Living in Filth ...

My son broke our vacuum cleaner!  I have to preface that my verve for cleaning, organizing and rearranging has not genetically passed along to him.  You must know that he almost never vacuums; it's just not one of his strong points and if he can avoid the task of vacuuming, he certainly will but on one recent occasion, he did decide to take that route at a time when it became absolutely necessary due to build-up of what we'll call "debris and gunk".

And he broke the vacuum cleaner!  The nerve! 

So, ... naturally, we needed to purchase a new vacuum cleaner.  We got one by Eureka, the kind that doesn't require vacuum bags!  It’s great!  There’s just this cylinder-shaped container that catches all the debris that the vacuum sucks up. 

Well, there was a period of nearly two weeks between the death of our old vacuum and the purchase of our new one.  Needless to say, I went to vacuuming right away.  I took the new machine out of the box, connected its attachments, plugged it in and away I went.  I vacuumed just one room and noticed movement … you know … in that cylinder-shaped container that catches all the debris that the vacuum sucks up.  So, I turned it off and pulled the container out. 

Sure enough, it was FULL of YUCK that looked like THIS …

THAT WAS IN MY CARPET?  ALL THAT??  That is, in my opinion, A LOT and I couldn’t even see any of it!  I had no idea we were living in that filth and I certainly didn’t realize it could build up so quickly. 

You know, .. SIN is like that.  Sometimes it’s right there under our noses, we’re living in it and we don’t even realize it.  If we don’t pay attention and remove it right away, if we ignore it because we don't want to deal with it, it can build up in our lives, eventually becoming obstacles of "debris and gunk".  When we're finally ready to do something about it, it might just be that permanent damage is unavoidable (we may suffer earthly consequences of our sin), though, spiritually, God wipes our slate clean because God is a God of FORGIVENESS and RESTORATION! 
For those of us who are in Christ ... believing that He (Jesus) physically and spiritually received the punishment we deserve when He was crucified and descended into hell, trusting that He overcame the shackles of death by His unsurpassing power, knowing that He crushed Satan's grip on Him and all mankind who believe when He was raised from the dead ... we are restored and Jesus resumes His reign next to His Father in heaven. 

I know that it is impossible for me to prevent ANY "debris and gunk" from getting into my house so I have to vacuum on a regular basis.  In the same way, it is impossible for us to prevent ANY sin from being in our lives ... we still sin but we continue to strive toward eliminating them from our lives.  God is our vacuum cleaner and we can go to Him on a regular basis and allow Him to remove our "debris and gunk".  1 John 1:8-9 says that "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess ours sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  He restores us and helps us to choose differently, react differently, respond differently ... until the sins we continue to struggle with become less and less.   It's a process and it needs to be dealt with on a regular basis; the longer we put it off, the more prone we will be to incurring greater consequences or damage ... turn to the LORD and let Him be your vacuum so you don't keep "living in filth".

It's Time for a Change ...

I like change!

I do!  Call me CRAZY … but what I really like is to rearrange ...  furniture, that is!  It’s my quirky characteristic!

Rearranging furniture causes me to clean the spots that have been hidden and gone unnoticed, to remove those things that have piled up since the last time I rearranged and it allows me to give a room a new look.  I like the opportunity for something new

... newness ...

I like the way it feels, the way it looks and this time of year is a GREAT time for furniture rearranging.  Most of us have to make room for our Christmas tree and the numerous decorations that we pull out of storage and when it’s time to put everything away, as it now is, the opportunity to rearrange and to give everything a fresh and sparkly perspective is absolutely inviting!  However, there is a downside to my fervor for furniture relocation.  My family does not share my enthusiasm and sometimes they are even put out by it.  Sometimes, it throws them off; it causes confusion as it disrupts the flow of continuity and routine and often they aren’t given a choice prior to the rearranging event. 

Change can be a choice but sometimes it is forced upon us without forewarning; sometimes circumstances interrupt our plans and unwanted change is hurled at us … and some of us are reluctant to change.  Things happen, a word is spoken, a look is given, a tragedy strikes, our desires are not fulfilled … and sometimes … we just STOP. We stop right where we are and as if our feet have become cemented to the ground we stand upon, we become hard and unmoving. 

Do you know what I’m talking about?  Has this happened to you?  It’s happened to me. 

You know, when we become a Christian, Satan no longer has the opportunity to snatch up our soul for himself … HOORAY!  That IS a good thing but, guess what?  He hates that!  It infuriates the devil when he loses claim to one of us.  So, he alternatively does the only thing that’s left for him to do.  Once he can no longer own our soul, he wants nothing more than to make us ineffective.  He thrives on our indifference!  Don’t think for one second that he is not the absolute cause for all the trouble and the tragedy, the heartache and the headaches, the destruction and the despair that is rampant in this world.  The Enemy is the root of depression, worry and fear and he wants to immobilize us to prevent us from bringing honor and glory to our LORD Jesus through our service.  So he attempts to disrupt our lives … but we do not have to allow him a foothold into our conscience.  When we do, we stop serving and we stop spreading His TRUTH … instead, we lament over our losses, we torment over our tragedies, we weaken in our worries and we surrender to Satan.  Dear One, … please understand this clearly … GOD DID NOT INTEND FOR YOU TO SURRENDER TO SATAN!

For God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of a good mind. ~ 1Timothy 1:7 (NLV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

Consider the caterpillar.  Just when he thought he was done for ... when he thought he had nothing left to offer ... he changed!  He became something beautiful and useful ... a purposeful creature.  Just like the caterpillar will never be a caterpillar again (the old has gone), we can never go back and be what we once were and we can’t hold on to what we don’t have.  And in the same way that the caterpillar transforms into something new and beautiful (the new has come), we can welcome the beauty in the opportunity of something new.  For those of us who are "in Christ", all the heavy baggage, the weight-bearing load of our sin and struggles and shame ... it's all GONE.  We tell ourselves that God has chosen for us to be "this way" when really, it's just that we're so used to carrying it around that we just don't want to "let it go".  JESUS has already released you from the strongholds you've been chained to (addiction, loss, unforgiveness, guilt, depression and anxiety, feeling unwanted, pride, doubt and unbelief ...) so Leave it ... Don't cling to it! 

In this new year, you have a choice … a choice to stand still or to move, a choice to languish or to overcome, … a choice … to walk away from “the old” and walk confidently towards, with great anticipation, the beautiful opportunity of something new … with purpose.  Will you do it?  I’ll be praying for it!

When we come to Christ, all that we are in nature and character is destined to change. ~ Frances Frangipane

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  ~Ezekiel 36:26

 My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.   God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:14-21  (MSG)

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 (NLT)