Lighthouse Bible Studies

Life, circumstances, and some people can hold our souls close to harm—things that discourage us, ruin our self-image, entice us to take up bad attitudes or habits, or cause us to doubt what we know is true and good. When our souls are held close to harm for too long, attitudes can form that isolate us from other people such as “I don’t need anyone,” or “Don’t mess with me.” We can become angry or hopeless, convinced that things will never get better for us.

But there’s a solution. We can choose to hold our souls close to God. We can do it with prayer, Bible study, church attendance, spiritual songs, remembering Scripture, and so forth. In Him, we can find relief from burdens, confusion, sorrow, heaviness, uncertainty, and coldness. Close to God, we find healing for our souls as He holds them in love, joy, soundness, satisfaction, contentment, purpose, effectiveness, and blessing others. Then our lives are gradually built up, and our souls gradually grow to be held constantly and consistently in Him—healed, rescued, and restored.

Hold your soul close to God. The influence of evil will hold our souls close to those things which will dry them out, weigh them down, wear them out, and swallow them in hopelessness or meanness. We need to guard our souls from having any greater influence than God’s.

Hold your soul close to God—do what it takes to guard and to build a close personal relationship with Him. He works in our lives to influence and persuade us to make choices that will have the effect of holding our souls in what builds up their strength and goodness. If we choose to live “in Him,” He can hold our souls in a lifestyle of caring, giving, doing good, and causing joy. When we choose to hold our souls close to God, He then draws us into a life and reality “in Him.”

Copyright © 2013 by Beebe Kauffman