A few years back, I was praying, and overwhelmed with the clutter in my house. I had a choice to make: I could close the door, (which I did more than I really want to admit, but no matter how many times I closed the door, the thought that the room was cluttered would never leave my mind); or I could approach the project as a way to discover hidden treasures. Every day, I made a point of going through either one shelf, drawer, or box. Many of the items I had held on to, only weighed me down with sorrow, but after a while, I was able to let them go. Reading through old manuscripts, and journals, helped to draw me back into writing, again.

Now, it’s time to renew our minds and to start 2017 with a fresh vision. What do I want my life to look like? One of the most important things to me is to find peace in my home, even if the world is chaos, so, I have been on a quest, once again, to reduce the physical clutter in my life, to help me to focus on the more important things in my life.

Why is it that as a society we get trapped in things? For most of my life, things have dominated; I’m afraid. It’s almost like it’s a security blanket to be surrounded by things. Yet, those very things cause anxiety, as we try to organize them into something manageable. It is a slow process to dig deeply into the recesses of our very existence, to release the past regrets and burdens, and feel confident that we can breathe new life into our present by learning to treasure a less complicated lifestyle.

The only way that can be accomplished is through Jesus Christ. Sometimes we have to shut out the distractions of clutter, both mental and physical clutter, to allow the Lord to work and reign in our lives. It’s time that I remember to nurture the spiritual part if my life. My relationship with Jesus Christ should be at the top of my priority list.

Living for God is not complicated. It is probably the most clear and concise plan that you will ever need to follow in your lifetime. Unfortunately, many Christians make living for God difficult to do. Upon conversion, they think of all of the many pleasures of sin that they must give up in order to follow Christ. No longer will there be any fun, because after all, what in the world can a Christian do for fun? No alcohol, no drugs, no immorality, no ungodly entertainment. What they fail to understand is that after a person commits his life fully to the Lord, the things that once brought such great satisfaction (a bold lie of the devil) no longer appeals to them.

When you have been baptized in Jesus’ Name, you put on that name; when you are filled with the Holy Ghost and speak with other tongues (that’s Jesus in you), there is not any room for the pleasures of sin that leave a person vacant and condemned to eternal death. We do have a free will, and while we can do what we want to do, everything changes when we become a new creature in Christ. We have the power to overcome sin and defeat the devil.

Before I repented and was baptized in Jesus Name, my life could be compared to a series of storms. Everything was chaos. I searched for something to bring me peace of mind and heart. Many times I would find myself longing to go back to the way things were when I was a young girl. I went to Sunday School, and I took the time to talk to God. We’d take long walks together through the fields behind my house to a clearing by the creek.

Through that clearing, his light would shine on me while I prayed. I remember being so confused with what I was supposed to be doing with my life. Surely there was more to life than surviving through my dad’s alcoholism. Somehow, just being able to get to the clearing to pray and spend time in communion with God made me so much better prepared to handle the life that I faced at home.

When I left home, I left it all, for a season, but life was so complicated and confusing to me. As I struggled to survive day to day, I could never completely forget the clearing and the communion with God—I didn’t know about the Truth; I didn’t know that you could live a decent and moral life and be happy—so I continued to search for a way to fill the void in my life. The Lord never forgot me, and I never felt the peace of the clearing until, the Lord moved heaven and earth so that I could find my way back to him. I will present my body a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable service. Life is crystal clear now; the way of the Lord leads to life. It is as simple as this: Jesus loves me and he forgave me. I am truly blessed. Today, he is offering you life and forgiveness. Will you receive it?

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to the world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

In this week’s Lattereign we are reminded that there is nothing that is too hard for God to accomplish. His will be done in our lives.  is-there-anything-too-hard-for-god

Credits: Here is the link to the image used in this week’s post. image of renew mind