Tag: confession

Categories
Christian Living restoration

Not So Good to the Last Drop

Photo by Anu0131l Karakaya on Pexels.com

It’s been a plumber’s paradise at my house these past two weeks. We have extremely hard water and our third water heater–in 18 years–was on it’s last leg. Rather than have another one fill up with mineral deposits (sixty second shower, anyone?), we decided to invest in a water softener.

Two guys came and installed a new water heater and softener at the same time. It was an all day job, but once the system came online the results were almost immediate. Oh, the soap suds!🧼 And no more crusty faucets or spotty dishes.

But, a week later, we made a frightful discovery. The carpet in the back hallway, near where they tapped in to the main water line, was soaking wet. Two closet clean outs later, I removed an access panel and found the problem. One of the fittings the plumbers installed was leaking at a steady drip, drip.

Inside the closet wall where the leak started.

People who tell you it’s hard to get a plumber on the weekend are NOT joking. I called at 7 am and he showed up at 7 pm. Yes, 12 hours later.😬 It turned out to be a relatively easy fix, but the damage was already done.

It’s amazing how our little plumbing problem resembles life in general. A steady drip starts, from a hidden location, and soon everything is soaked. By the time we realize what’s going on, the damage is done.

The parallel between unseen water leaks and unconfessed sin is a good one.

Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins, let them not rule over me.

Psalm 19:13 (NASB)

Like me, do you sometimes assume that all is well–between you and God–without actually checking in?

Kind reader, when life springs a leak, there’s a “Heavenly Plumber” available 24/7. And He won’t take half a day to show up.

🙏❤️ prayers and love.

First photo by Anu0131l Karakaya on Pexels.com

Categories
Christian Living discernment

Willful Blindness

Does your computer or mobile device interrupt you at inconvenient times? Last virus scan was 73 days ago. “I can’t bother with this right now,” I say while quickly triple-clicking Ask me later. “I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that.” But then the inevitable happened; a virus wiped out my laptop’s hard drive.

Losing important documents and hundreds of pictures (no, I didn’t back them up🥺) was a real eye opener. These days I am more careful to perform the necessary preventative maintenance needed to keep my computer running smoothly.

There have been times in my life when I received a similar message from God. David, you haven’t REALLY talked with me in 7.3 days. Frankly, the Lord’s admonition felt more like an interruption. My heart wasn’t ready for inconvenient truth. “But Lord, I’ve been super busy.” Note to self: Any prayer that starts with “But Lord…” means danger. A wipe-out is imminent.

The unexamined life is not worth living

Socrates

Self-reflection can be helpful, but King David, of ancient Israel, went a step further. He asked God to examine his life.

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 139:23-24

Our Heavenly Father’s scans are always accurate. He tells us the good AND the bad. On the other hand, we often only tell ourselves what we want to hear. The world can’t be trusted to give us a reliable reflection either (1 John 2:15-17). My friend Alan, from Devotional Treasures points this out beautifully in a recent post, “The News of the World.”

Willful Blindness. It happens when we consciously close our eyes and ears to information we’d rather not acknowledge. And the outcome can be disastrous.

Kind reader, was your last “heavenly heart scan” simply too long ago? Yes, being searched by God sounds harrowing. But He knows everything anyway. May as well let the Great Physician do His thing.

🙏❤️ prayers and love.

Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com

Portions of this post were taken from Wakey Wake, Cupcake, which was published on July 5, 2019.

Categories
Christian Living listening

Selective Listening

It happens every 4th of July – Independence Day here in the USA. In our little hamlet it’s perfectly legal for folks to shoot off fireworks, on the streets and from their back yards. And each passing year the relentless noise seems more startling to my sense of well-being. Time to break out the ear plugs.

So I’m sitting at the kitchen table (plugs in) surfing the net, when my wife comes in and starts rummaging through a cabinet drawer. She looks my way and says something unintelligible. I respond, “If you’re telling me something right now I can’t hear you.” She starts laughing, because she was chiding me (kindly) for misplacing the ink pen that goes in the drawer. Confession: I occasionally employ something called “selective spousal listening.”

This whole scene made me think of something God said to Israel during the prophet Isaiah’s time.

Don’t think the Lord is too weak to save you or too deaf to hear your call for help! It is because of your sins that He doesn’t hear you. It is your sins that separate you from God when you try to worship Him.

Isaiah 59:1-2 (GNT)

Here’s an experiment: Watch television for a week and count the number of times you hear the word “sin.” I suspect you won’t run out of fingers. Transgression of divine law isn’t something the world cares to talk about. But why?

Somehow we know instinctively there’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in us. Sin damages our fellowship with our Creator and disrupts the ability to communicate with Him. This causes even unbelievers to scurry for the shadows (John 3:19-21).

Have there been times when you’ve tried to talk with God, but it felt like He wasn’t tuned in? Me too. “Child, if you’re telling me something right now, I can’t hear you.” Of course the Lord isn’t deaf. But He occasionally employs something called “selective divine listening.” Our unconfessed sin plugs His ears.

Thankfully, there is a solution:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 (NIV)

God always listens to prayers that start with, “Sorry, Lord. It was my fault…”

A Parting Thought:

Jesus often slipped away to spend time alone with God (Mark 1:35). He also led a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). Is there a connection? You and I will never be sinless–this side of heaven. But we would do well to follow Christ’s example.

🙏❤️ prayers and love.

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