Scriptures: “Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:3)
A believer asked a missionary, “I do my devotion daily. But I do not see any effect? How’s so?” The missionary gave him a dirty cage for raising chickens and said, “Use this to bring water here everyday.” The believer was surprised and asked, “But this is a cage for raising chickens. How can it be used to bring water anywhere?” The missionary replied, “Just do as I said.”
After a few days, the missionary asked the believer again, “How is the task of bringing water in chicken cage?” The believer replied, “I couldn’t even bring a bucket of water with it.” The missionary pointed to the chicken cage and said, “See, isn’t it clean now?”
When we read devotionals like “The Stream in The Desert” by Mrs. Carmen, or others by Andrew Murray, or D.L. Moody, we appreciate such deep reflections and sharing and long for a spiritual growth that leads us into such depth of spiritual life. But we often forget that it takes time for life to grow and mature. We often have our eyes set on something big and easily noticeable. We want it and we want it now. But growth in life, especially growth with depth, does not work that way.
The Word of God has power and authority. It can cleanse our souls and spirits, even to the bottom of our very being, “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) All that is required of us is a humble and open heart ready for instructions and edifications. Once our hearts are ready, we need to allow the Word of God to work in our inner most being, to cleanse us from within, so we can be the persons our Lord Jesus wants us to be.
Only when we become the persons He wants us to be can we see the manifestations of such life. Let’s give God the time He needs to work in our lives, to cleanse and sanctify us and prepare us for His glory!
Prayer Requests:
Those who are not satisfied with where they are spiritually right now.
Prayer:
Our Father of all goodness, thank You for the precious blood of our Lord Jesus to cleanse us of all our sins. Thank You for giving us Your Word, Bible, so we may come to know Your will and desires for us. Help us to be open to Your instructions and be willing to be molded anyway You want. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
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3 comments:
Thank you Peter. When I was younger I used to push more to get things "done" in my life. Now that I am approaching my 54th birthday, I feel like I am only beginning to understand some spiritual concepts like holiness, faithfulness & fellowship and need another 50 or so at least.
I think of Moses. He spent 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in the wilderness and only then God could begin to use him.
Boy am I glad we have another 1000 years ahead of us.
You know, to some extent, I often feel regretable that I didn't get to know our Lord Jesus earlier. But then again, isn't anytime a good time to know Him? I am just thankful that He has not left me out of His ministries and is still willing to work on me. Compared with Mose, I think we are a lot more blessed because we came to know our Lord a lot earlier. Don't you think so?
Great reminder, Peter. This is one reason why I think journaling is so important. It gives you a vehicle to see over time the work that God has done. There are many times when I've read something from a couple of years back and though, "Oh, so THAT'S why that happened!"
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