Holiness: A Clean Heart

By Carin LeRoy –

When I have company visit my home, I do my best to clean to make sure that things are dusted, scrubbed and picked up. I wouldn’t want them to think that I’m a dirty housekeeper, so I want to present my home the best I can when they arrive at my door. If guests are staying for the night, I give them washed sheets on their bed and a fresh towel. After all, would we give our visitors dirty bed sheets and a used towel? Of course not.

This brings us to another aspect of what it means to live a holy life. Just as we want our homes to be presentable and clean when guests arrive, we should also want our hearts and lives to be clean before God. We strive to confess our sins and keep our lives free from sinful habits. As Dr. Robert D. Luginbill says, “It is still possible for our feet to pick up a bit of dirt as we walk about in the devil’s world. God has given us the status of ‘holy people,’ but we are still imperfect and capable of sin.” It’s important that we don’t look lightly at our personal behavior and the sin patterns that crop up in our lives. Not only do we confess them before God, but we repent. Confession brings forgiveness, but repentance means we turn away from those sins by not allowing them to become a habit in our lives (Acts 3: 19,20).

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me” (Psalm 51: 10 NLT).

David recognized his sinfulness and asked God to create something new within his heart. He knew he was helpless on his own, and it would take God’s power within him to live a holy life. He desired to honor God but saw the weakness in his own soul. We all fail, like David, and have sins that haunt us. Yet God still desires for His children to live a life set apart and holy. God sees our hearts. Are we confessing our failures and repenting of the sins that grip us? If not, then let’s strive to learn like David what it means to have a clean heart before God.

PRAYER: Lord, create within me a clean heart. Give me a steady and loyal spirit that follows after You. Help me to repent from the sins that desire to take hold of my life.

“I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations” (Ezekiel 36:26 NET).

Fast to Feast to Fast

By Robin J. Steinweg –

I confess. Sometimes I fast to feast and feast only to fast again.

How many Thanksgiving Days have I gone without breakfast—maybe even no lunch—so I’d have room for more Thanksgiving dinner? More turkey, more mashed potatoes and gravy, more stuffing, relishes, scalloped corn, rolls, frozen cranberry salad and pumpkin pie. M-o-r-e, please. Eat some more! Won’t you have some more? Look how much is left; have some MORE! And then I skip the next meal or two afterward because the thought of food makes me feel ill.

I don’t mean to cause a guilt trip here (not that I think you’ve ever done this). But I pondered this subject when I read an article, “Extending the Table” by Leslie Leyland Fields, in Kyria magazine.

Feasts and fasts—each can have a meaningful place in my life rather than be a gut-level response to a harried holiday time or to a family reunion.

A feast might be held in celebration of the Lord, one’s faith, country or family.

A fast might be physical (cleanse the body’s system, increase mental clarity, reset one’s body clock, change habits or diet). It might be spiritual (deny the body’s appetites to gain discipline, rely more on God, grow closer to Him).

In the future, I’d like to think things through in advance. To be intentional about it; purposeful. Not a fast to feast, or a feast to fast.

AUTHOR QUOTE: Feast or fast: without intent, they are harmful at worst and pointless at best. But what a productive thing either can be, if carried out for a good purpose!

“Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting” (Daniel 9:3a NKJV).
[They celebrated] “…with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another” (Esther 9:19b NKJV).

Making the Most out of Mother’s Day

By Rosemary Flaaten –

Mother’s Day is billed as a wonderfully happy day, but that it can be a difficult day for celebration. Being a mom, I love Mother’s Day, but in my role as a daughter, this day stirs up sadness. In my teenage years, my mom developed Alzheimer’s disease and I became her caregiver. I hated Mother’s Day, because it reminded me that life had not turned out like I had hoped.

Maybe you find Mother’s Day difficult as well. Maybe its an abortion, miscarriage or infertility that will have you waking up on Sunday mourning about the baby you never knew. Maybe you have a prodigal child and you wonder if they will even bother to contact you. Maybe, for any number of reasons, your relationship with your mother is fractured. Mother’s Day can be one of the hardest days of the year.

So how can we make the most of Mother’s Day? Start by acknowledging the pain we are feeling. If we don’t recognize that we are feeling sad about our circumstances, they will be like a trap door that will engulf us, causing the day to turn out even worse. Keeping things in the dark, by ignoring them, becomes our greatest threat. Part of my routine on Mother’s Day is to take a few minutes in the morning to think about my mom, even shedding a few tears. Mourning is the best path to healthy emotions as long as we don’t wallow in it.

Which leads to the next step – accept the love that comes your way. Accept the breakfast in bed with a heart of gratitude, even if it is cold, burnt toast. Be thankful that you are treated to dinner at a restaurant, even if it isn’t exactly the one you would have chosen. Cherish the handmade cards and the goofy lawn ornaments. Accepting love, even if it is flawed, will help us shift our focus off what we don’t have onto the good in our lives. A little gratitude goes a long way!

The third step to making the most out of Mother’s Day is to pass on love to others. You may not have a mother to celebrate, but be on the lookout for women who have influenced your life. Take this opportunity to express your appreciation. Make this a day to celebrate womanhood.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to make the most of this day and to look for ways to show love, acceptance and appreciation.

“In everything gives thanks” (I Thessalonians 5:18 NIV)

The Joy of Pulling Weeds

By Hally Franz –

It made the list of the more notorious chores that my sister and I were charged with as kids. Dumping the “slop” in the ditch at the edge of the woods was always fun, as was assisting my father when he plucked ticks off the dogs and dropped the swollen vermin into a jar of gasoline. What girl doesn’t love that sort of thing? Not! While those were foul tasks, perhaps our least favorite was pulling weeds.

When spring arrived and weeds sprung up, Ellen and I were expected to spend time most days pulling weeds. Maintenance is important when dealing with weeds; they can pop up fast and take over. Twenty minutes was typically the expectation. But twenty minutes passed quickly if we were lying out in the sun or talking on the phone—not so for weed-pulling.

In my teenage opinion, it was a gross task; however, it was not without satisfaction. My father was particularly pleased when he saw the pile of purged weeds grow big. “I love to see a big pile of weeds,” he’d say. A productive session of weed reduction always resulted in kudos from him, and we liked that, even if we didn’t admit it.

Sometimes, pile size was more about chance than effort. Some weeds are easier to extract than others. Often the ones that spread like vines pull easily, and single ones stand far more solid, contrary to conventional weed wisdom.

Fast forward thirty years, and I have a husband who fights his war on weeds with poison rather than pulling. My children will tell their own stories one day. They call him “Rambo” when armed with the weed killer. Reminiscent of Sly Stallone returning to Vietnam to bring home the American soldiers, with weapons strapped on his back, my husband ventures outside with his chemical warfare and spray gun to eliminate the enemy.

Do we attack the spiritual weeds in our lives with the same gusto that we do those in our yards? When we find that an unkind attitude or some bad behavior has sprung up within us, do we exert energy to combat them? And, do we strive to keep our hearts clean from ugly, unwanted intruders that are not part of Christ’s original design? Whether our own spiritual challenges are easy or present bigger battles, we should always be ready to face them, confident in the strength that He provides. What great satisfaction there is in that!

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16 NIV).

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me be aware of spiritual weeds that pop up in my heart and life, and give me strength to aggressively fight them, so that others can see Your work within me.

Volunteer of the Year

By Susan Dollyhigh –

Serving at the homeless shelter has given me the opportunity to work with many wonderful people.

Ms. Pam makes crafts with the children on Tuesday night, so the mothers can enjoy spending time in God’s Word.

Ms. Carole and her husband, Jim, have Sunday school around the kitchen table every Sunday morning. The residents learn about Christ through their ministry.

Mary Z. serves as a Spanish interpreter and drives residents to doctor’s appointments, work, and helps with miscellaneous chores at the shelter.

Jake has been visiting the shelter since it opened. He lives close by so it’s just a short walk for him, and he visits at least twice a day.

I lead a Bible study on Tuesday evenings. During the summer we sit on the back porch and Jake usually joins us. Sometimes Jake arrives late, but he quietly finds a seat without being disruptive. Even so, when he arrives, all eyes turn to him, all faces grow soft, and all mouths turn up in a smile.

When Bible study is over, Jake jumps up, and wastes no time greeting each resident. Everyone, from toddlers to grandmothers, quickly comes to love Jake. For this reason, Jake is definitely the volunteer of the year.

Jake has that quality we all strive for – unconditional love. There’s not one ounce of prejudice in him. He doesn’t care about anyone’s past. He’s glad to get to know everyone, and gives them love, comfort, and companionship.

I’m sure Jake doesn’t brag about his “volunteer work.” Jake’s own family may not be aware of his frequent visits to the shelter. But they should be proud of him. They must have modeled kindness and shown him a lot of love. They also taught him some other really neat tricks – like how to sit, how to shake hands, how to roll over.

Yes, Jake is a four-legged volunteer, and we don’t know his real name. Someone started calling him Jake and the name stuck.

I’m thankful God planted the seed for a homeless shelter in the hearts of those who worked to make The Shepherd’s House a reality. I’m thankful God provides board members, staff, and volunteers who have a heart for homeless people.

I’m also thankful God sent a big, ol’ yellow lab who touches the hearts and lifts the spirits of all of us at the shelter.

QUOTE: A pet is someone who listens with their heart, speaks with a look, and teaches with love (Seen in vet’s office).

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you…In God’s hand is the life of every creature, and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7 & 10 NIV)

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