 One of the things I enjoy watching is rug cleaning videos. I love how the one cleaning it takes a muddy and very nasty looking rug, applies soap, scrubs and rinses it until it looks new again.
Every time I watch one, I think of how God washes us clean from all sin, only it doesn't take Him hours to do so, and He doesn't need a pressure washer or soap and water! He does it through His blood shed on the cross and in a simple moment, when we place our faith in Him as our Savior. Sin affects our relationship with God. Before salvation, we cannot have fellowship with God because of our sin, since God is holy. Even after we are saved, we will sin, because we still have the old nature living inside of us who wants us to do wrong. As a child, I heard someone say when the Christian sins they need to apply the Christian's washing machine verse, which is 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” To confess means to agree with God that we did wrong against Him and His commands. Harboring sin has negative effects on us and others. ~ Sin affects our prayers. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Iniquity means that we make a conscious choice to sin instead of choosing to do right even though we had the opportunity to do what was right. We must not have known sin in our lives! If there is a sin or sins that God has shown you in your life, delay no longer to confess it to Him, so that His peace can flood your heart and you can have sweet fellowship with Him! ~ Sin affects our health and robs us of joy. Psalm 38:3-8 says, “There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.” ~ Sin hurts others. Sometimes we think that sin only hurts us, but this is simply not true. Paul says in Romans 14:7 “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.” People, especially children, are always watching our lives and learning from us. What we do can have a profound impact on how people live their lives. A bitter person will often be a critical person that will gossip or always seems to have something negative to say. An angry person will always find something to be angry about. An unkind person will find ways to hurt people. May you and I not be these kinds of people, but rather people who are right with God, joyful and kind in all we do and say, because God commands us in 1 Timothy 4:12 “...be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation [our lifestyle], in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” When we are a poor example of what it means to act like a Christian, we hinder the unsaved from coming to know the Lord and we make sin look okay to others, giving people the impression of “if they can do it, so can I.” Sin never just affects us, and it always has consequences! The Attitude of Confession In Psalm 51 King David shows us the steps and heart of confession to God for forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba. First, in verses 1 and 2 with a humble and broken heart, he asks “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Second, in verses 3-5 he fully acknowledges his sin and the evil that he did against God. Third, in verses 6-19 he desires to walk in truth and have the joy of salvation and forgiveness restored to him so that he can teach others of God's righteousness and praise Him with a pure heart. What helps us not to sin? First, the Word of God helps us not to sin. The psalmist said in Psalm 119:11 “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” Jesus also quoted Scripture when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. Second, Prayer helps us not to sin. Jesus commanded us in Luke 22:40 “And when He was at the place, He said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.” Third, the Holy Spirit helps us to not sin. In John 14:26 Jesus tells us that the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, teaches us what is right and brings the Word of God to our mind. Also, in Romans 8:26 we read that the Holy Spirit prays for us. Fourth, the Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18 helps us not to sin. We have the belt of truth, that is God's Word, the breastplate of God’s righteousness, the shoes of the peace of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit which is also God’s Word, and again prayer. Because God wants us to obey His Word and glorify Him, He has equipped us with all we need to do right. But He is gracious, merciful and forgiving when we do sin and come to Him. Thank God for His forgiveness and His Word to help us live righteously and victoriously for Him!
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 Christmas can be difficult without the people that we love. Knowing that they are with the Lord should give us comfort, but still our hearts cry out for one last hug or to hear their voice say " I love you" again. My papa was the first person close to me that I had lost. I had lost a cousin, but he had a lot of health issues so there is comfort in his passing. My papa however was sudden, although he was high in age, it was unexpected. I had just seen him earlier that day, he was full of energy working like I had never seen him work before. He didn't complain about any soreness and was cheerful, humming with praises to the Lord. My papa gave me several hugs that day, the bear kind that smoother you and if I knew they would have been the last I would have embraced them instead of fighting for air. I thank God everyday for the last day, what a blessing to get to say goodbye without knowing it. The shock of hearing of his passing that night combined with the screaming of my nanas' voice as I overheard the corner while on the phone with her ,as she was pleading for the Lord for him to be okay. I broke. I remember the pain like no other I have felt to this day. In tears, balled up I cried out to the Lord, no understanding why. "Lord give me comfort, I can't because my heart….I can't take this pain, Lord take my pain." This is the first time I had ever prayed to where I could feel my soul begging to the Lord. I prayed for myself to sleep that night.
I woke up later and I had a dream about Jesus praying at a well with the night sky and stars behind him. I didn't know what it meant, but somehow it gave me comfort. A few days later I went to my nana's and my heart broke for her and all of my family. My mom pulled me to the side and handed me my papa bible. She said " he wanted you to have this." The realness of his death opened up my new wound and I stepped outside to breathe, pray. I knew my papa loved the Lord. I also knew it was very precious to him, he took it everywhere and was always writing notes in it. I knew the Lord was real. I knew what His power was capable of through the transformation of my father; but I had known him personally. The funeral was a sermon in itself just honoring the Lord and all He had done for my papa throughout his life. At the grave I placed a quarter in the casket that he gave me so I would never be broke, he used to say we could call him with it, like payphones are still a thing. I was able to start to cope. I remember taking a deep breath afterwards and looking around and I noticed a well, my papas grave site is right beside a well in the graveyard. In that moment I felt the Lord's presence of peace wash over me .Several things would still remind me of him, like pink skies or church songs, but I had a layer around my heart not allowing the pain to sting as bad as it first did.The first church service I went to after his passing was so hard. I was alone, but everything reminded me of him. The preaching sermon, to the songs. In the moment I prayed to the Lord that he would give me a heart like my papa had for the Lord, that I can know him like he did, and that he would never leave me because what I was doing wasn't working for me. The next day I decided to open my papas' Bible, not to read the words in it, but to read his handwriting. I started and couldn't stop, something inside of me awoke and earned for the Lord. This lasted for weeks and I was consumed with scripture and learning who my Lord is, why He is so good. In those months a distant God of the universe who helped others and I knew out of tradition that I was to worship became my Father who is as close to me as the hairs on my skin. My life was transformed. The death of my papa brought life to my spirit and I could never express the gratitude I have for that. As I whip away the tears, I am reminded that not everyone has this blessed assurance that they know the Lord and I hope as you read this, He will draw you close to Him even now. Just cry out to Him and He will answer. By the time Christmas came along I was walking closer with the Lord than I ever had before. I was able to try to help others in my family learn to cope with Jesus than to let the pain engulf their life, some harder than others. God gave me this poem and I wanted to share it in memory of a Godly man who lived for the Lord. Everything I write and do stems in honor of His love for the Lord. I pray it can give you comfort and bless you in this sometimes sad holiday. Look up, God is with you always. Christmas without you The light is so bright The warmth last throughout the night The peace is so free, no stress No hurrying to look my best No worrying if the gift is just right No working overtime to pay for the night A party happens today like everyday In heaven with Jesus on his Birthday Today I hug Jesus and walk by his side Talking about things wondered world wide We talk about love and the blessing he gave I'm so lucky I was able in my life to be saved Today i'm not there but do not shed a tear I'm with our lord free from all fear The memory of me hurts because i'm not in my seat Just know im happy worshiping at Jesus feet Be happy for me wipe away your tear One day you will join me so look up my dear Be happy and celebrate our savior today We worship him together even though we are miles away You can not see me but know i'm in your heart God will comfort you, he will never depart This Christmas you are not without me Love remains in your heart so share it for others see Merry christmas from heaven and happy new year too Enjoy this day, the family still needs you Inspired by Grady Turner 12/20/24 @ 11:58am Written by Hannah Austin  Complaining is a common trait among humans. We complain about the weather, traffic, and long lines. It seems that if you stand around long enough you are bound to overhear someone muttering a complaint no matter where you go. While we know it is not what we should do, we fall so easily into the trap of complaining about most things. Sadly, the children of God are not immune to this, in fact, Israel spent much of their forty years grumbling in the wilderness. Tragically, their complaints were not limited to a lack of goods but also directed toward God Himself.
Contradicting the Message of the Gospel As believers though, have you ever considered the message our complaints convey about our belief in God? To complain is to contradict the very character of God. In truth, every time a complaint leaves our lips it contradicts the message of the Gospel. As children of the Most High God, we declare that our God loves us, so much so that He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for our sins. He is a loving, generous, and good God, but our words of complaint don’t back it up. When we say that we don’t have enough, what we are really saying is that God is not a good provider. When we complain about our circumstances, such an extended season of singleness, we are saying that God is not on time or does not know what He is doing. When we complain about feeling abandoned or ignored, we are telling others that God does not love us. If we were to dig a little deeper, however, we would learn the real source of the problem, our hearts. A complaint is merely the verbalization of our thoughts, which are beliefs of our heart at the moment. A Key Battleground Our heart is a key battleground for what we believe to be true and the words that pour from our mouth reveal who won, our flesh or the Spirit. We will face this battle every day and must be vigilant in our guard against the enemy’s weapons. He is relentless in his attack and will use every opportunity to distort the truth of our circumstances and our current conditions to cause us to yield. Our thoughts will be a key piece of ground to fight for in these battles. What we allow to linger in our hearts and minds can impact our perspective. If we let the thought that God has denied us something, we can believe that He is not good. Just as the serpent declared to Eve in the Garden, attempting to make her doubt the goodness of God because she could not eat this tree’s fruit. When we experience an extended season of sorrow or suffering, we can be vulnerable to the belief that God does not even care about us or is even displeased with us. We can think that He is punishing us. Naomi uttered false accusations about God during such a season of loss. She was convinced that God was against her and openly declared her complaints before the people of Bethlehem’s tiny village. Again, the Israelites repeated a similar pattern during their four decades of travel. They often brought their complaints about God to Moses. They could be counted on to find something to complain about, whether that was a lack of water, meat, or even vegetables. Whenever things became a little difficult, they were quick to forget all that God had done for them and loudly complain. The Necessity of the Quiet Place Unfortunately, we can all fall into a similar verbal pitfall when our hearts are worn down by suffering and sorrow. Again, to complain about God is to contradict the very character of God. Every human complaint about God is founded on either a lack of knowledge of God or a lack of trust in God. This is why our quiet time with God matters, because it is the place we continue to learn about who He is and where He reminds us of His person. Every page in scripture is an opportunity to build our faith, knowledge, and trust in God. The greater our faith, the harder it will be to complain because we will remember His promises in the difficult, dark, and discouraging days. The more time we spend in God’s Word, the stronger our armor will become, which enables us to withstand the blows of our adversary. When he whispers to our souls that we are being denied something, the Spirit will bring a promise that “the Lord God is a sun and shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11). When the enemy of our souls tries to tell us that if God loved us He would not have let this terrible thing happen, the Spirit will gently remind us that He loves us “with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3) and His “grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) plus He also tells us that “all things (including the trials and sufferings) work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). We must saturate our souls with the truth of God’s Word, or we will be vulnerable to Satan’s attack and prone to complain more. God’s truth is the only way we can shift our focus from the earthly to the eternal. How to Dissolve our Complaints If you have lived for any length of time, you will know that life does not always go according to plan or our timeline. Suffering, loss, pain, disappointments, and hardships will inevitably make their way to us. So what do we do when a complaint threatens to slip out, stemming from these difficult seasons, moments of silence, or times of trials? We must bring them to God. When we have a complaint against someone, it is better to lodge it directly with the person. To complain to everyone else only breeds more problems. In fact, it can stir others to complain or create doubt and stir up discord. There is also no resolution. Nothing can be resolved until the complaint is made to the person we are complaining about. When we find ourselves complaining, like the Israelites, against God specifically, we must bring it before Him. Over and over again, Moses and the Psalmist laid their complaints before the Lord. In Psalm 13, verse one we read: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?”. There is an important shift, however, in verse five: “But I have trusted in your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in your salvation.” This is how they resolved it, by speaking to God and dwelling on His truth, both in His character and His truth. If a complaint is left inside, it begins to fester. This is why it is so important to bring it to God, pouring it all out before Him, the One who knows all our thoughts already. When we take this step of vulnerability, we will find the help our soul needs. The only way to dissolve a complaint is to deal with it according to the truth, comparing our complaint to what is real. Often we will discover that it is grounded on a false perception or belief. May we be a people defined by gratitude. Someone once said that, "gratitude isn't only a celebration when good things happen; Gratitude's a declaration that God is good no matter what happens.". Every time we choose to praise God, even in the hardest of circumstances, we loudly declare to both our enemy and a watching world that our God is great, good, and gracious. That is when our light will brightly shine! |
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