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Is Your Oven Clean?

It's funny how we get so used to the way things are and we are not receptive to change.....even when it makes our life easier.
This week I sprayed the "fume free" oven cleaner into my oven. Now, this is not the first time I have cleaned this oven. It's never really a bad job, just something I don't do weekly ( or monthly). As I am twisted sideways and pretty much crawling into the oven and thinking "now I know what makes an eye level oven so popular"..I saw something I had not noticed before. There is a lock on my oven door! As I straightened up, to rinse my cloth, my thought was "why is there a lock on my oven door, and why have I not noticed it before?". As I looked at the control panel, what did I see? A self-cleaning cycle setting. What!!!! I have a self-cleaning oven! How cool is that?
Well, I am almost finished wiping out the oven so I went ahead and finished the job, but it did make me wonder....
Often the Lord will show me things in my life that need to be changed, or cleaned up. At these times all He wants me to do is surrender to Him and let Him work. Push those self-cleaning buttons on the control panel and let Him do His work. But, what I tend to do is get my cleaning stuff out an begin to do what I think needs to be done. That usually gets me all twisted out of shape and just make a general mess. My cleaning creates those stinky fumes in the place where
only He can provide that sweet aroma of praise and worship.
The next time you start to clean your oven, check and be sure you don't have a self-cleaning oven. And the next time God shows you something in your life that needs to be rooted out and wiped clean, surrender it all to Him and step back and watch Him work. Just like the oven gets really hot while it's cleaning, things might get hot while you are being cleaned. But, just think how much cleaner you will be when He is finished with you!
Foot note: you can see how my blogging is progressing. I am reading my Bible daily, memorizing James is not going so great but I am learning a few Spanish words. I am writing some things for my book. I am trying not to beat myself up for my shortcomings but rather rejoice and be thankful for the progress I am making. What are you doing that you feel like you are not reaching the goals you should reach? Re-assess what you are doing. Is it what YOU want done or what God wants. I am going to spend some time in prayer over this matter for myself. It's something we need to do daily.
Have a good weekend....just in case I don't make it back before Monday.

Easy to Believe

My earliest memories of my daddy are times of trusting him. Seems like I always knew that mo matter what, he would love me and take care of me. I did not want to disappoint him, even tho I knew it would not change how he felt about me.
Unconditional love. Isn't that what we all want? Do you crave for someone to love you, no matter what? Is there a hole in your heart that nothing seems to fill?
When I was saved, it was not difficult for me to accept the truth that I was loved no matter what. This was not a foreign thing to me. A lot of people struggle with " how can God love me? I have so much sin in my past. There is no way He can accept me let alone love me!"
Well, that is the kind of love God has to offer. Unconditional love. You cannot fix yourself, clean yourself up, only God can do that. And He only does it when He is invited in to do His work. Do you need to open your door wide and let Jesus come in and do some spring cleaning? Maybe a little re-decorating in your heart? Just drop those defenses a little and pray for God to make the changes necessary for you to dwell in His freedom and love. Even if your earthly father was not someone you could trust and rely on, you have a Heavenly Father that will never fail you.