Cleaning Out the Excess

"Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

I don't know about you, but I love to be organized. I love to have only the basic necessities, nothing more, nothing less.

For me, everything has a home, a place, and if it is in the house, it is of use. If it is not of use, well... 

It doesn't stay in our home long.  

Now, this can sometimes be a good or bad thing, depending on who you talk to-my husband or me. 

When G was a football coach we moved quite a bit. After the second move, I told him that my goal was to move our entire house in ONE U-Haul. I am proud to say when we left Jasper and moved to Midland, we did it! (Throw the confetti)

Since we have moved into our new house, for some reason, maybe all the busyness, things have been extremely unorganized.

So as I have begun to get our lives back in order and running the way we function best, I have realized just how much clutter we have, and how much purging needs to be done.  

When my husband hears purging, he gets really nervous or excited (If crawfish are involved), because he knows that means things are going to go.  

And if you know my sweet man, he likes stuff! He also loves our home to be organized and functioning in a positive manner. 

As long as I can remember I have loved being organized. I use to re-organize my closest growing up, over and over again.

But as far as getting rid of things, that didn't come until later on in life. I remember when God spoke to me about this issue; He has made a lasting impression on me.  

I was studying the life of the Israelites. They had just crossed the Red Sea and were beginning their journey through the wilderness. As I studied the journey and the lives of God's people, I noticed something about their journey and the Lord that really began to stir within me. 

They traveled with the bare minimum and God only provided the things they needed at the times they needed it. Wow! 

"For forty years I led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out. You had no bread or wine or other strong drink, but he gave you food so you would know that he is the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 29:5-6

When I read this passage, the stirring stopped, and I realized, all these things sitting in our attic, in closets, etc. that were just sitting there needed to go.  

I was convicted.

So I began to pray and ask God to forgive me for spending money on things that we didn't need, that didn't benefit Him, and that we bought only for that temporary pleasure.  

We don't need excess. We don't need to buy things only to put it somewhere to sit for the next however many years.  We don’t need to waste our money on things when we could be investing in Him and people. 

God would provide for us. He revealed that to me through His Word, and He revealed it to G when He opened the door for me to stay home and raise our boys.
 
So that day it began. The purging, the cleansing, and the purifying within me, within our home, and in our finances began. I will tell you not all of those things happened right away. They took time and they are re-occurring, and it's time for it to happen again.

 Over the next however many weeks, we will begin this process of cleansing, purging, and purifying our...
 
1. Hearts

2. Thoughts/Minds

3. Bodies

4. Homes

5. Time
     -To-do lists/priorities/busyness.

6. Finances

 There will be pictures, TONS of God’s Word, steps, tips, and items we use in our home that help us honor God, stay organized, and God focused. 

Do you have some areas in your life that need to be cleansed, purged, and purified?
 
How do you stay organized, clutter free, God-focused, and purified?




 

 

 

 

 

 

Open it!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

When you receive a gift do you just let it sit there for days before you open it?  I mean really, it kills us to see presents under our tree and know we still have two more weeks or days before we can open them.  Well what do we do with the gift God has given us? Do we leave Him just sitting there for days, months, years or do we rush to open Him up?

God gave us the gift of Christ and inside Christ is love and joy. So why do we let Him sit, why do we push Him to the side?  Why do we wait for special occasions, death, tragedy, or sickness to open Him up?

God freely gave us this gift with complete expectations for us to receive it and open it immediately. Once we open up Christ in our hearts we then need to let Him out for the world to see. We need to embrace and cling to the gift of love and joy and not hold back from Him or others because we are afraid of being hurt, rejected, or disappointed. Those three things are inevitable they will happen, but with the gift of Christ’s love we can claim victory over them.

Just as we anticipate the worldly gifts we are given, as we frantically open them to see what is inside, full of excitement and wonder. We should be even more anxious and excited to open up Jesus every day and see what is inside of Him.

Maybe you have something coming up that you are looking forward to, or maybe you are going through a drought and feel like you have nothing exciting to look forward to. Can I encourage you to look forward to opening up Jesus’ love for you? Each day you wake up, be excited to open up Jesus and His Word and see what He has in store for you! There is one thing I know for sure about My Jesus, He never disappoints. He always goes above and beyond what we can imagine, He gives us daily gifts, and He is worth opening up!

God thank You for giving us the best gift-Jesus, Your Son! Jesus it is a wonderful pleasure to open You up every day and see what is inside awaiting me.  I look forward with complete anticipation and excitement of my future in You. Amen