Cleansing Ourselves

Sometimes we wink at our sin. We tend to do this when we are justifying a thought, an action, or a deed. After all, those very thoughts, actions, and deeds are not as bad as what others have done. Particularly, they are not as bad as what they have done to us.

It can be a small or annoyance, or it may be that someone has treated you harshly, or attacked someone you care about. They may have caused great damage to you as well as to your friends, family or community. Because of the offense you believe there needs to be a correction. You pray. You ask the Lord to intervene. He responds with quietness. The quietness grows. You become impatient. The Lord is not acting in a timing that you believe to be just and fair.

You question the Lord, you challenge what He is doing, and how He is doing it. You want your way!

When this thought process becomes established it can and will affect your actions. They will be different. Unchecked, your actions can and will surprise you. They will until you examine their origin and come to understand the necessity of keeping your thoughts captive to Christ.

To prevent the down-spiraling from offense to impatience; improper thoughts, actions, and what we do in consequence to our thought process we need to practice vigilance.

1. Be on guard.

2. Discipline your thoughts.

3. Fear the Lord!

4. Repent.

5. Actively plan to change your thoughts.

6. Strategize a plan of action – write it out.

7. List key verses to excite your heart. Memorize them.

Trust the Lord to act in His time. Allow His sanctifying grace to be affected in your soul. Accept His timing is not yours. He is on the throne – not you, and not me!

What is your plan?

Who will hold you accountable?

• Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

• Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:6-9).

• For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

#trust #cleaning