Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. I like to picture this as hair braided with three strands. As we begin to form the braid, it goes like this. The mind leads off, the will and emotions follow. By the time the braid is completed, the three separate strands are no longer distinguishable.

Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s word is able to split between our soul and our spirit, and reveal our hidden intentions. 1 Chronicles 28:9 Amplified says, “For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts…”

In commanding our soul, we have to be intentional. I learned this from David’s psalms. Each time he wrote, “I will” he was stating his intention. Psalm 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” When we say ‘I will…’ we are stating an intention that paves the way for completion. 

Now let’s finish Psalm 62:5, “…for my expectation is from Him.” Waiting is one of the Lord’s strategic tools to train our focus. Our faith is in Him not an event. Mark 11:22 says, “…Have faith in God.”

Think of the words to this hymn: Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change He faithful will remain.

The Lord is the only one who is in control at all times. David started out his psalm expressing his assurance, “Truly my soul silently waits…” Then his mind went to those who were attacking him. He followed that by commanding his soul to be still.

When our minds refuse to be still, it is important to remember, we are the only ones in control of our minds. No one makes us think the way we do.

Psalm 62: 1 says, “Truly my soul silently waits for God, from Him is my salvation.” This is a great verse to memorize. Silently waiting means that there are no mental gymnastics. Waiting is a trial all its own. The wait brings up our hidden fleshly desire for control.

It also brings up the dross of impatience. The next time you have to wait for something, be ready to intercept any fleshly thoughts through gratitude. Expressing gratitude to the Lord takes our focus off the wait onto the One who alone is in control of every aspect of our lives.

We could use verse two as our focus of gratitude. ‘Lord I am so grateful that you are the Rock Of My Salvation. You are my Defender. I will not be shaken because my trust is in You alone.’ 

We can use verse five to speak to our soul. It says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone…”

There were four living creatures. Verse 8 says, “…each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” They were able to view the Lord through every aspect of His being and they worshiped.

Each time they rang out with worship, the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lord in worship. They cast their crowns before the throne. Verse 11 says, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

I memorized Psalm 8. Verse 3-4 says, “When I consider the heavens, the work of Your fingers…What is man that You are mindful of him?…” Isaiah 43:7 says that we are created for His glory. We glorify Him when we worship.

There were some in Thyatira who did not fall prey. Revelation 2:24 says, “But hold fast what you have till I come.” Revelation 3:11 was written to the church in Philadelphia. It says, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”

In the Lord’s commendation of the church in Pergamos, we get a picture of what it means to hold fast in persecution. Revelation 2:13 says, “I know your works, and where you dwell…And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith…”

Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 6:18 Amplified, “…we who have fled (to Him) for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before (us).”

Two of the seven churches had no rebuke from the Lord. Both were faithful in their perseverance. However it was a different story with the other five. We can learn lessons from their areas of neglect, so that we don’t fall into the same traps.

In Ephesus they lost their fervency for the Lord. We fall prey to the enemy’s schemes when we allow other things to take the Lord’s place as first in our hearts. In Pergamos they fell prey to immorality, idols in their hearts, and false doctrines. 

In Thyatira they fell prey to cults and immorality. Sardis was a dead church. They had no passion or response to God’s word. They were stagnant and fruitless. In Laodicea they were indifferent. They had no care one way or the other. Nothing moved them from their complacency. 

1 Peter 5:9 says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith…” We need barnacle faith to hold fast to the Lord.

I recently memorized Psalm 86:1-13. I love David’s prayer in verse 11. It says, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; united my heart to fear Your name.” He was asking the Lord to give him singleness of heart.

Distractions pull us off course and steal our fruit potential. In Revelation 2:19 the Lord commended the church in Thyatira. It says, “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.”

Yet they allowed sin to creep in and bring inner defilement. We can apply this to our own lives. I think of Mark 4 in the parable of the sower. Verse 19 Amplified says, “Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age,…and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.”

The Greek word for hearts conveys this meaning: as the seat of feelings, desires, joy, pain, and love. It is also the center for thought, understanding, and will. (copied from note in my Bible). Our heart is our belief center, and also where the Holy Spirit dwells.

David’s prayer in Psalm 26:3 was giving the Lord permission to probe. It says, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart.” The Hebrew word for try means any refining, whether literal or figurative; to try by fire.

In Revelation 3:14 He counseled the Laodicean church, “…to buy from Me gold refined in the fire…” Think back to 1 Peter 1:7. Our trials purify our faith. That church viewed themselves through their own eyes as needing nothing. They acted independent of God and were fruitless. John 15:5. The Lord saw their hearts that were blinded through deception.

When I was young, we had a tract called “Crippled Tom.” Here is the description. “It’s a touching story of a crippled boy confined to a dreary attic room. Longing for a Bible, he spent all his money to buy one. 

Reading his Bible, he learns to know God’s way of salvation and received Jesus as his Savior from sin. In spite of his handicaps, he became an earnest worker for the Lord Jesus and the effect of his service reached even to the mission field of Central Africa!” The only part I remember was him saying, “To love Him is to serve Him.”

A common thread among the seven churches was service. He knew their works, but He also knew their hearts. Revelation 2:23 says, “…I am He who searches the minds and the hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”