Dirty Fingernails

My Utmost For His Highest

‘I must cleanse myself from all filthiness in my flesh and my spirit until both are in harmony with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I mentally rebellious and defiant? Am I allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in me? (see Philippians 2:5). Christ never spoke of His right to Himself, but always maintained an inner vigilance to submit His spirit continually to His Father. I also have the responsibility to keep my spirit in agreement with His Spirit. And when I do, Jesus gradually lifts me up to the level where He lived-a level of perfect submission to His Father’s will— where I pay no attention to anything else. Am I perfecting this kind of holiness in the fear of God?’ CHAMBERS

 

Have you ever suddenly noticed that you have dirt under your fingernails?  Do you know what I mean?  You can’t feel the dirt but there you are , sitting in a chair and for some reason you hold your hand up and look at your fingernails.  And there it is .. ‘DIRT’.  You think .. ‘I have got to clean my fingernails!’  That is how it is with sin in our lives .. things that do not honor God but that we accommodate as being a normal part of our lives … one day, the Holy Spirit lifts those sins up … brings them to our attention … and we realize that we must do something about them … the questions is .. do we?  Or do we think “I will take care of that later.”

 

I preached at a church this past Sunday and asked the people if they thought they could stand before a holy God with sin in their hearts.  What do you think?  I told them that God will not hear the prayers of someone who does not have a repentant heart.  In other words,  God will not hear you if your heart is not right with Him.  He does not wink at sin .. He sent His Son to die to overcome sin.

 

My point .. don’t take sin lightly ..as if it is the same as having dirty fingernails … it is a serious thing … you should examine your heart everyday … 1 John 1:8-10 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

 

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)