A spider….igh..
A spider….igh..
By Karen Lucía Tapia Hernández
Who likes to clean? Wash dishes,
clothes or sort things out? Maybe some like it, but probably like most people,
you do not. The truth is that many times we rather not clean or we come up with any type of excuse to not do it. But if we do not clean, we accumulate dust or we
may even find insects we do not like, like spiders, igh… but when we start
cleaning, we can classify what items we need, what are unnecessary and what we
can keep. Just like cleaning at home, we must also get rid of things that
become hindrances to our spirit, our soul, our body, our mind, and our heart.
Let us examine the following verse:
2 Timothy 2:21-22 New King James Version
(NKJV)
21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the
latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master,
prepared for every good work. 22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness,
faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
The Word of God says we need to
cleanse ourselves from impurities and those feelings, thoughts, emotions that
are not from God, consequently we will be useful for our Lord. For if we have
not cleansed ourselves from those things that displease Him, if we do not
sanctify ourselves, we will not walk in the purpose and calling for which He
has chosen us. Apostle Paul goes further as to say that those that are
sanctified are prepared for the tasks that our Master has chosen but not those
who are not (the RVC Spanish translation, indicates that these people will be
willing to do the tasks, hence we implicitly recognize those who will be
unwilling to the work of the Lord are not sanctified). Likewise, it states we will have occasions where
we need to flee youthful desires and sometimes we may commit the error to think
we are stronger than the temptation and we can resist it. However, like I told
someone I highly esteem, it is not the same thing to have a temptation far away
than to have it a few millimeters away from you, in these situations our character
plays a major role in overcoming obstacles. When we flee temptation and follow the attributes and
characteristics of God, such as justice, faith, love and peace, we can have a
pure heart to call our Heavenly Father. And not only that, but we can delight
ourselves in His presence.
Let us meditate in the following
verse:
Matthew 5:8 New King
James Version (NKJV)
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
you will fill me with joy
in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at
your right hand.
and renew a steadfast
spirit within me.
The previous verse, states the word “Blessed,” according to Strong’s
Concordance, Blessed in Hebrew means esher
which implies “happiness, blessedness[i].” This is to say that God
grants us happiness and blessings, He provides joy to those who have a clean
heart, for not only can we have His blessing but we can enter His presence with
a plea He will listen to and answer. The moment we enter His presence with a
pure heart, we have His blessing and eternal pleasures. His word says:
Psalm 16:11 New International
Version (NIV)
11 You make known to me the
path of life;
This is to say that the moment we
enter the presence of our Lord, not only does He remove any sadness,
bitterness, worry, anxiety, pain, perturbation, but we are filled with His character, His Spirit.
In the presence of the Lord we encounter the path to a life of plenitude and we
encounter freedom. “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17, NLT). Furthermore, those who
have a clean heart and enter the presence of our Lord, automatically encounter
the Spirit of the Lord, hence finding freedom. Consequently, anything that has
been oppressing us in one way or another has to leave and flee, for in the
presence of God all chains and yokes are broken, for God has granted us
liberty.
Likewise, when we ask our Creator to
cleanse us we will find new strength in our Lord. The psalmist David says:
Psalm 51:10 New
International Version (NIV)
10 Create in me a pure heart, O
God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
In the previous verse we can determine
the following: first, the psalmist acknowledges who is his Creator for he is
asking Him to create something new, second, he recognizes the Lord as His God,
hence we can see his humility when he seeks Him, third he asks God to change
his spirit for he knows in his humanity he cannot but GOD can, and fourth, he
requests Him to do something over for the prefix re- means again, therefore he is asking a new steadfast spirit. Now, let
us examine what steadfast means, steadfast means: “firm in belief, determination, or adherence,[ii]”
thus he recognizes that the Only One that can grant him determination to
overcome any type of tribulation, trial or obstacle is Yahweh. The psalmist
David came with such humility to recognize that only God could change what he
could not, in other words, God could give Him new strength to keep going whenever he
thought he could no longer handle situations by himself.
Therefore dear readers, let us
remember that we need to cleanse ourselves from anything that does not come
from our Lord and that in sanctity we can see our Lord’s face. Remembering that
we can only enter His presence with a pure heart and He will hear us strive for holiness and
a renewed spirit, for only with a pure heart we obtain sanctity and without
holiness no one will see God and therefore we would not have access to
eternal life.
Hebrews 12:14 Amplified
Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)
14 Strive to live in peace
with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without
which no one will [ever] see the Lord.
And if
you have not accepted our Lord Jesus in your heart, or you want to reconcile
your relationship with Him, I urge you to do it today and pray the following
prayer out loud:
“Lord Jesus, I ask you for forgiveness of
my sins, for my sins separate me from you. I recognize you as my only,
sufficient and truthful Saviour. I break every covenant with the world, with
the flesh and with the enemy. I give you thanks for the sacrifice in the cross.
I know if I were to die today, I will be in your arms. Amen.”
If you
prayed this prayer today, write to me at kltapiahernandez@gmail.com, I would
love to hear from you. And if this edified you, please share it with someone
else. We are a family in Christ and we are here to help each other out. May God
bless you.