15 March 2007
REAL SPRING CLEANING
And
he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding
also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from
without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
because it entereth not into his heart, but into the
belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all
meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man,
that defileth the man. For from within, out of the
heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,
blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things
come from within, and defile the man. —Mark
7:18-23 (KJV)
It is God's will that, as children
of God and as part of His kingdom, we become
Christ-like in our thoughts, words and behavior. It is
somewhat true that our actions speak louder than our
words. Our actions, if not Christ-like, erase in the
minds of people our words about Christ.
One definition of God is that God
is love. If God is living in us and being formed in us,
then love is being formed in us. The bottom line is
that we will never really accomplish much in God's eyes
until we have the fruit of the Spirit working at all
times in our lives. Nothing can come out of us unless
it is in us. Some things don't come out until we are
pressed. When Jesus was pressed like a grape, out came
love and words that said, “Father forgive
them…” When Stephen was being stoned to
death, out came words saying, “Father forgive
them…”
Let's allow the Holy Spirit to
cleanse us of everything that is not of God from the
inside of us and to put the life of Christ in us. When
we are pressed, out will come love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self control because they are the fruit of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ who is supposed to be living
inside of us.
Teachers give tests to see what is
in their students. God allows testings to see what will
come out of us. Too often when pressed, out comes
unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, and resentment. These
things make people around us unhappy when they come out
of us, but they can't come out of us unless they are in
us. If they make people unhappy when they see it come
out of us, how happy can we really be carrying them
around inside of us?
Some people will soon be calling
cleaning services to help with what is commonly called
"spring cleaning." There are businesses that
specialize in organizing people's homes. They help
decide what needs to stay and what needs to be thrown
away. Let's call for the Holy Spirit to be our Helper
and allow Him to do some "Real Spring
Cleaning."
_____________________________
BIBLICAL APPLICATION:
"Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the
outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full
of greed and self-indulgence. … First clean the
inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also
will be clean. … You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside
are full of dead men's bones and everything
unclean.” Matthew
23:25-27 (NIV)
Pastor R. Wayne Wilson
New Covenant Church of Jesus
Christ
3147 Klondike Road, SW, Conyers,
GA 30094 USA
770-760-1101
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© 2007-2008 New Covenant
Church of Jesus Christ, Conyers, GA USA
www.JesusAndHisWord.org
