CLEAN ME UP

But if we walk in the light as He

is in the light, we have fellowship

with one another, and the blood of

Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us

from all sin.

I John 1:7

Because of a Bible study I had been working on, the subject of soap came to my mind. I can recall our only bath soap was Ivory Soap and it was 99.44% pure. It smelled terrible but hey, it floated. From there new soaps came on the market that folks just had to buy...Lifebuoy, Dial, Lava (for my mechanic dad) and now so many brands, it's hard to decide. It depends on what company has the best ad on TV.

Looking back now, one of the things I liked in that simpler time was that Saturday night was bath night. The wash tub from the back porch was brought into the kitchen for bath night. The rest of the week, all necessary body parts were washed from the sink. Today, soap companies have convinced folks they have to bathe or shower at least once a day and maybe twice. People in our country have always been an easy con for companies with a good claim or two.

There is one product however, known from back in eternity. It isn't promoted by some earthly company. With all of our earthly cleansers, none are of any permanent use. Clothes get dirty again as do bodies. It's a never ending process. Not so with the cleansing provided by a Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus. We were born dirty with sin and no earthly product can clean that. It's a cleanser that keeps cleaning us over and over despite our leaning toward sin.

Huge companies would refer to such a product as a kind of soap. However, we lovingly know and refer to it as “the blood.” It doesn't just insure us a Heavenly home but to peace and fellowship in the now of our lives.

What can wash away my sin...nothing but the blood of Jesus! Don't even need the wash tub off the back porch.

Dear Father, blood in our day isn't discussed anymore because there is so much of it due to sin and wrongdoing. I pray we will never grow weary of speaking of and loving the blood Jesus shed for each of us...in His precious name...Amen 

FEAR GALORE

For God has not given us a

spirit of fear, but of power

and of love and of a

sound mind.

II Timothy 1:7

Perhaps you haven't noticed the fear mentality we live with in our day. We are bombarded with fear right and left. Unfortunately, most folks buy into it all. Fear breeds fear. Fear of all sorts gets passed around. Soon we are basket cases and can't figure out why.

On TV we are hit right and left with fear. Ads on TV expose us to disease we never would have thought of, but we are told we had better buy their product or it could be tragic. TV will show us drugs we HAVE to have and see your doctor about them. There are vitamins that meet all dietary requirements. Take those and we will be healthier, sprier than ever. 

When we are bombarded with fear all the time, if we aren't careful, it can take root. Fear can become a part of everything we do and most everything we are. Think of things you have seen or heard on the media of late that we might take in and not realize it. Satan is very sly in his approach to us. Sometimes, we make his job easy. In many cases, he doesn't even have to park on our doorstep. We fall for what our culture batters us with, no questions asked.

When it comes to fear, we must always consider it's source. It's not the big companies looking to make mega bugs, nor politicians seemingly out to destroy the country we love. Those things are just tools Satan uses to keep us tense and fearful. There are times in life's situation that may be cause for concern. However when it comes to fear, we tend to feel totally out of control and at another's mercy. Scripture tells us we are more than conquerors in this life of ours. It's our decision to keep our eyes on the Father and not on fear. He has equipped us for victory.

Father, the world and it's fears seem to gnaw at our minds consistently. May we keep in mind Your gifts of power, love and sound minds and cling to those things. Help us to stay focused on You and Your will. In Jesus' name...Amen

 

IF

...Everything is possible for

the one who believes.

Mark 9:23

Having taught ladies for over 60 years, there are things I had to learn along the way about what I was or wasn't doing right. In this process, one of my biggest lessons learned was that the lesson I was preparing had to start with my own personal lessons learned ahead of teaching others. Such was with my most recent lesson.

Jesus could do anything. He was a Powerhouse in so many ways especially in meeting the needs in the lives of others. In the Gospels we find His ability to drive out demons from tortured individuals, such was the case with a particular father. He came to Jesus for help and it would seem he really believed Jesus could heal his son. In talking with Jesus one on one, he plead for help from Jesus saying: “If you can do anything......” He continued asking for Jesus' compassion on their .behalf.

There was something in the man's plea that Jesus noticed right away, because He replied, “If You can?” He then gave that wise counsel in the words we see above. It would seem that the key word in question was the word IF.

IF is a word that is very iffy if you know what I mean. We use it all the time in our common everyday language without thinking about it. I'm not going to try to try to list those instances as they are too many. For that father, his situation, however, was not an everyday event. He was desperate. IF is almost a word not just of begging but a word that can cause a situation to go in most any direction.

Spiritually speaking, IF cancels out confidence. We want to be people of strong faith but IF often gets in the way. How often have we prayed, “Father, IF it be your will....” It's like giving God an out. He is going to work His will in our lives for our good and His glory and it will never come about as a result of an IF. There are times and places for the use of that word, but certainly not in our spiritual walk. We can still come boldly to the throne of grace with no if's, and's or buts and aren't we glad.

Thank You Father, for Your patience with us. Help us to increase our faith so that we never question any of Your abilities but rest in Your strength and love. We are so grateful for Your loving care and seeing to our good with no IFs. In Jesus name...Amen

 

'TIS THE SEASON

No, it isn't time to go Christmas shopping as of yet, but it's certainly around the corner. By now we know that seasons come and go. We learned early in our education that there are four weather-type seasons in our year...spring, summer, fall and winter. We have seasons in sports that rarely overlap although even they seem to be bumping up against each other.

We anticipate our weather seasons depending on the individual climates they present. No one wants a sled in July or other such mix ups. We pay close attention to weather reports, especially when living in certain parts of the country that tend to have negative weather events.

Jesus was about to ascend to Heaven. He had been with His disciples and some others for some days and now a much anticipated time was about to occur. Jesus knew much more about this special time than did the observers who knew little of anything about what was about to happen...the coming of the Holy Spirit. In His conversation in these moments, He said something very insightful in Acts 1:7...

And He said to them, “It is not

for you to know times or seasons

which the Father has put in His

own authority...”

The disciples were especially anxious to know everything that was about to happen regarding coming days. Jesus would tell them about the Holy Spirit and their coming ministry, but just before that, He wanted them to not be anxious about times or seasons. That all rested with God. It's so like us to feel the same. No matter the times, God doesn't have to fret regarding coming events, weather forecasts or any other future happenings because He's in charge of it all....and aren't we glad.

We praise You Father that we don't have to fret about coming days. You meet us around every corner and we are grateful. In Jesus name...Amen

 

CHEW, CHEW, CHEW

Finally, brethren, whatever things

are true, whatever things are noble,

whatever things are just,

whatever things are pure,

whatever things are lovely

whatever things are of good report,

if there is any virtue and if there is

anything praiseworthy---

MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS.

Philippians 4:8

Hmmmmm.....I wonder as we read our way through Scriptures, how often we pause to meditate on a verse or even a phrase. There may be a phrase we have slid over for years, and it's there every time we read. When we've been in Sunday school and church for years, and come to know the Bible fairly well, we can be careless and miss out on some real treasures.

For me, another word for “meditate” is the word “chew.” I married a man who really knew how to chew his food. I noticed that with one bite of food, Brian gave that food several chews before swallowing. He said it insured getting all of the nutrients out of the food, plus enjoying the taste.

Isn't that what we should be doing in our Bible reading? We don't have to speed through a chapter or even a few verses. If the Spirit stops us at a certain place in our reading, He probably wants us to meditate (chew) there for awhile to get all the spiritual nutrients out of the passage possible. It can't hurt to stop in our reading and chew awhile!

Thank You for Your word, Father. May we glean all the good stuff from each verse we reading without hurrying through our reading. Holy Spirit, don't give up on us...keep teaching us. In Jesus name....Amen