balanced personality. It may be be cause we are over-emotional, or over critical, or over-dogmatic. God wants us to have, and he gives us the power to make it possible, a balanced per sonality. Christ comes to dwell in the total personality. You can be a Chris tian, but the effects on your person ality are practically nil because you are not taking full advantage of God’s grace and strength. We underscore the fact that the Lord wants you to have a balanced personality. We can thank God for the emotional side of salvation, however, if we go no fur- TRUE SATISFACTION I tried the broken cisterns, Lord But ah! The waters failed. E'en as I stooped to drink they fled, And mocked me as I wailed. Now, none but Christ can satisfy, None other name for me: There's love, and life, and lasting joy, Lord Jesus, found in Thee. ther into the personality we will not have what it takes to meet the tears and fears of daily life. We need to allow the power of Christ to pene trate into our total personality. Being emotionally involved is not the end and just barely the beginning. Jesus Christ must be allowed to move into the area of the mind and intellect. We are told to bring every thought into captivity to Christ. There may be books in your house that don’t measure up to the maturity of Christ. Are there TV programs you watch which would give no indication that your faith is growing? In facing the many difficult trials and perplexing problems of life, we must first recognize the peril, then release the power, and finally relate the problem to the entire personality emotions, mind, and will, empowered by the constant presence of God’s Holy Spirit. 20
I T IS clear from Scripture that Timothy was a young man who was acquainted with tears. Perhaps the same is true with you as well. As we face the various difficult situations of life we cannot count on our own courage or cleverness. Success can not be assured because of a bank bal ance, but depends wholly upon our faith. Its roots must go deeply into the Word of God. If your faith is only artificial or shallow, you will never be able to rise above the cir cumstances. We cannot trace our fears to God for He didn’t put them there. They have come from satan who seeks whom he may devour. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to dwell in our hearts through His Holy Spirit we are given a supernatural power. The question is whether it has been un leashed in our lives. Paul tells Tim othy, “Stir up the gift of God which is in thee.” This is the only answer to tears and fears. We must recognize the peril about us and then employ God’s provision for overcoming victory. When Christ comes into the human heart and life He brings with Him power and love, and the promise of a sound mind. The One who dwells within you as a be liever is the One who possesses all power! The Amplified New Testament calls this “sound mind” a “balanced personality; soul harmony.” I wonder how much this is true in your own experience? The Bible speaks of the human heart and equates it in many ways to the human soul, or what we refer to today as the human personality. We can think of these as being syn- onomous. The Bible teaches, and so does modern psychology, that the hu man personality has a three-fold di vision. There is the emotion, the mind or intellect, and the will. The problem is that too many of us have an un
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