MeccaMusing: Corners, Crevices, Cracks, and all of 'em Clean

MeccaMusing: Corners, Crevices, Cracks, and all of 'em Clean: Dear Ones:  It has been a busy week.  Do any of us ever have a week anymore that we can say is not busy?  I think there might be something ...

Corners, Crevices, Cracks, and all of 'em Clean

Dear Ones:  It has been a busy week.  Do any of us ever have a week anymore that we can say is not busy?  I think there might be something wrong with that.   I am still struggling with my sinuses.  Finally went to the Dr. and got an antibiotic.

I am some better, but as LaRue's (sweet, dear friend of mine) mother used to say, "I am just putting up a good front."  Now, I just like to say that I get a lot done for a sick girl.  Truly, I am better.

I am overjoyed today.  It is again so beautiful here in Atlanta.  The brilliant colors of red, orange, green, brown, and yellow are everywhere.  The weather is not too cold or too hot, and most special of all, my mother flew in today to spend the next two weeks with me.

We will celebrate her 89th birthday the day after Thanksgiving.  Isn't that amazing?  Her mind is so clear (has always been brilliant), her heart is strong, and she had the strength and stamina to fly from San Antonio to Atlanta.  (Frank just walked by and said, "but she can't hear worth a ****," to which she said, "What did you say?"  All three of us laughed.)

We keep a pretty clean house, but we do clean extra for company.

Everything in the house felt so much cleaner after Frank and I pulled up rugs, pulled out the refrigerator and cleaned good behind, underneath, on top (whew, you talkin' about some kind of mess). It is eye-opening and nostril-challenging to pull out the refrigerator.  There is no tellin' what you will discover.  As many ice cubes as I have kicked under there, I don't know why there wasn't an igloo in the corner.  LOL

While the house might not look any cleaner than normal to anyone else, Frank and I knew we had cleaned every corner, crevice, crack and in between.  We had such a great sense of accomplishment.  It felt good to be the right kind of stewards of what the Lord had given us.

I remember that we cleaned very thoroughly one evening.  The next morning, the sun showed through the large uncovered windows in the living room and dining room, revealing a lot of dust and crumbs we had missed.  We were actually amazed at how much we had missed.  The problem was, we were cleaning without enough light.  Things looked really good because we couldn't see everything with just the room lighting.

The bright light of the morning sun revealed every little particle of dust, every crumb, every single smudge on the front of the refrigerator or stove top or hardwood floors.  Nothing escaped its rays.

My mind and heart went immediately to this manifested truth in God's Word.  The knowledge and application of His word to my life is a "lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."  (Ps 119:105).  Unless I ask the Lord to "Search me and know my heart," (Ps 139:23) I will have crumbs, smudges and dust particles of sin left on the shelves of my soul; the kind that can come between my soul and my Savior.

His search is precise, cuts through the clutter; it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thoughts and intents of my heart. Hebrews 4:12.  So, when I really want to be right before the Lord, I choose the light of His Word, not a facsimile of it.

When I try to search my own heart, I tend to compare myself to others in order to determine if what I am doing is right or wrong and to justify anything I might find.  My sweet Lord Jesus clearly tells me that is not wise.  II Cor. 10:12.

The only reason I would shun His search is that I am afraid of what He will find, ashamed of my failures and bringing dishonor to Him.  What I must remember is that He already knows them; when I ask Him to reveal them to me, I will know them.  Then I have the wonderful opportunity of claiming His forgiveness.

Let me just say this.  In my walk with the Lord, when I have felt like I was doing "pretty well,"  I was not comparing myself to Him.  "Pretty well" never enters the mind of a believer who is truly walking in the presence of God. It is more akin to "humbled and undeserving, but grateful."

I wonder why I am content with the crumbs, dust, and dirt of this world, when I can have His resurrection power available to me because my heart is clean and pure before Him.

When I was thinking about the brightness of the sun, sometimes so bright, it hurts my eyes, I remembered how overwhelmed I was the first time I heard that Heaven would have no sun or moon because the glory of the Lord would outshine both of them.  Isaiah goes so far as to say that not only would the sun and moon not shine, but that the moon would be abashed and the sun ashamed to even try to shine in the presence of the glory of God.  (Is 24:3)


Oh, how thankful I am for the truth and living power of God's Word and His glory that flows from it.  The gift my mother and daddy gave me of ensuring I heard and memorized God's Word has been deep, priceless, and enduring.  It has been a drink for my soul in times of thirst, a source of peace in times of fear, a fortress when I needed courage, and always a light in times of darkness.

Now, I make it a point to really clean when the sun is shining.  It reminds me of the love of God, His power to show me my mistakes and redeem them as I walk in the light of His Word.  How about you?

I am approaching this and every day with joy.  Love and miss you all.  Mecca

MeccaMusing: To Him be Glory...both Now and Ever, Amen!

MeccaMusing: To Him be Glory...both Now and Ever, Amen!: Good Afternoon .  It is a beautiful day in Atlanta, Georgia.  It's about 65 degrees and the sun is shining (between the clouds).  I have a b...

To Him be Glory...both Now and Ever, Amen!

Good Afternoon.  It is a beautiful day in Atlanta, Georgia.  It's about 65 degrees and the sun is shining (between the clouds).  I have a bad cold or sinus infection.  Doesn't matter what I call it, the results are the same.  I attended "Bedside Baptist" this morning.  Most of you will completely identify with that phrase.

(Pause). I took a little nap after that first paragraph.  

I am looking outside my window at the most beautiful array of fall colors.  Now, there is a cloud cover with a sweet, gentle falling rain.  

Frank knows I love flowers.  I left for a conference on Tuesday.  When I returned on Friday, he had planted winter blooming plants in the front yard and all of our pots on the back porch.  (Thank you, Lord, for watering them today).

When I hugged and thanked him, he proudly ran his fingers through his beautiful, thick salt and pepper gray hair (that is a little bit longer, and I love it) and said, "it's my love language." Of course, we both laughed. I love him.  God is so good all of the time.

Are we ready for this election to be over or what? The political storm is swirling in every newspaper, on every TV channel -- Like It, Spin It, Tweet It --- in every kind of communication medium imaginable.  

As I reminded myself in an earlier blog, we have the far left, the far right, and then there is "leading from the center."  The hot buttons are Obamacare, abortion (always will be), deep deficit, too much spending, the ever-present agenda of "spreading the wealth" vs. individual responsibility, bias of the media, corruption in the government, loss of religious freedom, the 47%, vote for revenge, vote for love of country, debates -- the first, the last and the ones in between, four more days, Sandy, Benghazi - and on and on. 

It's too close to call. The brilliant pundits don't know who will win. If Romney carries Ohio, he wins; if Obama loses Florida, but carries Wisconsin, PA, and CO, he wins.  Someone might win the popular vote but lose the electoral college.  Right now it's a dead heat.  Many of us feel it is either a fresh beginning or the end of America as we know her.

There is so much rancor, discontent, accusation, and distrust.  This is just part of the chaos of this ole' world and its prince who revels in it (Eph. 2:2).  

My Heavenly Daddy reminded me this morning that He is not surprised by any of it.  The world is groaning and toiling under the weight of chaos and sin.   

Hebrews 12:1-3 talks about all the weight and the sins that so easily beset (surround or attack from all sides) us."  While I believe that verse is referring to believers, it does remind me of the commercial about COPD and how the disease makes the person feel like an elephant is sitting on her chest.  

Following that analogy, the inhabitants of this world are laboring under a giant circus tent full of elephants.

Then, the other verse that comes to mind is Isaiah 25:1, "Oh Lord, you are my God.  I will praise and exalt your name; for in perfect faithfulness, you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago."  There is great peace and rest knowing that in perfect faithfulness, my Heavenly Daddy planned my future a long time ago.

And the other verse, II Tim 1:12b "for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."  He knows what tomorrow holds, and I know Him, and He knows me by name.  How about that? 

I will vote.  You must vote; but rest assured that God is sovereign. The Word of God tells us that an omniscient God has been working behind the scenes throughout history.  

And it is my Heavenly Daddy who "executes judgement, putting down one [king or kingdom] and lifting up another (Psalm 75:7).  And I know He does all things well.

Here is what is difficult for my flesh - to pray that the one whose presidency will bring the most honor and glory to the Lord Jesus will be elected.  As I prayed that prayer, He gently reminded me that sometimes He is most glorified when saints rejoice in suffering.  He only promised grace and strength for the day, not that the day would be without sorrow.  

I have been guilty of praying for whom I wanted to win the election.  I decided that was a selfish prayer, because it might have been more for my good than His glory.  

Now I pray that He will do whatever it takes (it unsettles me just to type those words even though I say I trust Him) to make me ready to see Him face to face, to give me grace and courage to share in His suffering and be made conformable to His death (Phil 3:10).  I have no idea what that entails, but He does, and that's all that matters.  

It's not about an election or even America.  It is all about Him.  

"Now unto Him Who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy; to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen!" Jude 1:24-25

PS - The sun just broke through the clouds.  And all God's people said, "Amen and Amen."