Have you ever stopped and thought about all the junk that slips down your kitchen sink?
We own a pest control company and at training they gave us a scope that gave us the ability to look down into a kitchen drain. It was nasty. Thank goodness they showed us a chemical that would clean out all the waste and the bugs that were busy feasting on the debris down there.
I couldn’t wait to get home and clean our drains.
After I treated them, the next morning I flushed them out with clean water. I didn’t have a scope to see, but I felt that my pipes were free of scum and disinfected. It was a good feeling.
As hard as I tried, it wasn’t long before things had slipped down the drains and the pipes needed cleaning again.
I relate this to my life as I experience the unclean things that surround me. This can take my focus and lead me astray. As much as I want my life to be clean and filled with the wonder of the Lord, I can get buried in temporal living. Thank goodness the Holy Spirit gets my attention and helps me see that I need to confess and let the cleaning blood of Jesus refresh my soul.
This is the fight of the soul this side of heaven. We are all in this fight, until we go home to be with the Lord.
Just like the cleaning power of the chemical for our drains, the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit is here to restore and refresh us. Jesus forgives and leads us out of the harmful things in our lives.
I thought about the drain stopper and how it catches things before they go down the drain. How does God provide for us so we can live our lives free from the harm and shackles of this world?
These are things He tells us in His Word:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
The first verse reminds us that God has given us His Word so we can know when our lives are cluttered with wrong actions and thoughts. The next one encourages us to go to Him with confidence for grace and help when we have gone outside His will. And the last one reminds us not to try to live the Christian life alone. We need one another.
Pray With Me
Dear Father,
We thank You for the blood of Jesus that can cleanse us from all ungodliness. We can so easily be led astray. Oh Father, we need discernment. Help us keep our hearts open to you. Teach us to walk in Your ways. Lord, when we find ourselves drifting away from You, bring us back to Your throne of grace to receive the help we desperately need. Thank you, Father, for the gift of salvation and the promise of transformation. We pray all this in Jesus’ name, amen.
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth” (1 John 1:5-6 NIV).
It was Easter afternoon and I was busy preparing Sunday dinner for the family. I bent over the oven to get something out and my left eye went completely black. I was blind in that eye.
We called my daughter’s father-in-law who was an ophthalmologist. He told us to get to the Callaway Eye Emergency Room immediately. It surprised me how insistent he was because even though I couldn’t see there was absolutely no pain in my eyes, so I wondered why we needed to hurry. After all, it was Easter and our dinner was not ready.
I am so glad we did exactly what he told us to do. I had a tear in my retina which caused darkness.
I have another darkness that can overtake me at times, and it is my old sinful nature. It is sneaky and it can come over me quickly. I can have thoughts that I know better than to think, bitterness, or envy can capture my heart and my mind. Anger can direct me into the darkness of harsh words and prideful actions. There is a darkness in me that has been there since birth. But because of Jesus I also have a new nature.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV).
I wish I could say that my old nature of darkness never creeps up in me, but that would be a lie. Grace is my only hope. Grace from the Holy Spirit can direct me back to who God has made me to be.
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NIV).
We all fight darkness because of our old sinful nature. And because we live in a broken world with broken people, our battle goes on outside of us. We also have an enemy that wants to trick us and defeat us. Our hope is found in the power, goodness, and grace of the Lord.
The trip to the emergency room was awful because it was Easter and the ones on call were not able to help me. I had to go to a well-equipped surgeon to repair my retina and to be with me as I healed. This all took time and obedience for my eyesight to return. How grateful I am to be able to see.
When I listen to my old nature, or when I fall into temptation, I can make light of my sin and decide that what I am doing is not wrong or a big deal. I need the Holy Spirit to repair me and draw me back into God’s light. He is the Healer that I need and He is able and willing to heal my soul.
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from allsin” (1 John 1:7 NIV).
Here is our hope and God’s promise from His Word. We can rest that He has made us new. He is greater than the evil one and by grace we can walk in the light of forgiveness.
For Reflection
Read John 3:16-21
Pray with me
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for the grace that saved us and the grace that continues to make us new. Forgive us Lord, when we stray away from Your Word, forget to pray, and chase after lesser things. This creation is beautiful because You have created it. All things that are good and beautiful are to draw us to You. Holy Spirit, teach us, draw us, protect us, and give us discernment. We ask this in the name above all other names, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Looking at the beautiful rainbow with the waterfall behind there is just one way for the water to go.
The trip to Alaska was remarkable, but all good trips end. So, way before we wanted to it was time to exit the cruise ship and fly back home.
As we were waking up to prepare for departure an important announcement was made. Departure would be delayed three hours because there had been a serious accident on the road leading to Anchorage and the road was blocked.
Okay, I thought we could settle down and take it easy. Nothing to worry about, we had a late flight. But what about the bus that was scheduled to take us to Anchorage? We called, and they were going to be delayed, also. All was fine except we were told that we had to vacate our stateroom. The staff needed time to prepare the rooms for the next guests to arrive.
This was not my plan, but I understood. There was food, coffee and tables to sit around on the ship, so we decided to play cards. If you are with our grandson, Collier, games will be played.
I just couldn’t quite understand why traffic would be completely stopped on both sides of the road. Wasn’t there an alternative route to Anchorage?
I was blown away with the answer. It seems that there is only one tunnel that leads from Whittier to Anchorage, and it is a one-way tunnel. One hour the traffic travels from Whittier to Anchorage and the next hour the traffic travels the other way. And that is not all. The train also travels through the tunnel. Crazy, right!
When we finally got off the boat and onto the bus to take us to Anchorage, we were traveling through the tunnel straddling train tracks. This is the only way through. Now this is hard to imagine in this day and time that they would have a tunnel with these restrictions.
You know I said that this was pretty mind-boggling, and it is. But for so many people the idea that God offers only one way to reach heaven is also mind-boggling. The Bible is clear; there is only one way. Jesus puts it this way:
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Jesus is the one-way tunnel. There is no other way to reach heaven. There is no other way we are made righteous. There is no other way to be redeemed and restored. He is our doorway to salvation.
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be save. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:9).
This sounds so restrictive and so unfair, but our God knows that only the pure life of Jesus could purify the sin of this world. Only Jesus’ perfect life could defeat the power of death. Jesus, our good Shepherd is our perfect sacrificial lamb.
Adam the first man was perfect, but when he disobeyed God, sin entered the world and humanity. We were all born with a sinful nature. We sin because it is our nature. But Jesus was born fully man, but without a sin nature. He became a baby by the power of the Holy Spirit. You could say He was the second Adam, (1Corinthians 15:45-49), but Jesus obeyed perfectly so He could give His life for us and defeat the power and penalty of sin.
Jesus tells us that He has gone to prepare a place for us who believe and that He will come again to take us home. John 14:1-4. What assurance we have when we trust in the finish work Christ did for us on the cross. Praise the Lord our God and Jesus Christ, our Savior.
Pray with me
Oh, my Lord, thank you for the gift of salvation. Thank you for providing for us this narrow, one-way entrance to You. Father, forgive me for ever taking for granted the sacrifice You made. Why you did, will always be a mystery, but oh, my Lord, how I praise You for providing such pure, perfect blood to wash me clean.
Now, Father, fill my soul with Your Spirit so I might live to bring You glory and lead others on this one-way road to our heavenly home. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Boy and his godparents holding cross at white wooden table, closeup
“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15)
Eyes are amazing. They will adjust to darkness, light and they work together. For years I wore contacts, and one contact was for close vision and the other for far away. My two eyes worked together. We could all learn a great lesson from eyes that choose to complement one another.
Recently I was on a medication that caused me to have double vision. I saw two of everything. After stopping the medication, the double vision has left me, but my two eyes are not working together as they once did. My right eye is clear in the distant and my left eye is doing great close up, but for me to use one or the other I have to close the other eye. I am praying this is a temporary condition.
We are told in Scripture that as believers in Jesus we will be given spiritual gifts. These gifts are given to us to complement one another for the building of the Kingdom.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
1 Corinthians 12:7
When believers, and churches began to compete with one another instead of working together we do not have a clear vision of God’s perfect will.
One area that I have seen a lot of togetherness is in Christian music. Christian musicians coming together on tours and singing songs together, complementing each other while building the Kingdom of God.
Each gift the Lord has placed on us belongs to Him, for His glory not ours. It is a delicate thing for each of us to keep our hearts focused on Him and our focus to be for His glory.
We who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ live in a fallen world. A world that has a lot of beautiful things. Things the Lord has given us to enjoy, but this fallen world also has a lot of things that we are to speak out against.
How do we live in these fallen bodies with the living Christ in us?
Recently, a strong believer in Jesus Christ, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed in front of thousands of people because he was walking in truth and speaking truth, with a love for those who disagreed with him. His life was not one way on Sunday and another way Monday through Saturday.
He was authentic and unafraid to be who Christ made him to be. He chose to serve the Lord, with the attitude that others needed to decide what they believed. Many believers in Jesus are not equipped to defend the reason for their faith. This prevents them from being an influence in the world where they live. It is time for us to cooperate with one another as believers and live in freedom without fear. And to openly express our stand for the gospel.
The time has come to decide who we will serve, and it will take us putting all competition aside and serving the Lord together with all the gifts He has given to us.
Here are a few questions to ponder:
Do you know why you believe what you believe?
Are you willing to dig into God’s Word to strengthen your faith?
What spiritual gift has the Lord given you and how are you using those gifts?
Pray with me
Dear Jesus,
We honor You for You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You have given us all we need to serve and build Your kingdom. Holy Spirit how we need Your wisdom, passion and love to serve our God. Father, help us in our weakness and show us how to live this life in freedom and love. Our life matters and how we live is to help others find their way to You. We love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
Just because you have a desire to do something does not mean it will be easy. I discovered that firsthand recently.
For years I had it in mind that an Alaska cruise would be spectacular. So, for those who were able to go, our family decided to plan the trip.
There was a lot of planning that took place, things like having a passport, booking airline tickets, planning excursions, and paying for all of this. There was also packing the right clothes. I am not sure everyone was looking forward to the trip, after all this was my bucket list, but because this family loves me, they did all the necessary planning for the trip.
After a year of talking about the trip and planning the time had come, so we left Alabama travelling to the airport in Atlanta, flying from Atlanta to Calgary with a four-hour layover which was only supposed to be an hour and a half. Then flying from Calgary to Vancouver. We arrived at our hotel at three o’clock in the morning after waiting for the shuttle for over an hour.
I was thankful we didn’t give up. There were times I thought that the trip was to expenses for everyone, and we should just forget the whole thing. I felt selfish and yet we continued. Then driving to Atlanta was treacherous and I prayed, “Lord, please get us to the airport unharmed.” The airline we were travelling with would not except our baggage until our flight was closer and the security line was so long, I wondered if we would ever make our flight.
The journey was long and hard. Weary is an understatement of what we were all feeling. But now it was time to travel to the ship and settle into our beautiful staterooms. My tired body was thinking, “We made it, the hard part was over, and now we could all relax and enjoy Alaska. I am thankful for the planning because giving up once we began was not an option.
The Apostle Paul had a zeal for the Lord and to serve him with his whole life. He wanted to make an impact for the Kingdom of God, but this desire came with trials. In short it was not easy!
2 Corinthians 11:22-33 records the suffering he endured in order to give his life to the ministry of the gospel. Paul faced prison, flogging, beatings with rods, and being lost at sea. He went without sleep, food, or water. His desire to serve the Lord made our travelling to Alaska a piece of cake.
I am so grateful that Paul never gave up. He listened to God and was used mightily in the lives of those who lived during his time. And because of his perseverance his epistles still speak to us today. I am also thankful that our God never gives up on His plan or on His people.
I am grateful that God gives His children godly desires, but just because the desires come from Him, does not mean they will be easy. Remember we live in a fallen world with fallen people. We also have an enemy who wants to defeat God’s Kingdom. Our job is to persevere and trust the Lord’s power and sovereignty.
Pray with me
Heavenly Father,
Give us strength to persevere even when things are hard. In fact, Lord, help us praise You when we run into difficulties. Help us know we can rest in Your goodness and Your strength. We praise You because You will be our guide. In Jesus’ name, amen!
“I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them” (Hosea 11:4).
Have you ever had a moment that takes you back in time? This happened to me recently. I was sitting in church getting ready for the series we look forward to all year long. It is called “At the Movies.”
This happens three Sundays each year. The Pastor takes a movie, we see clips from the show, and he brings the gospel message to us by way of the clips. There is popcorn, and cokes. The congregation pops the top of their cans, and the room is filled with that sound. It is a fun way to start the service. This is after we have spent time praising God through beautiful praise music. The room is packed with young and the old, enjoying being together in the house of God.
The church is packed because everyone looks forward to the series and the service cannot be viewed at home. No matter the reason, it is wonderful seeing the room filled with worshippers.
I was thankful to be there, and looking around the room, I remembered the first time I came. It wasn’t my choice, but someone asked me to come, and that someone is a person I love so much. It was my oldest grandson, Collier and this GiGi cannot say no to him.
My husband and I were attending a good church. With great music and a pastor that spoke truth each week. But we did not connect for some reason. We enjoyed Sunday, but that was all there was and God wanted more for us.
When your grandchild asks you to go to church, you go. First, because you are glad, he has a heart for God and secondly you are thankful he wants you to be part of his life.
We did that for several years because he asked but then we were being drawn to be there. It was the Spirit of the Lord who wanted more for us than just Sunday attendance. He wanted us to grow in our relationship with Him and with other believers. We needed and wanted more. So, God in His wisdom used our grandson to move us from where we were, to where He wanted us to be.
It was God’s cords of love drawing us with the love we had for Collier. I thank them both.
Our God uses people, circumstances, and His Word to guide us through this life. I am glad He doesn’t leave us to figure out things on our own. I am thankful that He is not satisfied with okay. He wants more for His children. God wants the best for us not just what we will settle for.
Pray with me
Dear Father,
There are no words to thank you for your gracious love. Your mercy is more than we could ever hope for. Lord, we want to live with You and for You. Teach us how by Your Spirit. Father, keep drawing us closer and closer to You, and help us bring others with us all the way to heaven’s door. We love You Lord! In Jesus’ name, amen.
For encouragement read 1 Corinthians 13.
God is love and He loves us with gracious love and draws us to Himself.
