Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;
try my reins and my heart.
Psalm 26:2
Lay it all out
Put it on the table
Let it all be seen by the Most High
Be Holy as He is Holy
The only way that can happen is if He cleanses you,
even in all the nooks and crannies
It seems there is never an end to the dust and gunk of the flesh
There always seems to be more
Deep down inside, in the crevices,
as a new situation arises, one that is unique from any other
or an unpleasant reminder, the same old one, and then… the flesh shows up
More to manage, more to conquer for His kingdom, more to surrender,
more to let Jesus deal with, to teach us
More to show us that we are not up to par, that we still need more cleansing,
more we have glossed over with our own self-righteousness,
More to remind us that we are mere mortals
Humility helps us accept correction from God
Something He points out, something that needs His strength,
something that needs His purifying
Let Him sweep and dust and take that small brush
to remove any flesh we still have
Let him remove the dross so we can more brilliantly reflect His light
Search me, O God, and know my heart:
try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
There are still barriers that hinder that light, where we get offended
and don’t handle this or that the way we know we should
Or other sins of the flesh, whatever they may be
Let Jesus carry them off and out and as uncomfortable as it might be,
it will be better when the Holy Spirit has brought about the change
that needed to happen
I saw a man today sitting outside of the store
He was asking people for money
For some reason, he didn’t ask me and I didn’t offer
Aren’t I supposed to treat that man like Jesus?
I didn’t want to feed his habit, my usual reason for coldness
Maybe I could’ve put my things in the car and gone back in
and at least bought him a bottle of water, told him that Jesus loves him?
But I didn’t
Lost reward, more dust for God to clean, more purifying to do
It seems to never end, personal failings
Will I ever be perfect?
Never on my own
That’s not an excuse, I could’ve and should’ve done better
Maybe next time, I can consider loving my brother whom I can see
so I can say I love God whom I can’t see?
Until then, I will ask God to keep cleaning the nooks and crannies
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 4:20