PUT THE BIN OUT

Psalm 51:10 NCV Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again.

We have a sign on our cupboard door saying, “Bins Go Out Wednesday Night”. Every week we all need to remember to put our bins out to be collected if we want to be rid of our rubbish!😊

Our spiritual lives are the same! We all accumulate rubbish every day as we rub shoulders with the world, and some of their wrong thinking can stick to us if we’re not careful. When we hear the same wrong attitudes and opinions day in and out in the books we read, the programmes we see, or just in an advert on a bus, the world is rubbing off on us without realising it, and it often doesn’t agree with God’s Word!

God says to read and be washed by the Word, because His Word cleanses our spirits, but if we don’t wash we won’t get clean!😊 There’s a lot of wrong thinking out there and we have to keep going back to His Word to remind us of His truth, His instructions, His design for relationships between men and women, His thoughts on finances, on everything.

At the end of each day, maybe it would be good to take any thoughts, attitudes or ideas we’ve picked up, which we know the Holy Spirit didn’t like, and put them in the waste basket in our imagination, press the delete button! Let’s get rid of them and start each day afresh.

They might be thoughts of unforgiveness, or offence, or having seen or read something immoral, whether deliberately or unintentionally. Whatever has crept in, let’s not forget to put the bin out and get rid of it all every day so we wake up, and have made room, ready for the new download of mercy and blessings God has for us each morning.😊 

Hebrews 12:1 NLT  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Lord, create in us a pure heart and make our spirit right again. In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Shamblen Studios on Unsplash

TREASURE WITHIN

2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

In stories, when we read about a treasure box, everyone wants to open it up to see what’s inside! Will it change the life of the person who found it forever because it’s worth so much?😊

Paul tells us here that when we belong to God He has placed inside each one of us the greatest treasure of all, the Lord Jesus Himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit. There is no greater treasure because in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). 

I read this the other day from Joseph Prince,“We are like earthen vessels carrying a treasure, the Lord Himself. And it’s this treasure that keeps us from crumbling under the weight of life’s pressures.” 

When we try to do life in our own strength we soon run out of steam and God never asked us to do that. He gave us Jesus, for us to draw on His grace for each day, to draw on His wisdom to know the things we should do, and those we should say no to. It’s OK to say ‘no’!😊

Some things are good and helpful but they may not be what God has asked us to do and then we go into overload. It’s so important for us to ask the Holy Spirit first what God has asked of us, not what man is wanting, so we don’t run out of strength.

I wonder sometimes if we’re too stubborn, thinking our way is the only way, when Jesus has something different to say that would help us be more balanced.😊

If it feels like we’re crumbling under the pressure of life let’s just take a breath for a minute and be like Mary, and not Martha, always bustling about. Sit at the Lord’s feet for a little while and let Him give us the treasure of His wisdom for our lives, be willing to change our minds, and actually do what He says!😊 Amen.

Photo: Ashin K Suresh on Unsplash