“In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. . . my soul refused to be comforted.”- Psalm 77:2 (NASB) “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”- Ecclesiastes 3:11 In Chapter […]
“My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you . . .”- Psalm 42:6 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love . . . for to you I entrust my life (lift up my soul).”- Psalm 143:8 John Ortberg concludes Chapter 8 of Soul Keeping by stating that in the […]
“They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient along the way.”- Numbers 21:4 “Nothing in man seems to intent upon God as the soul. . . . The soul seeks the Might One as though he is the soul’s own home, as […]
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”- James 4:8 John Ortberg continues Chapter 8 of Soul Keeping by reminding us that the Greek word dipsuchos often is translated “double-minded.” However, we also can think of dipsuchos as meaning double-souled, split-souled, […]
In Chapter 8 (“The Soul Needs a Center”) of Soul Keeping, John Ortberg notes that Florida has a problem with sinkholes because the limestone that lies beneath the earth’s surface slowly is being dissolved by acid rain. When enough limestone is eaten away, the void simply collapses under the weight of an inadequate foundation now […]
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”- Matthew 10:28 As John Ortberg concludes Chapter 7 of Soul Keeping, he tells of the time he was pulling out of a parking space in a […]
“Call this world if you please ‘The vale of soul-making.’ “- John Keats As John Ortberg continues Chapter 7 of Soul Keeping, he stresses that soul formation is the most important process in the universe. While in our day self-talk often is discussed, in the Bible people talked to their souls. The difference between self-talk […]
“Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”- Galatians 6:7 John Ortberg emphatically begins Chapter 7 (“The Soul Needs a Keeper”) of Soul Keeping with the following statement: “I and no one else am responsible for the condition of my soul.” Perhaps, Pastor Ortberg notes, we operate on the […]
“My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”- Psalm 84:2 As John Ortberg concludes Chapter 6 of Soul Keeping, he reiterates that the soul never will be satisfied without God. When Pastor Ortberg was a young associate pastor at his first […]
“We are all governed by an Overwhelming Positive Passion.”- Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods John Ortberg begins Chapter 6 (“It’s the Nature of the Soul to Need”) of Soul Keeping by stating that the soul is vulnerable because it is needy. If we try to meet that need with anything other than God, life will be […]
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”- 1 John 1:8-9 John Ortberg begins Chapter 5 (“Sin and the Soul”) of Soul Keeping by citing […]
“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”- 1 Peter 2:11 (NIV) “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”- James 1:8 (KJV) John Ortberg continues Chapter 4 of Soul Keeping with this description of a well-ordered soul: “God designed us so […]