Cleaning Day!

As a part of my year of “getting real” I have really been made aware of the topic of sin lately (thank you Pastor Rick!). Sin is something you can't see, smell, taste, or touch. It comes not from the outside but it truly a condition of the heart. But when sin is manifested in action THEN we are able to see it. Sin starts as a thought. Whether it is in a moment or whether we have had a lot of time to think about it. I have been praying for several people around me lately who have been making some gigantic sinful choices. But this morning during Sunday service I was reminded of the scripture in both Matthew and Luke that tells me not be concerned about the speck in my brother's eye before I take the plank from my own eye. I didn't think I had a lot of un-repented for sin in my life, but God reminded me that "sin is sin". It's not measured on a scale, but measured by the heart. I am doing some heavy duty cleaning today. Not with a dust rag and vacuum, but through time in prayer and the Word.

1 Samuel 16:7: "God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person but the Lord looks at the heart."

I want to commit today to making sure that my heart is pleasing to Him. Is today cleaning day for you too?

2009 The Year to GET REAL

The New year has rung in and 2009 is before us. The Lord has been impressing on my heart a theme of "Getting Real" this year. What does this mean? Well friend it means that this is the year we begin to be honest with ourselves, the people around us, and most importantly - the Lord. We have allowed ourselves the luxury of living a life of smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately, at some point the smoke clears and the mirrors warp. The result leaves us looking at the cold, hard reality of our lives. The scripture in 1 John 4:4 (The Message) speaks to this:

My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.

We have become lost in the unrealistic idea of flawless bodies on the covers of magazines, info-mercials telling us we must have these products to improve our lives, the fallacy "that money makes everything better", and most importantly that if we "look the part" nobody will know the pain we are suffering inside. If true, we could make our lives perfect by buying and believing all the beautifully wrapped garbage the world has offered up. It is time to GET REAL!

Are you living in a charade, acting out your life without truly living it? Do you cry silent tears so no one will see through the well placed, flawless mask? I hear story after story from women talking about the sham they have allowed their lives to become. They just don't know how to crawl out of the fallacy they have been living in. That's where the GET REAL part comes into play.

I want to encourage you to start committing to prayer your circumstances. Allow God to strip away the well placed layers of deception. Though it is painful and revealing, I promise you will find it liberating (not the burning bra liberating but emotionally freeing). The scripture in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 describes it like this:

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

Allow Him to remove the veil you have covered yourself with; the veil of deception, hopelessness, depression, and discontentment. When you do you will see the world with new eyes. You will see His vibrant colors and breath the clean air of honesty. You will taste the sweetness of victory in living the authentic, freeing Christian life. It's a new year friend and a fresh start. Let's start today! So lovingly I say to you - GET REAL!

With deep love and prayers,

Lonna