Do you use filters? We have become more and more conscious of the contaminants in our environment.
I have a filtered water jug in the fridge. My cats’ drinking fountain has a filter. My coffeemaker has a filter. My AC unit has a filter. My car’s air system has a filter.
Sometimes, my brain has a filter…it’s called the Holy Spirit.
A lot of world enters into our heads each day. It seems more and more of it is contaminated with the sludge of negativity, hatred, intolerance and selfishness. As believers, we are not to ignore it but face it head on so we can help others clean up their act. However, we need to filter a lot of it’s influence out in order to remain pure.
In my first novel, Focused, a middle aged woman is disgusted with her life. Slowly God uses a new pair of glasses to help her “see her life differently.” He begins to help her filter out the negativity and concentrate on the blessings. I start it off with this quote from Paul:
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—focus on such things. Philippians 4:8 (emphasis mine).
Filters are a good thing, especially in today’s world. We also need one for our souls. If we truly believe God can use all things in our lives for good, no matter how horrid they appear now, then we must filter out the bad so we can focus on that goodness. We have to see the situation through His purity, not the impurity of humanity’s view.
Into our souls pours our life experiences experienced though our five senses, like water from a tap. What we see, hear, touch, smell and taste all pours down the pipe. But after the filtering, out comes God’s purpose to refresh and renew us. We want to stay that way, right?
Today, we can become tempted to cloister in our churches with faith-filled brethren where it is secure and safe, and clean…we hope. Not always the case, is it?
This is not the time to cower but to boldly step out into the smog of unrighteousness. They have been drinking in the world’s sin for too long. They have forgotten what pure, clean water tastes like.
He wants to use us as a filter of influence. Be assured, if that is what He is calling you to become, He will cleanse you constantly if you yield to His Word and Spirit. It’s called being in the world, but not of it.
Don’t let the muck of the world stick to you. Filter it out by constantly removing the sin in your own life through prayer, meditating on His Word, meeting with other believers, and worship.
Then, like the water in my jug, you will be ready to pour yourself out to a thirsty world dying for the Living Water from the purest, cleanest, deepest Well.
My passion is to help people find God moving in their world. One way is being a digital missionary, writing and editing for The Life Project. Click on it to find out more. Last year we touched over 4 million lives over the internet. This year, our works are being translated into French, Spanish, Hindi and Arabic so we can reach even more souls with the Hope of Christ. If you want to find out more, or perhaps become involved in this vital internet ministry through praying, volunteering to be an online mentor or writer, or contributing financially, contact me though the comments. Thanks.
Have you ever had a spiritual high, only then to slide into the valley at lightening speed? You come home from a fabulous spirit-filled retreat and discover the water heater burst and flooded the house, or the entire family contracts the stomach virus, or you get an IRS audit notice in the mail. Why Lord? Couldn’t You have let me feel great for just a while longer?
Perhaps because our faith is forged in trials.
Now it makes sense that He would go there His last night on earth to pray and rededicate Himself for the torturous mission that lay ahead. It was the one place He’d often found peace. And that night, He needed it more than ever before.
off the beaten path stretch of beach. Maybe it is closer to home such as a bench in your garden, a soaking tub filled with bubble bath (and if you have kids, a locked door!), or a cozy chair draped with a prayer shawl.
Have you ever watched a bulldozer dig a path? Flat ground and grassy plains can hide rocks just below the surface. Toe jammers. Ones that you can’t see and may make you stumble.
Jesus, Peter found himself in situations that our Lord used to mold him into eventually becoming the leader God knew he could be. Several times he stumbled, and it hurt. But in the end, God purposed it.
I found God moving in my life this week – literally – as He answered two prayers: finances and living conditions.
Do you ever feel nearly burned out? Can’t really hum This Little Light of Mine with fervor at that moment? Yeah, I know the feeling.
When she saw the indescribable, she slapped her hands to her face as her eyes widened. “Words fail me.”
as fresh as new ink dripping from a quill. People have marked them, highlighted them, memorized them, pondered over them, but most of all relied upon them.
Happy Boxing Day! Traditionally, the day after Christmas was when the lord of the manor let his staff have the day off, and gave them year-end presents to share with their families as a thank you for the year of service to his family. Today, Christmas Day is reserved for immediate family, but Boxing Day is a day for gifting to friends, co-workers, employees, and neighbors. It’s a time of sharing and saying thank you.
Contemplating my situation, especially over the past year , I noticed a cross I have hanging next to my fireplace. I bought it years ago at a church festival…long before I turned my widowhood apartment into shades of turquoise. Most of it’s life it hung outside on a patio. But it matched my sofa now, so…
