Garage

Woke up yesterday morning and asked God to guide my day...wasn't expecting him to send me a mental note to clean the garage...but it was a mess and what I had forgotten is that when you begin to clean one thing you find a bunch more behind the scenes stuff that needs to be organized and addressed as well. Yes it was hot, and yes it was hard to find a starting point....but with God's gentle nudge I advanced forward....started on one side...divided by one car. Took out the grand babies riding toys...rearranged a few big, in the way, items...and I was off to a great start...and I was in throw away mode. I did only conquer one side....and even moved some inappropriate garage landed furniture from a college move to their appropriate inside places. Tomorrow will be a new day....maybe it will be a day for the other side maybe not quite yet.

Some of you are great at keeping things from accumulating....I am not. A stash here, and a stash there seems to be my mode of operation and then it all gets in such a mess that it is overwhelming and a in constant state of needy clean out. This day it was the garage that was targeted...another day it will be my closet, or make up drawer, my purse, my desk...etc. I think that is the way God works on me as well..one day it will be my disposition, another day my thoughts, another my deeds...and yet another the way I treat others....but they all come under the one main thing that God is working on...and that is my relationship with Him. He wants it to be clean...with few distractions....and no lurking corner piles of discontent and trash. No stashing substitutes....just what I see is what God has given me to work with, work on or work through. And no matter how messy I have allowed things to get, he wants me to have faith that he can clean it up...His way! One step at a time...one mainstay habit at a time!

I don't know about you but the clutter that I have allowed to accumulate so many times is a reflection of how cluttered I have allowed my thoughts and my life to get. God knows that and I am sure that is one of the reasons he sent me to the garage yesterday... I thought it was about cleaning the outside when in fact....he wanted to do some cleaning on my inside. For when I clean...I am usually by myself....not much for music...and idle chatter...I just like to be able to be thinking without interruption...while I am moving. It is funny how God can use even that time as His quiet time with me. He doesn't care if I am filthy dirty from all the dust that is flying from the sweeping....and on every move...there is something that he makes relative to me about Him.

For Instance:
1) Take out the riding toys...I asked God to help me rearrange the moving thoughts that are all crowded and bumping into each other and hard to get a handle on.

2) Reposition the big things that are used only for certain occasions..II asked God to help me reposition the thoughts in my mind that are taking up space and are not needed for everyday use...like stress over upcoming events or restless feelings about a relationship, lessons from past experiences, or how to handle situations that have not yet even occurred and for that matter may never come to be ...just store it

3) Throw away the old stuff that is worn and ragged and no longer useful ....I asked God to throw out the thoughts of the past ...the regrets, the mess ups, the rugged attitudes that resulted in need of forgiveness ....they just clutter life

4) Sweep away the debris that has found its way in the corners....Ask God to sweep away thoughts of bitterness, or resentment or forgiveness that have found their way to the corners of your soul...make way for the good ones...the ones that give you peace and fill you with joy

You can see where this is going...you make your own list...but every once in a while we need to recheck inventory that we have stored away. Some of it does need to be ditched....and some repositioned, and some to to be brought to the front to be easily accessed. Every once in while we too need to be quiet and take a look inside the garage of our lives. What have we stored? Are there thoughts that need to be rearranged....and have we allowed the good stuff (grace, love, strength, wisdom, compassion, understanding, etc) to be overwhelmed by the bad stuff...(fear, disappointment, pride...envy etc).

I know....I was just cleaning the garage....but God uses everything for his benefit....and if we allow our minds to be swept by the broom of God's glory and love...he will help us to reposition what is good, to throw away the old and unclean, and to reestablish a living place that is in good order. God works on us a little bit at a time....it would be too overwhelming to us for Him to change us in flash (though he could) ...it is a process....just like cleaning out anything is....He takes his time....one move at a time...one change at a time, one focus at a time....and gradually we will begin to see the difference he is making within us...the changes will start running together to make for a clean heart, a clean mind, and a clear direction..and it will begin to show outside of us.

Today, may God's broom be in motion in your hearts and minds as well. The dust may fly for a while and things may seem totally out of order when we allow him to get in the souls of our workings.... because we are so used to seeing things as they are...and accepting things without incentive to change...but if we give God the chance and the opportunity to change us, he will help us to make the necessary adjustments that will frame us in his peace....

I have included this verse because....God, has already cleaned us completely with/through the blood of his son Jesus....what is left are just leftover remnants that we continue to hang on to....and allow to comfortably cuddle in the corners of our hearts and minds. When you read this verse....consider FAITH....that is the foundation and then the adds come along....

1 Peter 1
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Dear Lord, Thank you for directing me as you did yesterday... Help me to continually be reminded that as long as I open my heart and my mind to be in communication with you that you will use even the simplest of chores to to bring me into your thoughts of grace. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!
www.cathyjodeit.com
email address: cjodeit@gmail.com
The blog link below has all devotionals from the beginning of the year:

http://simplygod-cathy.blogspot.com/