Let Your Inside, Start Reflecting Out!!!!

    THE SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:  Matthew 18:3   he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

LET YOUR INSIDE WORLD REFLECT TO THE OUTSIDE AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED BY THE BEAUTY

     Well this week began with the word FRUSTRATION.  I felt frustrated because I was feeling overwhelmed.  When I get overwhelmed then I feel like I cannot think straight and when I can't think straight I don't feel like I can get anything done.  The reason the frustration started was because I felt  like I am being led by God, but getting nowhere.  I feel in my heart that I am supposed to be promoting my books, The O's Odyssey To China and A Daily Journal From an Ordinary Christian Man.  On top of that I am working hard to be a good husband, father, teacher and take care of our home.  I have a list of projects that seem insurmountable.  They are not your simple projects like fixing light bulbs, but multi-day projects, such as  replacing a hot water heater and building a retaining wall.  The list goes on and on.

PREPARING FOR CHRIST'S ARRIVAL

     So I told my wife that I needed to go for a run and begin having a serious discussion with God.  During my run we had our initial conversation.  I then returned and sat in my sauna where God and I really get down to business.  The reading for that day talked about change and how we need to trust God when we are doing his work and be patient.  Along with the scripture I was reading a commentary about how we think. The topic for the day was about how if we want to change things on the outside that we need to look on the inside first.  So, as you can imagine the scripture for the day and the topic in my book hit me like a brick between the eyes.
    The topic of my discussion with God reminded me of an analogy that I had heard over the years, either during a bible study or a message from a minister or priest.  The analogy described our hearts as a house.  In our house we have lots of rooms.  When we invite Christ into our house we need to clean every room in the house.  We cannot have anything left in rooms or closets.  It must be clean for him.  Periodically we will start to store things in a closet to hide, but we need to make sure that we keep cleaning it out.  Sometimes we need to ask Christ to help us get the junk out, but the beautiful thing is that he is more than willing to help.
    With that being said, I started cleaning house and it is amazing how much clarity I began to have.  I wrote down how I was feeling and prayed in detail what I was concerned about.  Christ helped me to put my thoughts in order and I was able to create a list of priorities.  I was amazed that after creating my list how I felt much better and didn't feel like I was alone or overwhelmed.
    The point of my book was that if you want the outside be outstanding, then it has to be a reflection of the inside.  START THIS VERY MOMENT MAKING THE OUTSIDE WORLD REFLECT YOUR INSIDE!!!!!!!