to Calvary, the Lord is in your soul, you have the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; but, remember, you can be robbed of the benefits of God in your daily living.

The Lord told Paul, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness (II Corinthians 12:9). When you have the grace of God, you have all the help you need. The Lord was telling Paul that he already had the victory over the problem; it was in his soul. My grace is sufficient.

Child of God, you, too, have the help you need; it’s in your soul. When Jesus came into your soul, He brought His peace, His joy, His overcoming faith and power. Just as the mind selects for the stomach, the soul selects for the mind that which is yielded to the Holy Spirit. God’s grace is sufficient.

You can have difficultly fasting because the mind is very persuasive when it comes to food. However, your innermost being—where the Lord dwells—is crying to grow closer to God, crying for a long fast. Your mind is saying not today; it’s overpowering you; but if you let the Holy Spirit serve your mind, He will bring it under subjection. The soul is more eager to feed the mind than the mind could ever be to feed the stomach.

God Is Not the Author of Confusion

Child of God, keep your mind yielded to the Holy Spirit daily. The mind not completely yielded to the Holy Spirit will have confusion, no matter how much that mind feels it is thinking clearly. It’s what the devil wants. If he can’t talk you into backsliding, he will confuse your mind so you won’t get the work of God done in this final hour. Constantly he will bring worry. God made man with the desire to yield to Him completely. When He came down in the cool of the day to walk and talk with Adam, every thought left Adam’s mind but those of God—until Adam sinned. God was displaced in Adam’s heart and confusion entered. Confusion does not come from God: For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (I Corinthians 14:33).

If you have a mind of confusion but yet have the peace of God in your soul, you are not letting the Holy Spirit shed that peace from your soul into your mind daily. Confusion doesn’t necessarily mean you are unsaved; but if you are saved, confusion means you are not enjoying the fruits of your salvation. Salvation is to be delighted in.

Abundant Life

Jesus came all the way from Heaven to make Heaven’s best possible for you to have. He bled and died in your place so you would be fit to receive that which comes from Heaven.

Man driven out of Eden lost direct access to God. He sold his soul to the devil. Through that disobedience, sin entered the life stream of mankind. The devil owns the soul of everyone who has reached the age of accountability unless that soul turns to God. Jesus came to bridge the gap between man and God, to restore the soul back into God’s possession. The soul comes from God; it’s eternal, and it rightfully belongs to Him. The choice that soul makes on Earth determines whether it spends a glorious eternity in Heaven or a living death in hell.

Many people exist without even a sliver of life in their souls. They’ve substituted the life of Christ for an Earth existence that contains nothing but death. Without the life of Jesus, you really have no life at all. Man was without life when Jesus came. But He said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Some think abundant life is determined by material possessions. That wasn’t what the Lord was talking about. He has promised to supply all our needs, including the material ones. But He is building us mansions in Heaven.

For the most part, God can’t trust people with riches—again and again murders have taken place for just a little money. Wealth influences man to put trust in it rather than in God. With wealth comes a sense of power that gives some people the idea they are superior to the less wealthy. When the meal barrel is empty, however, people begin to think about God.

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:31-33).

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). Jesus is life abundant. Why try to displace God in your life, to feed your soul on the things the body desires? It can’t be done.

The rich man said, I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:18-21). The rich man thought he could feed his soul on his riches, but that night he died. God honors those who are rich in spirit toward Him.

Jesus came to make it possible for us to use the things of Heaven while we are en route there. We needn’t die to possess the fruit of Heaven, for the nine fruits of the Spirit belong to the children of God here on Earth. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (self-control) are fruits of the Holy Spirit, part of our heritage through Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:22,23).

The Lord provides a supply of His grace, a treasure house of the soul filled through Jesus Christ with all the ingredients we need for abundant life.

Draw On Us and We Will Run after Thee

It’s wonderful to have the real life of God, to be able to put the world in perspective with God’s measure. In this final hour, the Lord is breathing His life into the Bride. She has all the wisdom and knowledge of God at her fingertips. With the light of God, she won’t walk as one in the night, stumbling through this final hour. Not one backward look will she take. The Bride is going all the way into the greatness of God.

The Bride has failed in the past—read it in the Song of Solomon. There was a time she wouldn’t even rise to answer the Lord’s knock. When she finally did go to the door, He had withdrawn. Then she started searching for Him in the streets, her mind determined to never fail Him again. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer (Song of Solomon 5:6).

But in this last and final hour, the Bride has found her beloved. Draw me, we will run after thee, she cries (Song of Solomon 1:4). The Bride has a mind to run after the Lord, after His love, faith, His greatness—all of Him. She wants the whole Jesus. By desiring Him, she can have miracles, healings and great manifestations of His love. That’s the way it was in the beginning of the Early Church. Once again, we can expect miraculous things to take place in this last and final hour.

Sing the Songs of God

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord (Colossians 3:16). Let the Word dwell in you—not just a tiny bit—but in all wisdom. To admonish is to inform or remind, to warn mildly. In dedication, consecration, we admonish those around us that we must go with God all the way, no reservations. We can’t be influenced by the world or moved by its songs; we must have songs that praise the Lord.

The Israelites, carried away to Babylon, sat down and wept. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land (Psalm 137:2-4)? In this hour, Child of God, our harps can’t be on the willows. We must sing the songs of the Lord. If you have a problem with that, you will have to become more consecrated, more dedicated, saith the Lord. Give yourself completely to God and you won’t want the world’s music; you will have no desire for it but crave something that edifies, something that blesses. Your soul and mind will be connected, bridged by the Holy Spirit. It’s a combination that makes peace, creates great love, happiness and strength. Learn the greatness that God has for the church, the Bride of Christ in this her last hour.

Let Peace Rule

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts (Colossians 3:15). Not depression, oppression but the peace of God is to rule in your heart, your soul. As the peace of God rules, it clears the mind.

People who don’t let the peace of God rule in their hearts don’t have it in their minds. You can’t use something if you don’t have it. People seek peace in all ways but the right one.

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means (II Thessalonians 3:16). The Lord gives you peace all the time, but how much do you use it? God’s peace in your heart and soul is also for your mind, but you must let the Holy Spirit use it. Don’t let self or others disturb the peace of God and hinder your mind so it will not yield to the Spirit.

Take On His Divine Nature

If you walk in the Spirit, you will be yielded to the Lord. You have His love, faith all the time. Some Christians say they don’t have faith. It’s their minds telling them that. Faith is stored in the soul; it’s part of God’s divine nature. He put it there. Check the soul, not the mind.

Jesus’ divine nature had great compassion for the sick, afflicted and those bound in sin. He told the disciples they would have the same power of deliverance they saw Him use. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:12,13). In His name it will be done.

We who have been born again are new creatures in Christ, sons and daughters of God. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16,17). We have become like our Lord. The Bride will not imitate Jesus, she will actually become like her Lord, take on His divine nature. To live a life of imitation is repulsive, but to see a son with mannerisms similar to his good father is delightful, a natural thing.

I remember when I was a boy following my dad behind the plow, jumping from footprint to footprint in the soft soil. Then one day I grew up and was able to take steps the length he took. It was a natural thing to be able to walk like my father, just as it’s a natural thing for a Christian to walk like our Lord. We’re not to imitate Him, I say again, but to take on the divine nature He had when He walked the earth. Divinity lives on the inside of His true children—it’s the miracle of redemption, the miracle of Calvary.

Think On the Things of Praise

Philippians 4:8 tells us what to think on: Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there by any praise, think on these things. You cannot continuously store these things in your mind, for your mind is used for many things—business matters, family, friends, daily living. The things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of a good report must be stored in your soul so the Holy Spirit can bring the things of praise to your mind. All these describe the Word of God. Do you have the Word of God in your soul? The Psalmist wrote, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11). How wonderful to have the Word in your soul! All the strength of Heaven is then yours as the Holy Ghost floods His Word into your mind.

What Is in Your Soul?

List the things in your soul. Some of you carry much of Heaven in your soul, but your mind is tortured, tortured, tortured. You worry almost to death over many cares. Don’t go by feelings; go by faith. The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17). You live by the faith of God.

If you question your salvation, check your soul with the Word of God; never check with your mind to see how you feel. Pay no attention to what the devil tells you; the Lord said the devil is a liar, and the father of it (John 8:44). No truth can be found in the devil at all. Why listen to him? How many times has he robbed you with the same old lie? You know you aren’t saved, he whispers. You finally defeat him; he leaves for a few days but then returns to aggravate you further.

What is in your soul? Is salvation there? If so, let it be established in your mind so you won’t be shaken into doubting it. Heaven’s salvation in the soul needs to be accepted with confidence in the mind. Know that salvation is the starter of real life, bringing the favor of Heaven. When you receive salvation, you come into the family of God. He adopts you; you are His, blood-washed, blood-bought. You can’t be saved without the Word of God. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

Claim God’s Promises

How many of the promises of God are in your soul? How many have you claimed? What you have claimed belongs to your soul. Is the promise of redemption the only claim in your soul? Have you claimed the promises for overcoming strength, overcoming power? Have you claimed any of the promises of healing, of miracles? What have you claimed? What is yours? How much do you believe belongs to you? How much have you “put your foot on?”

All the land of Canaan is yours, the Lord told the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses (Joshua 1:3). The land was theirs, but they had to put their feet on it and claim it.

Stake your claim. The promises of God are yours, the promises of happiness, joy and peace—but have you claimed them? If so, they are in your soul, stored there. Now use them. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27). He gives you His peace. Stake your claim for His peace—unless you feel you need to be sad part-time.

Do you think your happiness is against God’s will? Do you think you were born with bad luck? God doesn’t go by luck; He goes by grace. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Have you claimed the promise of the Father, the Holy Ghost? You can’t have the Holy Ghost just in your mind; He must be in the soul. In the soul, your innermost being, the Holy Ghost sets up His office work.

You can’t, I say again, go by feelings. We are to walk casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5).

You who have the Holy Ghost, have you gone no farther in the Lord? What about the fruits of the Spirit? How much have you claimed? Are you using all of them? The promise of joy—do you really have it? The fruits of peace, of longsuffering, do you have them or do you become angry, upset, grouchy? If you do, you are not drawing on the fruit of longsuffering. Jesus was longsuffering, and He made it possible for you to be the same way through the marvelous fruit of the Spirit produced by the Holy Ghost in your soul.

Faith is stored in the soul. Claim it.

The fruit of humility, meekness takes away the haughty ways. Meek, humble, lowly, you put the Holy Spirit in control, not self. Let all the fruits work in your life.

Children Need Discipline as Well as Love

Children must be kept under control, or when they are grown, they will have great difficulty bringing themselves under the control of the Holy Spirit. Don’t let your children throw fits, tantrums. When my niece was little she would knock her head on the floor to spite her mother. Her mother didn’t know what to do. She spanked her, talked to her, did whatever she could think of. Then one day it dawned on her; she would help her daughter bump her head. That was the end of the head bumping. After that my little niece had self-control.

Don’t let your children bluff you. Use discipline. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Don’t just have thunder, have the lightning. God gives parents wisdom and knowledge when they cooperate with Him. Children need much love, love with discipline.

Power to Tread On Serpents

Jesus told the disciples, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19). Through the power of God, they would resist the devil himself and the devil would flee. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). The devil can’t stand before the power of Heaven.

God has much to tell you in this final hour. You who want the greatness of God can have it. You can have the same favor that Jesus had, the same peace when you totally submit yourself to God.

The Sinners’ Prayer

What is in your soul? If you are saved and have gone on to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, all the love, faith, greatness of the Holy Ghost, the nine fruits of the Spirit are yours. Jesus-strength comes in every fruit of the Spirit, all the strength of Heaven. All Heaven backs up the obedient children of God. But have you looked into your soul and found it desolate? If so, come to Jesus. Say the sinners’ prayer with me now: Dear God, save my soul. I’m so sorry I sinned against you, but I have come home. I’m going to serve you, Lord, the rest of my life. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come on in, Jesus! Come into my heart!

If you meant that prayer, He has come.

Thus Saith the Spirit of the Lord

Yea, saith the Spirit of the Lord: I am here to teach you. I am carefully teaching you what you must have for the rest of the journey. Let your heart rejoice day and night as I feed you with the manna from above. I am giving you strength because you must have it. I am giving you my power—you must have it. I am giving you my compassion and love and faith in abundance, and you must have it. You must never let go of it. Keep it in your soul.

I will visit with you night and day. I will reveal myself in great and wonderful manifestations in this your last hour. My power will be the bombs that you will use to drop on the kingdom of Satan. My power is yours for you to use, and I will pour myself through you in all of my greatness. I will reveal to the inhabitants of the earth my love in every way that I can because my judgment will soon come. I am listening to the faintest cry because soon I will turn a deaf ear to all cries, saith the Lord.

I give you vision. My call is upon you. You do not need fear that you will fail—you cannot fail as long as you yield to my Spirit. You will be obedient as long as you yield to my Spirit. Do not live in fear of failing me. Know through my faith that you will not fail. Know through my love that you will carry out my plans for you.

I will breathe upon you again and again with my greatness, and you will do my work in this your last hour. You will do my work in such perfection that you will be amazed the way that I work through you, saith the Lord.