How to clean a cup

Here is the situation, you are in a hurry, you really need to have that last cup of coffee before you head out the door, you grab a mug off of your counter, but to your disgust, there is yesterdays cream still stuck in the bottom of it! Whoever did the dishes did not wash the inside of this mug and although it sparkled on the outside, so much so you considered it clean, it was not. The cup was in fact disgustingly dirty and desperately in need of a good scrubbing. Well, that's how Jesus feels about folks who call themselves clean, and who look really ship-shape on the outside, but inside things are dead and disgusting, molding, and beginning to deteriorate from the inside out. Have any of you ever felt this way about yourself, or possibly someone else? I'm sure if you are anything like me, we have all had these realizations about ourselves...and I did that yesterday.

There has been this topic that has always brought frustration to head between my husband and I, and as we discussed it last night I found myself getting increasingly more upset with my sweet husband, (the one whom the Lord gave to me to cherish and respect...yeah, that one.) And as I stomped off to the bedroom to do my bible study, (i know, i know...) the Lord of course got hold of my heart. It was as if He began to gently instruct me, I started my reading out in Hebrews and of course it began to melt my heart, as the Lord spoke to me on my stinky insides I had to listen because He was only speaking the truth for me...He whispered to my heart and began to see what He was showing me. First He spoke to me about His love, in John chapter 17...(if you have not read this chapter lately, you should because it's all on His prayers to His father on behalf of those He loves...) I was touched that He took the time to reinstate His intense love for me before He began to instruct me. Isn't that what we all need and want? To know that despite the fact that we have (huge) faults, He still wants us to know, first and foremost, that He loves us...

So then I was led the book of Matthew and as I was reading chapter 23 my eyes came to this verse and felt the sting of my sin hit my heart..."First, clean the inside of the dish and cup, and then the outside also will be clean..." vs 26

Here is what has happened friends, I am the only other person besides God who truly knows what is on my mind and heart...I can lie if I don't feel like telling the truth, but God knows, and God convicts. The issue was minor to most, but to me, it felt like I was lugging around a mountain...I thought.." Have I been wasteful with the gifts the Father has given me? They are all His after all, and as He asks me to offer them up to Him as a sacrifice, He then gives them back to me to take care of them for Him.."

So, head in hands, I asked for the forgiveness of my Father once more, and as I did, I knew I also had to go and tell my husband a few things that I really dislike saying, one of them being "your right!" and the other one being, "I'm wrong.." I know. Ouch, right ladies? anyone with me? It's hard, but you know what friends, our husbands usually know best.

So my lesson that I have learned is this, it does not matter how small the problem is, if it's causing the inside of your cup to even be a little bit dirty, then your cup is not fully clean, and God is not fully being glorified. Because that is why we do what we do...to glorify the maker, and He turn loves us, cares for us, and makes sure we are always wrapped up in His peace.

I do not claim to have the answers to anything, and that is why I'm so humbled when the Lord takes the time to reveal something to me. I mean, I could seriously walk around blind my entire life, if it were not for the grace of God. So all I can be is thankful, humble and obedient and for me, there in lies my peace. Take care of your cups my friends, clean them, handle them with care and in the end they will be filled, to the point of running over...and oh how your insides will shine! Clean equals Honest, and honesty in all areas of life, equals peace in your soul.