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In The Garden Daily Devotional
"Yeah Right!"
Pastor Wayne Clabaugh
Scripture Text: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48 (KJV)
The other night, having worked into the wee hours of
the morning on a great study from God's Word, I
decided that I would clean out my coffee pot, and
get things all lined up for later that morning. When
I got to the sink I noticed that there were a couple
glasses and a couple bowls there, so I decided I
would go ahead and wash those as well.
I began to fill the sink with hot water and dish
soap, and all the while I was thinking about the
Bible GREAT Bible study the Lord had given me. I had
been studying for around 5 hours, and I still hadn't
gotten past the first few verses of the Chapter.
My sink was now full of water - I turned off the
water, and reached down into the water to begin to
wash. IT WAS FREEZING!! I was sure that I had set
the facet lever where it should have filled the sink
with Hot Water. Pulling the spicket over to the
other sink I quickly turned the water back on and
stuck my hand under it to see what was going on.
STILL COLD!!! So I pushed the lever further to the
left, and began to feel warmer water. Just a
fraction of an inch made all the difference. I guess
that tells you how long it had been since I had done
the dishes. My wife could go instinctively to the
“hot-spot” and begin filling the sink with hot
water.
As I stood there washing the dishes, I began to
think about the verses for today's devotional, I
couldn't help but think..."What if Christ hadn't
come?" Then I thought about the verse where Jesus
talks about his reason for coming to this earth, and
it is quickly followed up with what Satan's purpose
is. One was to give abundant life, and the other was
a thief. In fact, the scripture says that…
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to
kill, and to destroy" John 10:10 (KJV)
Friend... how are things in your life today? What
about your family's lives? Does it seem like all
Hell has broken loose here lately and there is no
end in sight to the onslaughts of the enemy? If you
can relate to the questions I just asked... chances
are you looked at today's verse and responded in the
same way I did: “Yeah ...right!”
Just like when I put my hands into a sink basin full
of cold, COLD water, we are sometimes shocked by the
outcome of the events in our lives. What we thought
should have been comfortable, and acceptable, and
non-threatening, suddenly, and without warning,
becomes an all-out attack on not only the present,
but the future. The results are chilling, and
unacceptable; certainly far from perfection.
But as was the case with my experience of "testing
the waters", once I got the lever lined up properly,
warm cleansing water was in abundance. It would
stand to reason that through the years, the inner
workings of our kitchen faucet has begun to erode,
and in order to know where to place the lever
exactly to get the desired results, it is necessary
to be there everyday, "working it."
So too, over the years, the inner workings of our
hearts, and minds begin to erode. We're not as
susceptible to the flow of God's Spirit in our
lives, and at times we need a little "fine tuning"
at the source where there is a need for cleansing to
spill out.
Let’s pray…
Father God… Precious Holy Spirit… I need you more
today than ever before. I so often become
side-tracked from those things that are really
important. Some times I just feel like everything
around me is just coming apart. I've strive so hard
to make something of myself, and to be honest
“perfection” may be a bit hard for me to swallow
here this morning. Father, it seems like I just keep
hitting brick walls "left and right" 'till I feel
sometimes like I'm in a maze. Help me to be more in
tune with you Jesus. Let your warm, and welcome
cleansing power flow over my life today, and teach
me to walk in your ways. I ask this in Jesus' Name,
Amen.
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