When I was in college I had this older SUV.
I was a good vehicle, it did what it needed to do. It got me from point A to point B.
The one issue I have with this vehicle is that it smelled. 
At some point in the life of this SUV, it must have gotten wet on the inside and so the carpets and fabric smelled…most likely because of mold. I tried everything to remove the stink from my truck. I tried car fragrances and those little trees you hang from the rear view mirror…nothing seemed to work. I would like to tell you that I successfully removed the mold and smell from my truck, but I didn’t. Two years later I sold it and move on – smell-free.
The thing about mold in carpets is that it can be very difficult to remove, especially in places like under seats and under carpeting that is bolted down. Mold has to be completely eradicated in order for the smell and the spores to die. Without a deep, thorough, time consuming cleaning, that mold will remain…and so will the smell.
Proverbs 28:13 says this: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” Sin is a lot like mold…if we don’t do a deep cleaning it will not be eradicated. Are there hidden spaces in your life right now that sin still remains? It’s time for a deep cleaning! Do not be ashamed of it – get rid of it. Don’t hold onto it any longer. It really is mold to the soul, and it will limit even keep you from the Lord! Relinquish it, and allow the Lord to clean it from your life today!
Prayer: Lord cleanse my heart again. I confess and expose these spaces where sin remains hidden away. Lord, help me with my thoughts and my motives today. I long to serve you a lone. Remind me of my purpose and this aim today! In your name I pray these things. -Amen.
It’s the word ‘Submit’…as in submit someone else.
Submission to God means we can finally become all that God knows we can be. There is this potential within all of us, but it can only be accessed and fully realized when we completely submit ourselves to God’s will. This is probably the most difficult thing we will ever do. Full submission to God doesn’t mean that we will lose our identity, no, it means that we will finally have our full identity. We are called sons and daughters of God…when we finally submit to Him, this title becomes our identity. The difficulty is letting go and trusting Him. It requires us to say, “Lord, my life is in your hands!” When we submit in this way, the temptations of the evil one will diminish and we can resist sin – through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Of course on a day like Valentine’s day, the expressions are everywhere – in the stores, in the flower shops, on commercials…you can’t go anywhere without seeing the evidence of love. Unfortunately you can go many places and also see the void that love leaves. This emotion, expression and way of living can be broken. Many have experienced the brokenness of love – and it deeply hurts. It happens when we become vulnerable to someone else. It happens when we allow ourselves to trust someone and that trust gets broken. Love, at times truly bites!
goodness for God’s persevering, perfect love, because He made a way for us to get back to Him in the most outrageous and compassionate way – His Son. Jesus died in our place. While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). This kind of love came at an extreme cost – Death on a cross…the shedding of blood (Holy blood)…the sacrifice of the Lamb for we the hopeless, unfaithful, and broken sinner. THIS is the love that bites. This is the love that lasts…this is the love that Christ brings to you and me – an undeserving, love full of grace and mercy.
Sometimes we don’t get a choice with which giants we have to face. We have to press onward and actually face them, because if we don’t they won’t just go away and we will be powerless and frozen in our fears. Facing the giants also means reliance on a strength that isn’t our own. God will provide you the strength that you need, but it also requires us to admit that we need help and that we cannot do it on our own. When we let go of this nothing of going it alone, we are freed from the shackles of self-doubt and self-reliance.
Don’t let hate rule you.
I would imagine most of us would say “no”.
this transformation to take place within our minds – change happens. We check the box to follow God again. We are then able to filter what we allow into our minds which bleeds over into our actions. Without this transformation of the mind and the inclusion and fellowship of God into our lives, we will live but live unfulfilled, empty lives. This sounds stark and cold, but the reality is that we were created with this very relationship in mind. If we either consciously or subconsciously unfollow God, we break this relationship and in our hearts we acknowledge that there is something missing, but we can’t quite put our finger on it. If you’re there right now, perhaps its time to reconnect with God. Perhaps it’s time to acknowledge the many distractions that have taken His place. We can try and try to fill that void with other things, but nothing will fill that God-shaped hole. 
There are many other places in scripture where people have left their landmarks so that others who came after them would know of this great God. Some landmarks commemorated great grief and loss, while others commemorated great victory and joy. All of these served to provide a means of safer passage to the next generation. This makes me wonder what sort of landmarks we are constructing in our own lives. How are we paving the way for our children and our grandchildren? What sort of legacy are we leaving behind for others to follow? Will they commemorate an honorable holy disciple of Christ through the testimony of our lives, or will they use our story us as a warning? I pray that we desire to pave the way through a life of godly living and in so doing, leave legacy that others wish to follow as they ascend this path of holiness.
most important things to pray for. Our families are brought to mind. Our personal concerns and our stressors are also brought to the forefront. When we pray these things are important and good to pray for. We also should remember that we are Kingdom people, and as Kingdom people, our priority to Christ and His Kingdom should also be high on that list. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray the spirit of humility and servanthood were spoke: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done…”
Okay, I confess, I made the above disorder up, but it does accurately describe our prayers sometimes doesn’t it? We pray like a kitten plays with yarn…its great until something more interesting comes along. We have so many distractions in our world today. The sounds outside. Our cell phones. Checking our social media feed on various platforms. We live in a very distracting world. How can we even focus on concentrated prayers when we have all of this distraction around us? We need quiet. We must find spaces of solitude so that we can converse with God. It doesn’t have to be long winded prayers full of “Thees” and “Thous”. We don’t have to have all of the right things to say either. Just take five minutes of concentrated time (with no distractions) today and pray. Start off by praying for your needs (not wants). Give God thanks for answered prayers. Then focus on your immediate family…you friends…your coworkers…your boss…your neighbor…and so on. If it helps put a timer on so that you know when to stop praying. But commit to just five minutes of prayer each day this week. At first it may seem very hard to focus in on five minutes. For some of us, it might seem like an eternity. But pray and inquire of God what you should pray for too…His Holy Presence with inform and guide you in your conversations. It will take practice, so do not become frustrated when you don’t accomplish this discipline at first. Keep trying. We need more persistent prayer warriors now more than ever in our churches and in our world. He is calling you and me to be such people of prayer!
Pastor's Ponderings 