Last night when my family got home we did something we rarely do. Without any prompting we all started doing chores and picking up around the house. A little while later when I was just about done cooking dinner a friend showed up at our door.
I was reminded of the lesson I learned when I was younger to keep your house clean because company could come by at any time. This morning the scripture came to me that says, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? I Corinthians 6:19.
The Lord was speaking to me and telling me that just like my house, I must keep my temple clean. You never know when you're going to run into someone else who needs a Word from the Lord; or whose looking for an opportunity for reconciliation. You never know when you're going to be needed to pray somebody else through a trying situation.
When you are stressed by your own mess you're not available to bless someone else.
Like keeping your house clean, keeping your temple clean is a chore, but according to the Word of God, it is not a tough chore. It requires taking on the mind of Christ through the renewing of your mind. It requires a daily commitment to dying to self and selfish ways. It means that you'll have to put off the weight of the world that keeps you from moving forward and put on His yoke and learn of Him. It means that you're going to have to trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not unto your own understanding acknowledging Him in all your ways so that He will be the director in your life.
When your temple is clean you more easily recognize when others are reaching out desperately for help. You make yourself available through love and sacrifice. When your own place is a mess you become entangled and engulfed by your own hoarding; fixated on problems that God can easily solve. So what if you only have $5.00 in your pocket. $5.00 in your hands is only worth $5.00, but $5.00 in the Master's hand is more than enough! It's fishes and loaves for 5000 men. When you recognize that what you have will never do until your turn it over to Jesus, you'll start putting your trust in Him. When you put your trust in Him, you can help someone else to do the same, and that's really what we're here for--not for our own puffery or recognition. So what if you're a scholar. God's Word promises that He will confound those who are knowledgeable in their own eyes and use those who are humble in His sight. Paul was one of the most intelligent men in Biblical history, but his humility, recognition of and reference for God is what made him powerful and memorable. He knew that his journey wasn't about himself or what he knew, but it was about giving God glory with the totality of his life.
I want to share a personal testimony of why I so love my church and my Bishop and Pastor. I am an internal person. I'm an extreme introvert--according to some personality testing. But as I am discipled at uE I'm learning that God can use me just the way I am for His glory. When I clean my house and let Him in, I become a voice for Him. "I" melt away and I desire more of Him every day. If God can do this for me and through me, I can only imagine what awaits YOU!
During this past summer we ventured out into the community to minister. I felt myself stumbling over my words and pushing past my comfort zone to talk to others about ministry opportunities at uE and the good news of the gospel. I saw people come to the Bible studies and then start coming to uE. It was powerful. I made up my mind to never be bound again by petty personal trash in my own house. No more! I made up my mind through that experience to keep my house clean because you just never know when you will meet up with a divine appointment where you can share Jesus Christ with someone.
We sing a song that tells the Lord, for your glory I will do anything . . . just to see you and behold you as my King! Let's make it up in our minds to keep our houses clean today. We do not belong to ourselves. We are bought with a price and as a result we belong to Him. My desire is to do your will oh Lord!
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