Those deep cleansings.

by: carole l. haines

Woke up to an annoying Ant problem this morning in my kitchen.  I always wipe the counters down with cleaner and bleach, but I don’t always move everything out from the back edges and clean behind everything. I feel so busy that I just do the dishes and wipe the counter down and I’m off to the next thing.  But yesterday morning, I found ants, and we sprayed all around, removing everything on one side of the kitchen.  This morning, they were back, only now on the other side of the Kitchen.

Everything had to be taken out of cabinets, to check for any ants.  I washed every piece of silverware, etc. Just simply exhausting. And it all could have been prevented, had I taken the time to move everything out, and clean behind the appliances on the counter. We can’t be in such a rush to do a quick clean up of our lives either.   God wants to do a thorough cleaning.  He doesn’t want us to just clean things up on the outside and leave the inside festering.  Jesus tells us:

¹⁸ But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰ These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
(Matthew 15:18-20 NASB)

God is calling us to live transparent lives.  He wants us to be as real and devoted to Him at home as we appear to be in the Church. He wants every single cell filled up with His goodness.  This means we must invite Him to do a Spiritual Cleansing of our lives on a regular basis.  Gunk builds up for us spiritually, just as it did on my counters, and drew those pesky ants.

There are two prayers from Scripture I pray a lot.

1)      ²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
²⁴ And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way. (Psalm 139 NSAB)

AND

2)      O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
² Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
³ O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

God has blessed me so much through praying these Scriptures in times of need for cleansing and surrender in my life.

Come to Him today, Dear Child of God, and ask Him to search you, and heal you of whatever is troubling you at this time.  He will reveal those things holding you down and give you the opportunity to turn them over to Him, yield them, confess them, and set you free. And when Jesus sets you free, you are free indeed. Dive in to His Spiritual Cleansings, you will be refreshed, and you will be able to live more transparent lives before Him and others. Be Blessed.