Clean Up on Aisle Four
October 6
Waking to the thought of "Clean up on aisle four" my mind wandered to my grocery list for this weekend. A grocery list was not where God was heading with me. Gently, He reminded me that my "to do" list and my prayer "request" list were getting way out in front of my confession time. I've been polishing a lot of silver and some pieces required a toothbrush to get into the ornate spots. God is requiring me to allow Him to get into those tiny grooves in my own life, you know, the sin pockets way down deep that we think no one will notice. Well, God notices.
The past three days God has sent messages from the book of Habakkuk to me. That sounds like a board game doesn't it?
Habakkuk was a prophet, in the nation of Judah, back around 600 B.C. Like many of us, Mr. H. was concerned about his nation's spiritual decline and he calls out to God. The refreshing thing about this fellow is how real he is. He questions if God is really listening and when God answers him explaining He will allow "the bad guys" (Babylonians) to be the ones to bring destruction on Judah to help turn her from her sinful ways it ruffles Habakkuk's feathers a bit.
God is sovereign and he will not let injustice triumph forever, but He may choose to allow us to come up against evil to test and thus strengthen our faith and to work good in our lives.
James, Jesus' half-brother told us this...Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)
When the trials and tests come, I am learning to look inward and instead of a "Woe (funny, first I typed whoa)..instead of a "woe is me" attitude I am asking the Spirit to to do a "clean up" on the aisle of my life and see what I may have made a mess of.
God you are our God and we will ever praise You. If we had a cymbal and a harp we would play them! There is no better place to be than in Your presence! Today, we take "whoa" moment and stop our forward motion and ask You to reveal the areas of our heart which need to be cleaned up. Thank You, thank You that Jesus died on the cross for that specific reason. His sacrifice is so totally sufficient. We just need to acknowledge our sin and repent. Shape us and make us pleasing in Your sight. Today, no matter what comes we will say, "Our God is up to good!" In Jesus' name, Amen
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19
Waking to the thought of "Clean up on aisle four" my mind wandered to my grocery list for this weekend. A grocery list was not where God was heading with me. Gently, He reminded me that my "to do" list and my prayer "request" list were getting way out in front of my confession time. I've been polishing a lot of silver and some pieces required a toothbrush to get into the ornate spots. God is requiring me to allow Him to get into those tiny grooves in my own life, you know, the sin pockets way down deep that we think no one will notice. Well, God notices.
The past three days God has sent messages from the book of Habakkuk to me. That sounds like a board game doesn't it?
Habakkuk was a prophet, in the nation of Judah, back around 600 B.C. Like many of us, Mr. H. was concerned about his nation's spiritual decline and he calls out to God. The refreshing thing about this fellow is how real he is. He questions if God is really listening and when God answers him explaining He will allow "the bad guys" (Babylonians) to be the ones to bring destruction on Judah to help turn her from her sinful ways it ruffles Habakkuk's feathers a bit.
God is sovereign and he will not let injustice triumph forever, but He may choose to allow us to come up against evil to test and thus strengthen our faith and to work good in our lives.
James, Jesus' half-brother told us this...Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)
When the trials and tests come, I am learning to look inward and instead of a "Woe (funny, first I typed whoa)..instead of a "woe is me" attitude I am asking the Spirit to to do a "clean up" on the aisle of my life and see what I may have made a mess of.
God you are our God and we will ever praise You. If we had a cymbal and a harp we would play them! There is no better place to be than in Your presence! Today, we take "whoa" moment and stop our forward motion and ask You to reveal the areas of our heart which need to be cleaned up. Thank You, thank You that Jesus died on the cross for that specific reason. His sacrifice is so totally sufficient. We just need to acknowledge our sin and repent. Shape us and make us pleasing in Your sight. Today, no matter what comes we will say, "Our God is up to good!" In Jesus' name, Amen
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19
