Tag Archives: Self

The Car Wash

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Moments with My Father

 

Good morning to you! As I gaze upon our Father’s Word today, it is on my heart to write about the importance of putting off our old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires and to be made new in the attitude of our minds – to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This is a message we have all heard before, meaning our old self is the sinful nature that lives within us, for which Christ died on the cross. This old nature within us misleads us from God’s ways and cheats us from seeing life at His best. Our Father mentions “attitude” of our minds in this passage. The attitude of our old self is one of worry, complaining and grumbling. Upon believing, He has placed His Holy Spirit in us to help us live our new self, to be like Him that is not anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, presenting our requests to God. And then the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. “Attitude” is something we can all struggle with and a bad attitude is certainly something to work on. I like to think about it this way: When our attitude is bad, we need to think “going to the car wash.” Say what? Yep, I said “car wash.” After all, we are God’s vehicles, so to speak, that carries His Spirit that carries the Good News along the road of life. Our vehicles have a tendency to collect dirt and be unclean (due to our sinful nature). As a result, the view through the front window (our sight) can become clouded over so that we do not see well the way of the Lord. This calls for the need to hose off with His living water (the Spirit in us), to apply the scrubbing bubbles called “Gratitude” as you follow the Word instructions (the Bible) so as to dissolve away the muck of our sinful attitude and then, use prayer wax to help guard (our mind and heart) and the cleanliness and shininess of Him in us (the new self) will be the result. We can then head out onto the road of life with peace of mind and His ride into the world through us will represent Him well. I’m thinking toting a good amount of change is a good thing to do. How about you? See ya on the road. I can do that well with a clean window (a Godly view)!
Eph 4:1,22-24; Php 2:14-16, 4:6-8; Mt 6:25; 1 Co 3:16; 2 Co 5:20-21, Ro 12:2

Celebrating by Sheila and Dad

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I’m teamed up with ya for Tuesday! Yesterday we talked about the Christmas morning type of excitement that we have as Dad’s kids as we watch for Jesus’ return to earth and speaking of holidays, today in Dad’s Word, we see the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are just two days away. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill Him. “But not during the Feast, they said or the people may riot.” This was so hypocritical in their thinking. The hearts of the chief priests and teachers of the law should have been focused on the gift of Jesus’ love, grace and provision for their life, but instead their eyes were focused on ways that were destructive to their relationships – with themselves, with God and with the people around them. Their hearts were far away from recognizing the true meaning behind the celebration. This reminds me of an event from a few years ago when someone decided they wanted a Christmas tree. (Christmas being a time of celebrating God with us; God being love.) The person decided to go to a neighbor’s yard and cut the top out of a beautiful pine tree that they had growing there. This was an act so hypocritical to the celebration of God’s love towards one’s neighbor! It was so not right! As we look at the celebration that was about to take place in Mark’s story, we see it was the time of Passover that was a celebration of when the Lord told the Israelites to take the blood of a spotless year-old lamb and paint the blood of it on the outside of their door posts so the Angel of the Lord would pass over the homes of the Hebrews rather than killing their firstborn sons as He did the Egyptians. The chief priests and the teachers of the law didn’t realize it, but Passover was a celebration that pointed to Jesus as the sacrificial lamb whose blood they were about to spill. This would move the Father as the Angel of the Lord to pass over the sins of all mankind instead of bringing the wages of sin upon them which was death. This special remembrance was to be followed by a feasting time of celebrating God’s provision. It included a focus on getting rid of all the yeast in their homes as yeast was symbolic of sin. Jesus was the destroyer or “getting rid” of sin from within the holy temples or homes (the flesh) of all mankind. To those who believe in Him, Jesus is a gift worth celebrating every day, not just during holidays. We need to not let the yeast (Satan’s ways) that begin very small, work their way through us and swell us up with sin. To live lives without the yeast of the enemy is to live lives sincerely based on God’s Truth. It is important to read and speak Truth to our hearts and sometimes just having a fellow sister or brother to talk about it with can make all the difference in how we view life – that it is truly worth celebrating. It can make a big difference in the health of our relationship with our self, God and those around us. As we go through life, may we keep our eyes fixed or focused on His love, grace and provision for us and truly celebrate that within our hearts, not just during holidays, but every day of life. Much love to you all!
Mk 14:1-2; 1 Co 5:6-8; Ex 12:1-30; He 3:13; Ro 6:23