Category Archives: Clean

Mar13

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on March 13, 2015 by lsgrlr

I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

2 Kings 23. “Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant” (Verse 3). Finally a king that does everything right. A king who not only loves and serves God, but leads his people to follow God as well. Josiah did not just get of some of the idols, he literally rid Israel of all of it. He lead the people back to real worship. This chapter is a reminder to us who call ourselves Christians of what the “call” is. We are not meant to just be nice, just be good, we are meant to lead people to God. We are meant to tear down idols and show people the truth of Christ. Today I am convicted by this king’s action… I pray you are as well.

Oct27

DAY 299 (2014)

Posted on October 27, 2014 by lsgrlr

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A little cleaning never hurt anybody.

So I dislike cleaning it is my least favorite past time. If I could avoid it I would. However, God in his infinite wisdom and with His ironic sense of humor has made it so that cleaning is something I can not avoid. Why you ask? Well, I am allergic to dust. Yes makes me laugh when I think about it too. Dust is everywhere it is unavoidable, which is why I have a large and unending supply of allergy medicines that I have to take on a daily basis so that breathing does not become difficult. One of the ways to combat aversion to dust is to clean. Told you God had an ironic sense of humor. I am convinced He allowed this infirmity because He knew I’d never clean any other way 😉 . Today was clean the house day (I do it twice a week to lessen the dust accumulation). as I cleaned my home I contemplated the change that life has taken over the past few month. Then it hit me that what I was doing in my home, was the very same thing that God was doing with me… CLEANING. There were many things in my former home of South Florida that vied for my attention, many things that caused clutter in my mind, in my life. Many of those things God needed to clean up in order to get me to a place where I could be pliable in His hands. Sometimes there are things in our lives that can cause us not to see the path. Dust in our life that makes it hard for us to breath. Let God clean it up. Don’t despise the cleaning. It makes breathing easier.

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4).

Lesson: If your “house” is dirty let God clean it.

May20

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on May 20, 2014 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Leviticus. “Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies. They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy” (Verses 5-6). Holiness, it is not only the call of pastors, preachers, and priests. It is the call of anyone that professes to follow Christ. Holiness is not attainable on our own, in the old testament the priest had to continually sacrifice in order to be clean and undefiled before the Lord. Today we are covered by the One who took our sins to make us holy before the Lord. God still requires holiness, however, in Christ He has made it possible for everyone to be holy. Therefore be holy as God is holy, we have the power in Christ.

May17

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on May 17, 2014 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Exodus 18. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them: I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey My laws and be careful to follow My decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep My decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord'” (Verses 1-5). It is both interesting and sad that God had to tell the children of Israel formerly that they were to serve Him, that they were to keep His commands, after He blesses them with the promised land. Why should He have to do that? He is giving them a land flowing with milk and honey. He is meeting their needs, He took them out of bondage and handed them freedom. Shouldn’t they WANT to serve Him? Shouldn’t they lay prostrate before Him in reverence and awe? Shouldn’t they? Are we? He has done the same for us, yet every single day we forsake Him go after other goals, other “gods”. Oh that our hearts would understand what God has done, what He has REALLY done and then serve Him accordingly.

May12

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on May 12, 2014 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Leviticus 13. “These are the regulations concerning defiling molds in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean” (Verse 59). Today my advice would be to read this chapter. It will show you just how unattainable the law was, how meticulous and to the point it was. How it had no room for gray. Life is not black and white, God did not make it so. The moment He gave mankind the right to say yes or no, to choose; gray entered the picture. The law is to the letter it held no room for grace. All wrong whether purposeful or accidental separated the person from God. From the One that could make their gray areas clear. Be thankful for grace today, be thankful that Christ took our place. Because had He not, we’d be responsible for everything. Be thankful that in Christ we have been made clean. He bears it all in our place.

Mar18

DAY 77 (2014)

Posted on March 18, 2014 by lsgrlr

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Even in the trees of life block it's view. The light can still be seen. (Picture by Lisa R.)

Even when the trees of life block its view. The light can still be seen.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

This has been the month of learning. Learning humility. Learning to live like I believe that God doesn’t lie. For the record, NOT easy. I am realizing that faith, the real kind requires the abandonment of self sufficiency. That is not a easy feat for any person, even the most inapt and nonchalant of human beings wants (or needs) to feel like they are in control of their circumstances. However, faith requires that we allow God to be in control of our circumstances, even when it seems like everything is falling apart. In the last couple of weeks my belief system has been tested (hard). I felt cornered because I wanted to fix the issues in my way (you know the way where you hold on to your pride and pretend like nothing’s wrong). Turns out that “my” way escalated something that would have been preventable had I just done what God asked from the get go. The battle with our pride is often hard won, especially when we are working with a wrong definition. Most of us view pride as a puffed up arrogance. When in all honesty pride is anything that keeps us from being vulnerable, from being honest. That keeps us from being an open book to the people in our world, and believe it or not it is often masked in humility (the false kind). The mirror that’s shining on my life lately has been a hard one to look into. But I know that God wouldn’t be shining it so brightly if He didn’t have a purpose. It if wasn’t a necessary step to get me on the “right” path. So although it hurts I will continue to look in the mirror, so that I can clearly see what needs correcting.

“Remove the impurities from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith” (Proverbs 25:4).

So what’s my plan of attack? Let God do…

Jan17

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 17, 2014 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Revelation 20. ” And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done” (Verses 12-13). These verses were very sobering to me. Why? “Each person was judged according to what they had done.” According to what I have done? Judged? There are days when I am too scared to talk to my loved ones about God. Other days it is not fear, but laziness that keeps me from doing the right thing. If I am judged according to what I have done, how will I ever be able to stand? Thanks be to God for Christ! While it is still called today, while you still have the opportunity call upon Him. Ask Him to be your advocate. Then you will be judged by His acts and not your own.

Jan10

Random (hopefully inspired) Thought

Posted on January 10, 2014 by lsgrlr

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I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Revelation 14. “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless” (Verses 1-4). These verses made me think about the beauty of what Christ did. We are human we fall, make mistakes, we lie and cheat. Yet because of Christ’s redemptive work we can stand before God, clean, unblemished and free from sin. What a wonderful gift. Thank you Lord!

Nov16

DAY 320

Posted on November 16, 2013 by lsgrlr

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The journey is better without baggage.
(Picture by Lisa R.)

I don’t know about you guys, but in my family the garage is not a home for cars. No, it is storage. It is home to all things that we tell ourselves we will need later. Therefore, we need to keep them. However years, years, and more years go by. So much time passes in fact that we have no idea what we have or what we are saving it for. So today I had the pleasure of paying someone $240.00 to lug all my “stored for later” items away (yes it was painful). The result, an actual GARAGE, a home for my car. NICE! The poor guy was like, “I have been doing this for ten years now, and this is the first time a garage has fooled me.” Hehehe. (We are excellent packers my mom and I). When Mr. Garage Cleaner first saw the garage he said, “Okay this is not so bad.” However as the piles got bigger, and bigger, he started to mumble under his breath, and at one point he exclaimed “&$&… this is a lot of stuff!” Hahaha. We hold on to things needlessly believing that we will need them later. Even today as we were cleaning out the garage my brother found a bag of tennis balls. He was adamant that we keep them, in case we want to play tennis. ??? We have no rackets. After the cleaning finished and I stood in a spacious junk free garage, I had this thought. “Why was I holding on for so long?” I have no idea what was hauled off. Clearly I didn’t need it, I don’t miss any of it. On this journey we will be tempted to hold on to things we don’t need. This will lead to unwanted baggage. Let go. Clean out your garage. Your car needs a home too 🙂 .

“So why do you keep on following the rules of the world? “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!” (Colossians 2: 20-21).

So what am I thankful for today? A home for my car 😉