Come into my heart, Cleanse my heart, and Show me the way.

Darkness.  Have you ever felt full of darkness?  Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the early morning hours of darkness, they are the most peaceful and worshipful of the day for me.  It is in those hours that God feels closer than ever.  But really, God is always close, if we let him be…  Back to my point, when I am grumpy, grumbly, or I am having to get after my kids to pick up dirty socks (a serious pet peeve –‘on your feet or in the laundry’) my heart feels dark.  Dark, dank, musty, moldy, and whiny.  It is not a place Jesus can dwell in at all!  Sometimes I feel I could possibly sink into a depression.  I am a neat freak, I am not relaxed, can not relax, unless I have no chore needing done.  Well, if the house is a mess, there is a chore needing done.  A clean and orderly house just brings peace to my brain.  I would say peace to my heart and soul – but that’s when I realize I am seriously messed up!  God brings peace to your heart, His forgiveness brings peace to your soul.  When I get in a clean crusader mode, I can feel that darkness in my heart – it shrivels it like the sun shrivels a prune!  Then I am left with a dark moldy prune heart!  I have 4 kids (ranging from 10 to 14), 2 dogs, and 5 cats (they are fixed now – no worries), and we live on an acreage with plenty of grass, mud, and dirt (which I adore)—my house is always a mess!!!  I struggle to stay out of the clean crusader mode.  I am so good at looking at the bright side and trusting God with all in my life, and not stressing.  But for a person who took care of the entire household at 14 years (cooking, cleaning, budget, the whole nine yards) it just makes me angry to see my 14 year old (or any age for that matter) on the couch with some electronic device when the floor is covered with the remains of a dog toy!  It is a major arrow of Satan for me.  I hate that darkness, I hate Mrs. Clean Crusader, I love a clean house – I love my children… I love my children.  I do not like to remind them they have responsibilities – but  I do not have to give Satan that foothold – I do not have to let him leach that awful darkness into my heart!  And I don’t have to.  I have Jesus.  He is like a sand blaster, he can come in and sandblast that dark mold and “create in me a clean heart”, a heart full of windows, where the sun streams in and cats stretch out and take naps.  I want my heart to be a place that draws cats at naptime!  Have you ever noticed that the cat sleeping in that shaft of sunlight will wake up and move to follow that sunlight across the floor?  That’s the heart I want.  That’s the heart that Jesus provides us – it is there for the taking – a heart that shines forth with the warmth of the Lord whether I find dirty socks wadded up in the couch cushions or not.  I want a heart of light and peace, not the shriveled moldy old prune of darkness, I want a heart in which the Holy Spirit has an easy chair and a permanent address, a heart that is a Holy Spirit habitat, full of light for the Lord.  Please dear Lord, COME INTO MY HEART, CLEANSE MY HEART, AND SHOW ME THE WAY!!!! Come in to my heart, cleanse my heart, and show me the way.  As I was typing this and repeating that phrase over and over, my plaque that hangs by my computer fell off the wall.  I hear you Lord, loud and clear, thank you!  The plaque that fell of the wall right by my computer says this “Whatever is True, Whatever is Noble, Whatever is Right, Whatever is Pure, Whatever is Lovely, Whatever is Admirable…Think on these things”.  Show us the way Lord, please show us the way… and he just did. ----“Whatever is True, Whatever is Noble, Whatever is Right, Whatever is Pure, Whatever is Lovely, Whatever is Admirable…Think on these things” that is the way to keep that heart clean and shining with the light of the Lord.  First, ask God for forgiveness, and to banish Satan from your heart, then follow his way, let God show you the way.  That quote from the plaque is from Philippians 4:8-9, in which Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians:

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about these things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing.  Then the God of peace will be with you.” (NLT)