I had thought that I would write today about the sermons our Pastor John preached on Sunday. That man gave us so much to think about and digest, that it will be a few days before I can write about it. I would rather have a sermon that gives me a week's worth of thinking and meditating to do, than a sermon that I walk away from thinking, "Is that all he had to say about that??"
I will tell you one thing he quoted last night that will stay with me (I hope) for the rest of my life.
"Seek to finish your last day stronger and more holy than where you are right now".
That's a lifetime of thought and meditation and work right there!
As I am working through my Names project, I have made my way into the Gospel of Luke. I think it is my favorite (next to John, and Mark, and of course the Gospel of Matthew...). I have discovered that I missed a few descriptions of Jesus as I went through the New Testament a few years ago. So as I am reading through this time I am looking for descriptions not only of God the Father and God the Spirit, but also of God the Son that I missed the first time. In Luke 5 a leper came to Jesus, fell on his face and said, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean". Jesus said, "I will. Be clean." Jesus alone is the One who can make us clean. He can make us clean from horrible, debilitating, contagious, physical illness. Only He can make us clean from even more horrible, debilitating, contagious spiritual illness.
When I go out and clean out the rabbit hutches, the chicken pens, the cats' litter box, or sometimes even my own house, I feel so filthy when I get done. I do not take pleasure in that feeling; I do not want to touch anything because I don't want to spread the dirt around. I only want to get into the shower and SCRUB. There is such pleasure in getting cleaned up and getting the dirty clothes into the washer so that they are cleaned up too.
It's the same with sin, isn't it? We know when we have been around evil. We know when the infection of filth has hit our home. Whether it is laziness, resentment, selfishness, watching or reading things that have no business in our homes, greed, gossip, lack of attention to God or whatever else it may be, we know and we feel the infection. We may try to get rid of the symptom, or immerse ourselves in something else to numb that feeling, but we really can not make it go away by ourselves.
Jesus is the One who makes us clean, if He wills. When we are at the end of trying to do it ourselves, all we can do is go to Him, fall on our faces, and say "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." Then be quiet and listen to His voice saying to you, "I will. Be clean."
His peace to your home.
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