Spring Clean

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon and we are just sitting and relaxing. We usually try to do that on Sunday's. God's plan of a rest day was a wonderful idea.

As I'm sitting here though I can see all the things I need to clean. I am planning on doing some Spring cleaning this week, so I am making a mental list. Windows, furniture, carpet, wood trim, floors, cabinets and of course closets.

Winter is finally over and it is time to bring the clean and fresh back to the house. The sad thing is though, is that nothing ever stays clean and fresh. Everything will need to be cleaned and organized again. It's a never ending cycle. But for those few days everything just feels so good!

Isn't it wonderful that we as Christians don't have to worry about the cleaning cycle.

Romans 4:6-7 The Message (MSG)

David confirms this way of looking at it, saying that the one who trusts God to do the putting-everything-right without insisting on having a say in it is one fortunate man: Fortunate those whose crimes are carted off, whose sins are wiped clean from the slate. Fortunate the person against whom the Lord does not keep score.

Did you read it? If we let God clean us up we don't have to be Spring cleaned again. We stay fresh and clean in God's eyes. As a matter of fact God forgets that He even had to do any cleaning.

Some people think they have to keep coming back to be cleaned. They feel like they are too dirty to come before the Father. The sad thing about this is they miss so much time that they could have had in fellowship with Him. If they just remember the words from Christ in John they would not have to worry....

John 10:28-30 The Message (MSG)

Jesus answered, “I told you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

Remember whose hand you are in. Remember who keeps you from cycling back to the dirty life of sin. Remember who keeps you Spring Clean! 

Isn't it a wonderfully fresh feeling? 

Blessings!

Clean and Shiny

Clean Slate...

This morning I did a job that our son, Riley, usually does. I unloaded the dishwasher. As a matter of fact I could hardly wait to get up and do this. I can hear you now, "Has she gone crazy"? No, well not any more than normal.

You see we had a new dishwasher installed yesterday. Our old one just wasn't doing the job any more. Even the dishes that it would get clean had a weird film on them and I was hand washing more and more. You could put dishes into the thing that just needed rinsed and even they would come out dirty.

This morning, everything was clean. Spotlessly clean! It is funny to be so happy about a chore but I gladly put away the dishes for Riley, just for the joy of watching clean ones go into the cabinet and not back into the dishwasher.




In my reading this morning I read this verse....

Fortunate those whose crimes are carted off, whose sins are wiped clean from the slate. Fortunate the person against whom the Lord does not keep score. Romans 4:9 (MSG)

We as Christians are fortunate indeed! Our God does not see us as filmy and dirty, but as spotlessly clean. He can't wait for us to get up and spend time with Him. He loves that! As a matter of fact we were created just for that purpose, but sin came and got in the way. 

Just like the dirty dishes had to be kept in the dishwasher we as sinners are kept from God. Thank goodness Christ came to make us clean! As we accept him we are made, not hazy, not spotty, but totally clean and shiny to our God. He doesn't even remember when we were dirty. He, like me with the clean dishes, is so excited to see the clean and shiny you each and every morning!

Blessings!