Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
Hello dear friends and quiet followers,
In my quiet time today the Lord laid a message on my heart, which I wanted to share before it left me and my mind would once again become full of other things.
The message was simple...I even hinted at this in my last post. It has to do with cleaning. Just when I think I have come to the end of this cleaning and clearing...yet another area of our home, like the top of a cupboard will come to mind and I think "Oh yes I must get to that, no doubt its dusty and a lot of things will need to be discarded".
So as I was meditating on this, I felt the Lord impress on my heart "that's what I've been doing with you". He's been cleaning and clearing my heart while I've been cleaning and clearing our home !!! (smile). I felt quite excited about this.
It's so easy to fill our hearts up with wrong thinking, to form judgements about people or situations, without stopping to ask God what does He think about it? To assume He thinks as I do. To a non-believer this sort of self-examination possibly does not even enter their consciousness, but for those who do believe, and who strive to be pure in heart, then it is a very important matter.
I believe prayer is key, as in prayer we can seek God's will and His heart in all situations. There have been many times of late when I have been greatly troubled. Our world is in such a state. I often write about world events in my journal and will write, where is this all headed?, but then I also write, that no matter what, God knows the outcome, and I don't need to worry. All I need to do is to trust Him completely, to cleave to Him, to His word and speak to Him all throughout the day. Sometimes the Lord puts a little picture into my mind. I know it's from Him as I wasn't thinking it. One day He showed me me standing and it was like a wave came and bowled me over. Then in this picture my spirit stood up. What was impressed on my heart was this: I need to surrender to God all areas of my life, as there are so many things/situations I will have no control over. I need to surrender my circumstances, my surroundings and my relationships completely to Him.
I often repeat Proverbs 3: 5-6 to myself, actually if I am having an anxious day I will say it a lot "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path". This proverb gives me great peace !! For me it is a surrendering, releasing prayer. I let whatever that is troubling me go, I unclench my hand. I release it to His control and care.
This is the way the Lord is working within me. This is the cleaning and clearing He is doing. He is helping me to trust Him. He is teaching me just how very vital it is to develop and deepen my faith, my dependence on the Lord in all areas of my life.
If I am trying to control situations, then I am not trusting that He will help me, I am merely living my life trusting in my own strength. When I pray I ask the Lord to clean out any junk in my heart, any fear, any anxiety, any negative or wrong thinking.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
Life with the Lord is a journey. We are always on the anvil, He is hammering away (if we submit and desire this) to help us draw closer to Him, to grow in faith and trust, to seek His heart of pure Love and to imitate that. What a wonderful blessing to know God and to keep on learning more about Him. I'm grateful for everything He has delivered me from, even though most of the time it is painful.
I hope this little writing is encouraging to someone. I am just sharing what God is doing in me, but maybe it will resonate with you too? Many blessings and peace to you ~ Linda
Dear Linda, I have only just discovered your blog! I am enjoying it very much. Thank you for sharing your heart, and for willingly being used by our Lord to speak to others. I am on a decluttering journey. I do a little when I’m able. I look forward to the time when I’ll be able to retire and leave the workforce and enjoy homemaking at my leisure. Regards from Robyn in Australia.
ReplyDeleteDear Robyn, thank you for for stopping by and for your kind comment :)
DeleteI think many woman think like you do, but sometimes for financial reasons woman just need to work, even part time to help the budget, whether they desire to be full-time home maker or not. That's what it's like here now in New Zealand. Pretty much if you want to own your own home, with the way interest rates keep rising, then 2 incomes are needed (sadly). When our children were young we were only renting and hadn't yet purchased our first home. I still had to work part time (cleaning) while the children were at school, and thank fully I was able to be home after school when they were, but I remember I was always very tired. The cost of living is very high here and only continuing to go up. I keep trying to find more ways to be frugal and save money. As woman I think most of us are just trying to do the best we can and lean heavily on the Lord to do the rest !! :) ~ I think you would agree. Many blessings to you ~ Linda
It is much the same here in the USA. I sincerely do not know how we'd make it if we still had four children at home. I'm working part-time during the school year as a substitute teacher to help with the extra expenses. I thought that I would be saving for retirement, but that has not yet been possible. We are in our late 50's and will be working and depending on the Lord rather than retiring.
DeleteThank you Laura for your two precious comments :) In New Zealand we have something called a 'Kiwi Saver' where a small amount of money is automatically taken out of wages and paid into a retirement fund...emphasis on 'a little'. We are doing what we can and will lean on the Lord for the rest :) trusting and ever hopeful ! I will pray for your elections !! Hugs ~ Linda x
DeleteOh my dear Linda! You've given me much to think about. I think I'll just leave this up and read it again tomorrow. With our presidential election coming up in a few months, this quote was particularly convicting. "It's so easy to fill our hearts up with wrong thinking, to form judgements about people or situations, without stopping to ask God what does He think about it? To assume He thinks as I do."
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your prayers for our elections. There is a lot of unrest.
Hugs,
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
who is very happy that you're writing here again!
This post was heart warming thank you. It's so lovely to see you back on your blog. It's a favourite of mine. Funnily enough I know you and I read other blogs too as I see your comments. It's so nice to be a part of a community with similar values. NZ Ingrid
ReplyDeleteHi NZ Ingrid, thank you for your kind words, it's so lovely that you stop by and enjoy my blog ~ Many blessings to you - Linda
Delete