Clean This House, Clean This Heart....

"O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways." Proverbs 23:26 NLT

If I open the cabinet under your kitchen sink, will I find cleaning products? Well, you will surely find them under mine. I have everything from degreasers to disinfectant, from dish detergent to laundry detergent, to anything with Febreeze or Gain or just plain ole "it smells good so I had to get it" underneath my kitchen sink. The purpose of every last one of those things is to clean, of course. To clean every area, even the areas that people cannot see, behind and under furniture and appliances...the forgotten areas. Not only does thorough cleaning bring a fresh scent, it also keeps our homes free of unwanted visitors, like bugs and rodents. Eww, right?? Yeah that's why cleaning is so important.

Christ comes into our hearts to clean it up, which essentially cleans us up as a whole. As a matter of fact, we were extended an invitation for salvation and we make the choice of accepting Him into our hearts. It doesn't matter how much filth you can live in naturally, if you're a hoarder or if you have OCD, Christ doesn't dwell in a messy place. So while He's in our hearts, he cleanses it of all malicious intent, envy, pride, bitterness, and just plain old evil and sin and He teaches us to love and live like Him. We just have to surrender and let Him do it, which seems to be "the struggle".

Why purchase cleaning products if we never plan to clean? Just to have them? To lend some out when our neighbor needs to borrow some? So if we aren't allowing Christ to clean us from the inside out, then why did we accept Him into our hearts? Is it just to say, "Christ is in my heart" or "I'm a Christian"? What happens when we encounter someone who really needs some Jesus, not memorized quotes and "feel good" slogans? If we are still trying to control how our hearts operate and there are not even in the process of being cleaned by His Blood, then how beneficial can we be in those moments? We can't give someone something that we don't have.

Being cleaned by Christ helps us so much. He fills us with His Holy Spirit, blesses us with the gift of discernment and the desire to seek wisdom and understanding; He gives us a sound mind, encourages us to renew it daily and His Word teaches us to guard our hearts and minds. When we apply these things to our lives it keeps us clear of the unwanted visitors, like worry, fear, doubt, etc. and He doesn't leave us empty. He fills us up with hope, joy, confidence, courage...just more of Him. I'm not saying we won't be tested, because we definitely will but with Christ remaining in constant cleaning mode in our lives, we will pass the tests, even if we have to take them a few times before we do. It's because of His cleansing power that we are able to fight in the spirit when the enemy tries to attack our minds, our lives and/or when temptation presents itself. I can go on forever because He does so much more for us by just coming into our hearts. Once He begins to change our hearts, our minds change. We begin to see, talk, and walk differently, and the process molds us into who God intended us to be, teaching us every step of the way.

I encourage you to let Him live in you and let Him work in and through you, FOR REAL. Your journey will be a trying one, but you'll be pleased more with His results than you'd ever be with your own.

" Let Him Live, Let Him Work...."

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2 NLT

Are You Expecting?

It's so funny how we stand in need of something from God, but we don't look like we're expecting it. I mean we know that He's going to supply every need (Philippians 4:19) and instead of getting ourselves ready for the outpour, we walk around with a"woe is me...my change is never gonna come" spirit, and our mindset is that of defeat. God wants us to stand in expectancy throughout every struggle and every situation in spite of what it looks like. Have you ever sang the song, "Jesus is a way maker.... One day He made a way for me"? Do you believe that your "one day" is coming?

Don't you think that our situation will change when our attitude does? Can we worship God in our now? Our worship is a reflection of who He is so us. Why would God trust us with His future for us, if He can't rely on us to worship Him in His now for us? He wants us to worship in ALL things...good, bad, happy, sad...ALL things. His Word says it in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, because it's His will for us all. Oh yes, it may look unfixable but do you know who your Father is? Like do you know, know??! He's El Shaddai...The Lord God Almighty!

I'm not saying that we need to put on a front, pretending to have it all together, just acting like we believe, I'm saying that we need to actually believe and put on our garment of praise. The change begins our your minds. We have to speak God's Word over our lives, ask Him to change our situation, ask Him to help us understand and see Him in it and BELIEVE that He will do what He's promised. Whatever it takes, do it until you see the change.

Look for the change in you first. God changes us before He changes our situation. He has to make us ready for what He has prepared. We, well I know that right now I can't handle some of the things He has in store for me because He is still preparing me. So I have to be patient and let God's patience work through me.

Remember that someone is always watching us, watching our journeys...someone that knows Christ and is going through just like us but is afraid to talk about it...someone who doesn't know Christ. So THE MOST important thing to do when God brings us out, is share our testimony of not only how God brought us out, but how He's brought us through...it's how we overcome (Revelation 12:11) and how we help open the doors for to others to overcome as well.

Go on in Expectation of something amazing from of our Mighty God!

Cuts Hurt, But Love Can Heal Them...

I think that I can do just about anything. Last night, while being a "do-it-myselfer", I cut myself. It bled a lot but at the time it only hurt for a minute, so I cleaned it really good and bandaged it up. Later that night I was lying in bed listening to my new favorite song,"Great Is Your Love", by The Walls Group (please go listen to it, you'll be in worship for hours)...and my cut started throbbing. It was really hurting...the pain that I was experiencing then, I should have experienced much earlier. But, there I was in agony and I didn't know what to do.

Putting alcohol on it was OUT of the question. I'm a country girl, so I blew it. It was still hurting. I applied pressure. It was still hurting. I rubbed around it. It was still hurting. Trying to find a solution, I remembered that I had some liquid bandage. I like it because it's an antiseptic and it helps the wound heal really fast. Finally a solution! Then I remembered how much it burns when it's applied. On second thought....nope, I wasn't using that, not while the cut was still fresh. I couldn't bear the pain.

Finally I just asked God to ease the pain. I believed that He would, and I promise seconds later, He eased it. I was able to sleep through the night without any pain. But I know that I'm still going to have to apply that liquid bandage to it so it can heal properly.

When I asked God, I asked Him in Faith."But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind." (James 1:6 NLT) And He answered my prayer, my simple prayer because faith was attached to it.

I can't count how many times I've been "cut" in life. Some were as small as paper cuts (which always seem to hurt the worst). While others felt like a limb was sawed off. They all hurt in different magnitudes and sometimes the hurt wouldn't hit me until much later. You know when devastating things happen and people ask us how we feel, we say, "it hasn't really hit me yet"? Yeah, I've said that a few times. In every situation, no matter what I did, I couldn't heal my hurt.

Sometimes the cuts that I've gotten have been because of my own negligence. And in order to be healed, I had to endure a little more hurt. It hurt worse before it got better....straight Godly conviction and correction that hurt my feelings, my ego and crushed my pride, but essentially healed me from what was hurting me....ME.

God's correcting, redeeming, sweet forgiving love healed me. But in order for Him to do that, I had to go to Him boldly,"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (Hebrews 4:16) NLT. I had to be emptied of myself, but filled with Faith, believing in my heart that He would do it.

A bandage can't do that, not even the liquid one, only He can. I've seen Him heal; I've experienced it firsthand. That's why He's my Jehovah Rapha, the God that heals.

I'm just as undeserving as undeserving can get, not even worthy of His love that He gives so freely, but He's chosen to and still chooses to heal every cut, every nick, and every scrape with His limitless, immeasurable love. He will do the same for you. Today, I encourage you to remove your self-made bandages and let God heal your heart, your spirit & your soul....He really wants to.

"His love has no limits, no measures....it can reach you where you are."

Please listen & get your worship on!!
The Walls Group - Great Is Your Love:
http://youtu.be/DT7WeZAV4_s