SpringCleaning! Bumper Crop March 17

SpringCleaning!
March 17th, 2021

Bumper Crop

Galatians 5:16-17, ‘Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder Him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit.

A handful of years ago, at a time when I wasn’t walking with the Lord, when I was walking with me instead, my family and I went to visit a shut-in at Christmastime. This little bird of an elderly lady we had met through my dad’s cancer treatments as she was taking treatments as well. This little lady loved Jesus, and although her circumstances were bleak and not hopeful, and even though she was all alone, she had a joy that effervesced from her. She was dying but her spirit was magnetic. I asked her, ‘How? How do you have more peace, more joy, more hope, this Christmas than anyone else I know, than me?’

Her reply was simple. ‘I am reconciled to the Lord, and what He asks of me, I will do. He put His Spirit inside of me and I came to terms with Him long ago. He cleaned me out so nothing else is inside to battle with the place He requires and deserves.’ She then shared Ephesians 4:30 with me, which says, ‘The Holy Spirit has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience your full salvation. So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted His holy influence in your life (TPT).’

I have been haunted by that verse ever since. ‘Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.’ I think of grief as something that is pretty hard to go through, to deal with, and the many emotions which accompany grief. I think of the desolation of my soul and the hopelessness of my heart when someone (or life) causes me to grieve. The thought of this Spirit of God, the One Who hovered over the deep and took what was formless and empty and dark, and made it take shape and filled it with light, being grieved by my actions and my thoughts became crippling for me. But not so crippling that I wouldn’t continue to make my own way for another number of years until I ran into Him, face to face, grief to grief.

There is good news! Cleaning up our spirit so the Holy Spirit is able to reside inside is very simple as long as you are diligent. ‘But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: Joy that overflows, Peace that subdues, Patience that endures, Kindness in action, a Life full of virtue, Faith that prevails, Gentleness of heart, and Strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless (Galatians 5:22-23, TPT).’

Come with me in March and let’s clean house!

If you are anything like me, you have kept some things around far too long
and now they got to go! And with the Lord’s help, they can!