Spring Cleaning and Heart Cleansing

Earlier this week my sister and I went to do some Spring cleaning for a widow friend of ours.
As we washed dirty old windows, I began to see life more clearly thru my own soul-window.

 

Funny how we can find spiritual analogies and life lessons anywhere if we keep our eyes open for them. So I kept my phone -with it's handy little camera- close a hand to capture picturesque epiphanies, and prayed that the Lord would weave these forming, tangling thoughts into a thread that I could learn from.

Cleaning....Cleansing.... these are necessary for life.

Practically, washing away dirt and dust purifies our surroundings so we can live healthy lives. If we leave dust in a place for too long, it begins to collect and pollute the air. It also looks pretty disturbing, and creates an uncomfortable atmosphere.

We don't want to leave piles of junk laying around because somehow piles always find a way to grow.... and will eventually -and almost undoubtedly- pose very hazardous situations for us. For example; never, NEVER should you leave clutter, toys, and a small chair in the middle of the floor between you and the bathroom in the middle of the night when all is dark. This would be considered a hazardous situation. (I just happen to know this. Carry on.)

Spiritually, our hearts need cleaning and cleansing too. Sin, bad habits, old ways, dirty thoughts..... these pollute our minds and hearts, keeping us from seeing clearly and walking closely with God.
The chair-in-the-middle-of-the-floor example comes to mind again. If we leave spiritual dirt laying around and allow sin-clutter to collect into piles in our hearts, these may be the very things that cause us to stumble when we find ourselves in the dark seasons of life!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me..." It was no wonder that this was the song stuck in my head throughout the afternoon as I vacuumed and dusted.

 

I want a clean heart. 

An uncluttered, purified, organized, 

renewed, cleansed heart.

But I cannot clean it. I cannot shove a vacuum or a dust rag inside my heart to clear out the filth.

I cannot sweep my own sin away, or scrub the hard and encrusted, baked-on bad habits off.

I cannot just simply change the way I operate and expect that to make up for my past negligence in those areas.

I must be cleansed.

Only Jesus our Maker, Redeemer, Saviour and Healer has the ability and the power to make us clean again. We can't do it ourselves.

What I can do, however, 

(and MUST do if I want to be cleansed)

is repent. 

Turn from my sin, confess it to Jesus, ask for His cleansing 

......and then walk in that purity.

Now that this subject has been so heavily on my mind, I am beginning to see more and more of the dirt in myself. It is- to put it quite simply- pretty yucky. I don't know about you, but if the pure in heart are the ones that get to see God, then I want to be pure in heart!!!

Oh Jesus, wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (Psalm 51:2 NIV)

And the exciting thing is.....
HE WANTS TO CLEANSE US!

Those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE this story....
"Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, 'Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.' Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, 'I want to. Be clean.' Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone." Matthew 8:2, 3 


What a merciful Savior Jesus is! Not only does He show us our need for cleansing.... He provides the cleansing Himself

I crawled into bed again last night with a heavy but repentant heart. Again, I had let dust build up on my sleeve.... and no one wants to be around a dirty self-centered attitude! I had let the filth collect inside my heart and then poured it all out of my mouth in one disgusting gush. Then I was left with an even bigger mess to clean up. I am tired of being dirty more often than being clean. I am back on my knees..... and -again- He has forgiven me and washed me with a beautiful new mercy. I can face today with grace and joy. Walking in repentance is a refreshing thing.

So, come on.... what are you waiting for?! Let's draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water!!! (Hebrews 10:22)

 

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, 

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 51:7-12 NIV

Throwing Open the Windows

The first day of Spring danced in gloriously this year. Daffodils flashed yellow smiles, the sunlight fell in golden puddles everywhere and the wind blew strong but warm.

I threw open my bedroom window and the fresh air filled the room, creating a beautifully inviting atmosphere.

Throughout the long, cold, dreary winter days the window had stayed shut-
Keeping out the wind. The snow.... the rain... the cold; protecting the inner from the outer.
Keeping me unexposed to the elements.

The sun doesn't shine in all that brightly in the wintertime. Dust collects, a coolness settles over the room, I hear the walls brace when the wind blows hard outside. But it can't get in. The window is shut.

But then when winter dies out and temperatures finally rise, I throw open the windows.
This is the air I want in my room.
This air I will not keep out- or protect myself from.

Thinking of Spring... and wind... and windows.... made me realize something new.

There is a window in my soul. A window that can be opened or shut whenever -however- I choose.

It didn't take very much thinking about soul-windows to realize that mine had been shut.
Inside my soul-room dust had been collecting. The air had been getting kinda stuffy- kinda close.
My soul-room has been in dire need of fresh Air-


The breath of Jesus. The Holy Spirit.
The word of God.

Somehow, somewhere along the lines, I had closed my window to His wind. And I now firmly believe that when I try to protect my inner secret place from the All-Knowing God- dust collects inside. Shadows find their way to every corner as the Son-light fades. Danger lurks in my soul-room, but I don't even know it for lack of adequate light.

Can you relate?

Then.... oh, dread of dreads..... because my window has been closed, the thief finds a way in.
No fresh Air to drive him away. The living conditions are perfect, so he moves right in. He begins his deadly business- 

"...to steal and kill and destroy..."


Hot, dirty fingers soon begin to clutch my heart. (ever felt them?)
Pride. He tightens his grip minute by minute.
Anger boils up inside of me -excusing itself under the easily pardonable guise of "hurt"- and leaks out down my face...

...Hot. Thrashing. Crashing. Destroying.


"Can I just HATE???!?!?!" I silently scream. It echoes off the walls of my steady-darkening room. "Can I just throw it all away... quit trying... and hate???"

Oh, the thief. He brings misery. Pure misery.


Bitterness gains more and more ground ........whilst I loose more and more.

Why is it" I moan, "that what destroys always seems like the easiest choice in the struggle?!"

Why then did hate feel like the answer? Why did the thought of throwing away Life and beauty and everything I have ever truly fought for seem like the only way to peace from the war? Why did anger satisfy my soul one moment and tear it wide open the next?

Why? Because my window was closed. Because my window was closed to the Help that I need.

There was no fresh Air blowing into my soul-room, so I was suffocating. Giving way under the pressure of the dirty, stuffy air that surrounded me.


Ever felt completely defeated by the thief? Is your window opened or closed?

That warm Spring air kept blowing and WOULD NOT let me forget-
Father WOULD NOT let me escape this lesson He had for me. "Look! Open your eyes!" He keeps saying "See what I am wanting to do in your heart?"


Well, so there I sat- pondering these thoughts, aching and groping to grasp their fullness, having prayed for a week-and-a-half that He would open my eyes to the complete truth of "throwing open my window" to the Fresh Air.

I had already begun to realize that what is needed is repentance...

...Cleansing...

...... humility to open myself up and let the Rushing Wind blow through this temple and blow out the dust within....

...but I was still not completely clear on what that looked like exactly.

Not completely clear, that is, until my Heavenly Father decided that I needed a BIG dose of truth concerning all this. A verse kept coming to mind that seemed to fit my subject at hand, but then when I looked it up in the Amplified I was comPLETELY blown away.

I clap my hands together and laugh out loud. It makes all the sense in the world.

THIS is my answer!!!!! 

Try THIS:

"So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that your sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, of reviving with fresh air) may come from the presence of the Lord..." (Acts 3:19)


In other words....

Say NO to the thief, say NO to hiding from the Truth, say YES to Jesus, Say YES to His fresh air, turn around and...

Throw open your window.