Daily Bread

"The spirit of man is the Lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of his being." Proverbs 20:27

 After allowing the Lord completely into my heart and life, I've found the process of cleaning out the junk extremely difficult. When looking at my world around me, through Christ's eyes, I see the large amount of work ahead. Yet He wants me to let go and trust Him with it. This is why I created a "Let go and Let God" box. A simple tin box with a slit in the top (similar to a piggy bank). There I slip in folded pieces of paper, about the same size as a fortune from a fortune cookie. On the slips of paper I write my worries and needs, and when I put it in the box I'm not allowed to worry anymore, it's officially out of my hands, and the Lord's. Elisabeth Elliot speaks  of material sacrifice in her book "Passion and Purity". She says that even our very desires can be material offerings to the Lord. Slipping the paper in the box is the act of giving them up, and letting go of them and their influence over us. Leaving them there, is the act of letting them die, this is the sacrifice. We give it to God, so that He may do that which He wills with it. In the end it's about glorifying Him with our lives, and drawing near to Him. It's such a touching reality that God wants to take us whom are imperfect, cleanse us, use us for His glory, and make us like Christ. It's even more amazing when we allow Him to do this with every area of our life. Even our imperfections can be used by Him. I am reminded of this verse.

"..Oh Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter;and all of us are the work of Your hand."
Isaiah 64:8

 Clay is a plastic powder mixed with water that is used for pottery and molding. It begins as dust, once mixed it then becomes a soft malleable solid. When worked with it can be shaped into many things, whether by hand or wheel. I took two levels of pottery class as a junior in high school. It took me a few months till I became comfortable working with the sticky untamed dough. It was the most stubborn medium I had ever used, besides oil paints and porcelain dough. After I had learned and somewhat mastered the new medium I began to realize how similar I was to it. Dust, add water, stir, pound out, begin to shape, let dry, paint, and fire in the kiln. The Lord formed me from dust. He placed the right elements in my life so that I might come to Him and He open my eyes to the truth. Then once His the kneading out imperfections began. I was in that stage for so long! But finally I surrendered and He's tamed my stubbornness. Even though I'm a work in progress, it wasn't until a few months ago after willingly giving the Lord all of myself, that I realized He's begun to shape me. The rest will come in time, till He takes me to home to Himself. He chose me, to die to self so that I might have the eternal life He offers. He wanted and continues to want me for Himself...Oh how the lost are so blind to His gifts! My heart aches for those without Him. None other has proved, or shown such might and power for the sake of their love. The wonderful thing is that not only did God prove His love, He does it now every single day. It's mind boggling to think the Maker of heaven and earth "proves" His love, just so that we might "consider" loving Him. He desperately, unceasingly longs for each and every one of you.

"While Christ was on the cross. You were on His mind."
Anon

"Never mind if you cannot feel His presence. His is there, never for one moment forgetting you."
Elisabeth Elliot

 I love when David says,
"O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, oh Lord. You hem me in- behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, to lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the dark side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say 'Surely darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You. For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were i to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake,  I am still with You...Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalm 139: 1-18, 23-24