Psalm 31:5

Staying Clean

   This morning I was doing some scrubbing and cleaning and the Lord used that time to teach me about our spirits. When we come to Him under Jesus' blood we are forgiven, but we still have grunge on us that we need to confess and be forgiven for.
    Through the years I have gone through a lot of levels of repentance! The first thing I had to come to terms with was that I'm not free to say whatever comes to mind in every situation. I had to go to a lot of people and apologize before I got a grip on this one! I finally became so tired of apologizing that I learned to keep my mouth shut!
     Today however during the scrubbing time the Lord was teaching me that our spirits are not a "one and done" cleaning item. We need to carefully take care to keep them clean daily! Daily!
     In our lives, we do a lot of cleaning so we should be able to grab this concept. We wash our dishes after each use, we wash our clothing after wearing them. We vacuum, we dust, we mow lawns, we brush our teeth and our hair for example. When we look at these things it makes sense that we need to clean a lot of areas in our lives, so we need to be sure to not neglect cleaning our spirits too. That makes sense, doesn't it?
     Next question then is how do we clean our spirits? Prayer is good! Praying and asking the Holy Spirit to shine His light into our spirits and show us any area that needs attention is excellent!
     The Holy Spirit is the Teacher that Jesus told us would come to guide us, and He will guide us into cleaning our spirits or another word for it is sanctification. He is our Counselor, Comforter, and Corrector, so this is all in His job description! He will show us people we need to forgive, people that we need to ask to forgive us, habits we need to give up, wrong things we've said and done that we need to bring to the Lord and ask forgiveness for. Even after we've done this for a while, He'll dig further in our past and show us more that we will want to release and be cleansed from.
     We will want to stay in a close relationship with the Holy Spirit, asking Him, how have I done today? Is there any area that I have fallen short in and need cleaning in? And then be quick to respond, don't hesitate, maybe we do need to release hurt or offense first and then be sure to give forgiveness, but do it, don't hold back.

Psalm 28:6-7

God's Blessing Part 1 8/26/19

   No matter whom you are or what your abilities and circumstances are, if you tap into the blessing of God; you will be thrust forward into a life of increase, multiplication, and destiny.
From a book I'm reading, A Time to Advance by Chuck Pierce

God's Blessing Part 2 8/26/19

The word "bless" or "blessing" is used 474 times in the Bible. That certainly tells us how significant blessing is to God. He wants us to understand and walk in blessing, not just for our own sake, but so we can demonstrate His kingdom by blessing others.
From a book I'm reading, A Time to Advance by Chuck Pierce

Bowing or Nodding? 8/23/2019

     A lot of the praise songs we sing these days include the lines that we bow to the Lord. This morning the Holy Spirit was stirring in my thinking "what does that mean to you?". After considering the question for myself I now I ask you, what does bowing before the Lord and His throne mean to you?
     Sometimes we casually sing songs without even slowing down to consider the full impact of the words we're mouthing. Let me tell you, the Lord does not take our words "casually".
     There was a time in my life that I had gone my own way, I was not denying the Lord, but I was "pouting" because things weren't going the way I thought they should. So, I started calling my own shots. Everything was okay for a bit and then life really turned upside down on me!
     When I came to my senses and turned back to the Lord, much as the prodigal son did, the Holy Spirit played the lyrics of a hymn I had sung in church years before. "Father I adore You, I lay my life before You!" These lyrics were not something I was thinking of on my own, the Lord was playing them back to me to remind me that I had given Him my life years before and I needed to get back to where I was at that time, back in relationship with Him. I tell you all of this just to let you know that whether you are speaking or singing words it doesn't matter, the Lord takes you seriously!
     So now back to the question, when you sing that you are bowing before the Lord, are you seriously bowing? Do you submit to the Lord, to His purpose for you and your life, do you give Him all honor? Do you cease resisting Him and His purpose in your life? Or are you simply giving a head nod that you recognize His power, His creation, His purpose, and then moving on to do whatever it is that you want to do?
     He is calling for you to submit to His purpose, to the calling He has on you and your life. He did not create you to watch you bow to the world or to your own desires and motivations, those only lead to your destruction.
     Come back and consider, "when I bow to the Lord, am I truly submitting every area of my being?". It is a big question and deserves your careful consideration.

Team Player? 7/14/11

     Why does it appear that some are able to work as a team easily and then there are others. The others don't play well with "others". To walk the path that God wants people on, it often takes walking as part of a team. Coming to terms with that is a challenge for myself, I guess it's an opportunity for growth!