Cleaning Out The Ashes 1/1/14

Good Morning,
Happy New Year to you and your families. This morning it is cold here in Wisconsin and as I sit at the desk and look out through frosted windows I am drinking a very hot cup of Door County White Christmas Coffee. The fire is crackling in the fire place and the house is beginning to warm up.

Here is how the morning went so far. Let the dogs out, pray and thank God for another year of life, clean out the ashes in the fire place, start a new fire, and grab the coffee cup. Oh, I did let the dogs back in and fed them. Then I opened the new calendar and said "only ten months until duck season."

I have to say that I am enjoying the fire. It is burning clean and producing warmth. But as you recall I started by cleaning out the old ashes first. A fireplace will become ineffective and not burn properly if the ashes pile up too high. Air cannot circulate properly and the flames are not as hot. Sometimes this leads to embers smoking in the ashes producing smoke in the house. So today my fire is hot, flames moving upward and the little bit of smoke that is made is being sent up through the chimney.

Dear Friends, many of us will carry the ashes of a grudge into 2014 and then wonder why the fire for God in our lives is not hot, and does not produce the warmth and peace that we should experience. We need to clean out the fire places of our hearts where the embers of hurt, and anger clog the fresh air passage of the Holy Spirit, who wants to ignite our lives with understanding, forgiveness, peace and love.

Jesus came that we might have the abundant life. This verse is often misquoted as a pray it claim it verse. Totally wrong! This verse tells us that we can experience eternal life through Jesus because of His death on the cross, His burial, His resurrection, and our belief in Him for the forgiveness of our sins.

John 10:10

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Yet there is more. God the Father after Jesus returned to heaven  sent to us the Holy Spirit.

John 14:25-26 (NKJV)

²⁵ These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
²⁶ But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
 
So the abundant life also includes the ability to be led into forgiveness, power to move on, and the strength to let go of a grudge. Yes it takes strength to let go. It also takes too much energy and loss of sleep and heartburn to carry a grudge.

Want to live the abundant life?
1. Pray and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for starters. The Holy Spirit will indwell within you immediately.
2. If you have already received Jesus as Lord and Savior call upon the Holy Spirit to show you the grudge plainly as a sin and ask to be forgiven. Make the necessary arrangements to release others from the grudge. Forgive!!!
Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
3. Replace the grudge with something good and pure. For example service to God. You will see the Holy Spirit fan the flames of love and passion for God.

This is a life that only the children of God can experience. Anyone can carry a grudge only we can live the abundant life of not carrying a load of grudges.

Happy Abundant Life to You!!!!

God bless,
Marty