Tag Archives: Sin

Nov9

Jesus, Set Me Free!!

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Galatians 5:1

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Stand firm, then,

and do not let yourselves be burdened again

by a yoke of slavery.”

It hasn’t always been this way…

I remember brighter days!

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(My son, Casey… and our drama team choreographer, Kaya… at a community Outreach)

Before the dark ones came…

Stole my mind…

Wrapped my soul in chains!

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Now I live among the dead…

Fighting voices in my head…

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Hoping someone hears me crying in the night…

And carries me away…

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Set me free of the chains holding me...

Is anybody out there hearing me?

Set me free!!

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Morning breaks another day…

Finds me crying in the rain…

All alone with my demons I am!

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Who is this man that comes my way?

The dark ones shriek…

They scream His Name!!!

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Is this the One they say will set the captives free?

Jesus, rescue me!!!

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As the God man passes by…

He looks straight through my eyes!

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And darkness cannot hide!!

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Do you want to be free?

Lift your chains…

I hold the key!!

All power on Heav’n and Earth belong to Me!!!
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You are free !
You are free !!
You are free!!!!

Do you want to be Free???

Romans 8:1-2

“Therefore,

there is now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus,

because through Christ Jesus

the law of the Spirit who gives life

has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

John 8:36

“So if the Son sets you free,

you will be free indeed.”

Amen!!

Jul25

What A Web We Weave…

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The other day…

My husband called me outside on the lanai…

“Come quick!

Bring your camera!

Here’s a shot of a lifetime!!”

At first, I just couldn’t see it!

What was he pointing at???

Then, I moved closer…

And the light shifted…

And suddenly…

I saw this beautiful spider’s web!!!!!!

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It was huge!

Oh, so perfect!

Nice to look at…

But, if I was a tiny, little, helpless fly…

I would be tempted to fly into that web…

Which is soooo attractive to me!

And get hopelessly caught!!

Don’t get caught in a web of the devil’s lies!!

Sin may look beautiful…

Even bring temporary pleasure…

But it’s a death trap!!

Just like this beautiful spider web is…

To the spider’s prey!

The enemy of our soul…

Seeks to steal from us…

Ensnare us…

Entangle us…

Kill us…

And destroy us!!

He uses beautiful counterfeit!

It’s hard to see his tricks!

Let Jesus shine His Light…

At just the right angle…

And you’ll be able to suddenly see…

The devious plans…

The enemy has for you!

John 10:10

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I have come that they may have life,

and have it to the full.”

Turn away…

And embrace God’s Plan for your life!!

Jeremiah 29:11

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’

declares the Lord,

‘plans to prosper you

and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.'”

Ahhh…

I love this promise of God!!!

Jul15

My One Year Blog-A-Versary!! July ’13

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How should I celebrate my…

Entrance into the blogosphere???

I’m going to first of all thank my son…

For thinking of it…

Setting everything up for me…

Supporting me…

Mentioning me on FB…

And constantly answering my technical questions!!

And…

I’m going to let him…

Post whatever he wants!!!

So here goes!!!

So my Mother, the very same one you all so love for her blog posts,

wanted me to write something for her “Blog-A-Versary.”

I told her I didn’t think that was a real thing

to which she replied “Well, I’m making it a thing.”

Thus, her Blog-A-Versary was born.

She instructed me to have some sort of guest post written by the beginning of July,

so she would have time to “get it ready for my Blog-A-Versary” [sic]

I asked when she REALLY needed it by (myself being a procrastinator)

and her answer was a hard deadline of July 13th her actual Blog-A-Versary (or so she claims).

Enough backstory.

Here I sit, proudly, on July 14th, to compose a special guest post for my beloved Mom. 

She is, as I’m sure you all have found out, sort of a strange one,

but endearing.

I always get questions from her about how WordPress works (much to my chagrin)

and the ways of computers.

I’ve become the unofficial tech support for my family, friends, and half my neighborhood.

My Mother, at least, learns.

Some people just don’t know how to take instructions.

*Sigh*

But she’s so supportive in all the crazy things I do,

I’d be a super-jerk-face not to help with her blog-o-things.

Enough backstory.

Here I sit, proudly, on July 14th, to compose a special guest post for my beloved Mom. 

One thing I wanted to talk about real quick is the difference between hating sin and hating the sinner.

This is something that’s really bothered me a lot recently.

As a Christian, there are certainly things that people do that I don’t agree with.

I’m not going to specifics chiefly because my opinion of what’s right and wrong doesn’t matter.

But what I’m talking about is not a religious thing.

What I see so much in the world now is people hating people.

Now, seriously guys?

That’s not cool.

I completely understand disagreeing with someone’s opinions,

but that’s no reason to shun the person.

It’s not my place to judge people.

It’s not my place to condemn anyone or to speak ill of them.

It is, however, my place to be kind to everyone.

Everyone has the right to make their own choices on what they’re going to believe in (or not believe in).

I can tell people my beliefs and explain them if they want,

but I can’t hate them for anything they believe.

Everyone’s done things they’re not proud of;

everyone’s messed up in the past.

What’s normal to some is not normal to everyone.

Keeping a person down and trying to make their life tougher

to try to “scare” them into agreeing with you

is no way to make an argument for your case.

You really want someone to share your opinion?

Awesome.

Being mean is a horrible way to get your point across.

I’m talking to everyone here,

whoever you are

and however you choose to identify yourself.

All I’m saying is that people are still people,

no matter what.

If you think they’re wrong?

Yup, they’re still people.

If you completely disagree with how a complete stranger

chooses to live his/her life?

NEWSFLASH!

That’s still a person.

Take a step back

and try to put yourself in their shoes.

If you still can’t see eye to eye,

you can still be friends,

you can still be courteous.

Just because someone disagrees with you,

they’re not automatically an enemy.

So hey, everyone, just chill out a little.

As a wise woman (my Mother of course) once said to me,

“If it’s not life and death,

it’s not life and death.

Don’t worry about it.”

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Fly little bird…

Fly!!

Ephesians 4:32

“Be kind and compassionate to one another,

forgiving each other,

just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Colossians 3:12

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people,

holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion,

kindness, humility,

gentleness and patience.”

1 Peter 3:9

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.

On the contrary, repay evil with blessing,

because to this you were called

so that you may inherit a blessing.”

Amen!!

Jun6

Carry Me…I’m Just A Dead Man!

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“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin

and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,

to make you obey its passions.”

Romans 6:11-12

“What shall we say, then?

Shall we go on sinning

so that grace may increase?

By no means!

We died to sin;

how can we live in it any longer?

Or don’t you know that all of us

who were baptized into Christ Jesus

were baptized into His death? 

Romans 6:1-3

January 1…

I’ve got a lot of things on my mind…
I’m looking at my body through a new spy satellite…
Try to lift a finger, but I don’t think I can make the call…
So tell me if I move, ’cause I don’t feel anything at all…

“But if Christ is in you,

your body is dead because of sin,

yet your spirit is alive

because of righteousness.” 

Romans 8:10

So Carry Me…
I’m just a dead man…
Lying on the carpet…
Can’t find a heartbeat…
Make me breathe…
I want to be a new man!
Tired of the old one…
Out with the old plan…

“For as in Adam all die,

so in Christ all will be made alive.”

1 Corinthians 15:22

I woke up from a dream about an empty funeral…
But it was better than the party full of people I don’t really know…
They’ve got hearts to break and burn…
Dirty hands to feel the earth…
There’s something in my veins…
But I can’t seem to make it work…

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation;

the old has gone,

the new has come!”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Can you find a beat inside of me?
Any pulse?
Getting worse?
Inside of me, can you find a beat?

“But because of His great love for us,

God,

who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ

even when we were dead in transgressions-

it is by grace you have been saved.”

Ephesians 2:4-5

Thank You for carrying me…

I’m dead inside without You, Lord!!

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May29

You’re Forgiven, Because He Was Forsaken!

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“…then know this, you and all the people of Israel:

It is by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

whom you crucified

but whom God raised from the dead,

that this man stands before you healed.

Jesus is

‘the stone you builders rejected,  

which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else,

for there is no other Name under Heaven given to mankind

by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:10-12

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

The past plays inside your head…
Failure knocks you down again..
You’re reminded of the wrong that you have said and done…
That devil just won’t let you forget…
In this life…
You know what you’ve been…

But here in His arms…
You know what you are!
You’re Forgiven!!

  You don’t have to carry the weight…
  Of who you’ve been, ’cause you’re…
Forgiven!
Your mistakes are running through your mind…
  You relive your days in the middle of the night…
Struggle with your pain…
Wrestle with your pride…
Sometimes you feel alone and you cry…
But, you don’t have to carry the weight of who you’ve been…

‘Cause you’re forgiven!!

When you don’t fit in…
And you don’t feel like you belong anywhere…
When you don’t measure up to much in this life…

Oh, you’re a treasure in the arms of Christ!
‘Cause you’re forgiven!!

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness

and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption,

the forgiveness of sins.”

Colossians 1:13-14

You’re forgiven because He was forsaken..
You’re accepted, He was condemned…
You’re alive and well…
His Spirit is within you!

Because He died and rose again!!

Amazing love, how can it be?
That your King would die for you…
Amazing love, you know it’s true…
It’s your joy to honor Him!
In all you do…
Honor your King!

Jesus , You are our King!!

“The LORD is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,

nor will He keep His anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the Heavens are above the earth,

so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 103:8-12

Feb21

The Battle’s Already Won!

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Even the battle for your mind!

No!

I’m not giving up now…

I’m claiming victory!

I’m not giving in now…

The war’s already won!

The struggle’s between God and the devil…

Love against the enemy!

No!

I’m not giving up now…

The war’s already been won for me!!

Amen!

I just read an article by Joyce Meyer, entitled,

“Are Your Thoughts Powerful or Pitiful?

Taking Battlefield of the Mind to a New Level”

Joyce Meyer Ministries

publishes

“Enjoying Everyday Life” Magazine.

In this Special Edition issue article,

She shares “Power Thoughts” from Scripture…

To encourage you to bring your thinking into agreement with God,

So you can enjoy Him…

And His good plan for you.

Here are three “Power Thoughts” she  mentions:

Power Thought #1:

God Loves Me Unconditionally!

Psalm 139:14

  We are “…fearfully and wonderfully made.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

the new creation has come: 

The old has gone,

the new is here.”

Power Thought #2:

I will Not Live In Fear! 

“This is the day which the Lord hath made;

we will rejoice

and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

Each morning, she says to herself,

“I will enjoy this day

and I will not live in fear.”

Power Thought #3:

I Am Difficult To Offend

“Whoever is slow to anger

is better than the mighty,

and he who rules his spirit

than he who takes a city.”

Proverbs 16:32

Win the battle for your mind!!

The war’s already won!

Feb1

Sniff It Out!

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What’s that smell???

My Crazy Siberian has a very keen sense of smell!!  She always knows when something smells “fishy!”  Ha!

If it seems out of the ordinary…she perks up…and is at full attention…until she can figure it out!

When she was an immature puppy…her senses were not mature yet…so she would ingest anything and everything!

Socks (dirty or clean!), rubber bands, plastic bottle caps, plastic beach shoes, dust bunnies, etc., etc., etc.

You know dogs even (YUK!!!!!!!) eat their own vomit…they’re so disgusting!

They sniff out everything (including their poop!!!  YUK, again!!), and are certainly not too discerning at all!!

Once, she ate the entire black substance inside a tennis ball/bar bell-looking toy we got for her at Walmart…

And threw it up for days!

So knowing this history of our crazy dog…I don’t expect too much from her…

However, I was surprised yesterday, when I realized I left the dryer lint where she could reach it in the laundry room…

AND IT WAS STILL THERE!!

An “AHHHHHH HAAAAAA!” moment, for sure…

My precious, little, 6-year-old girl is growing up!

She’s making better decisions!

She sniffed it out…and decided it was not worth ingesting!

She still eats questionable things for a healthy dog to eat, but seems to be restricting her intake to food items!

She still chooses peanut butter, cheese, burgers, and anything else we’re eating over her own food…

But, I say she is maturing in the area of what she will put inside herself!

Hallelujah!

Hey everybody!!  God feels this way about us, too!

We need to grow up!!

Sniff it out, first…

BEFORE you ingest it into…Your Body…Your Mind…Your Heart…

If it stinks…Don’t eat it!

“Stinkin’ Thinkin'” isn’t good for us!

That’s for babies!

Don’t be a baby!!

As a  mature Christian, be discerning!

Sniff it out…whatever you see, read, hear, think, say…

If it doesn’t smell good, according to God’s Word…

Don’t put it in, and don’t let it live in you!

Throw it out!

Philippians 4:8  NIV

“Finally, brothers and sisters…

Whatever is true…Whatever is noble…

Whatever is right…Whatever is pure…

Whatever is lovely…Whatever is admirable…

If anything is excellent or praiseworthy…

Think about such things!

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me…

Or seen in me…put it into practice…

And the God of peace will be with you!”

Amen!

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Sniff!  Sniff!

Jan31

Hiding From God???

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You Can’t!

So Don’t Try!!

You can run, but you can’t hide!

He’s everywhere!

That’s bad for you if you’re trying to hide from Him,

But good, because you can be assured that He’s always there!

He’s already found you…

Now stop, turn around, look up, and there He is!

He loves you!

It’s like “Lost and Found” to Him!

His love embraces you…

Wraps around your hurts, your pain,  your despair,  your scars, your mistakes…

It wraps around everything!

“…because love covers over a multitude of sins.”  I Peter 4:8 NLT

Come out of hiding…

If He loves even me…

He can love even you, too!

What are you hiding behind???

Your job?  Your family?  Your health?  Your money?

Your wants and desires?  Your reputation?

I assure you, He knows who you are and where you are!

Look up!

Or, if you knew Him in the past…

Look inside!

To that place in your heart that can only be filled with God’s Holy Spirit…

Where it can be refilled…

And ready to overflow again with His Joy…

Even in life’s difficult situations with your job, family etc.!

Adam and Eve tried to hide, too!

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God…

As He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day…

And they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’

He answered,

‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked;

So I hid.’”

Genesis 8-10  NIV

In Bible study, while watching the DVD series called Frequency by Robert Morris…

Pastor Morris talked about God feeling sad when Adam said…

“I heard your voice and I was afraid.”

God created Adam and Eve to have a relationship with Him in Paradise…

He did things with them…

He walked with them in the garden…

He was always anxious to spend the day with them…

But, one morning, He finds them hiding…

They’re afraid of Him…

How it saddened God…

To lose that close intimate relationship…

Their sin had separated them from their God!

Jesus can restore the relationship…

Between you and God!

Don’t hide from God…

Even when going through a difficulty…

Come back…

Ask for forgiveness…

Do what it takes to be in a right place to hear His voice…

Don’t fear God’s voice…

Draw near to God!

You’re perfect together!

Psalm 139:1-18 NIV

“You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.”

Don’t hide from Him

You’re Beautiful!

You’re Loved!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sep30

Trash Day!

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There’s just no room in my house for junk anymore….

So at the start of this summer, I was determined to give up a lot of my old stuff…

We, (meaning my son, of course!  Ha!  Without his help, we can do nothing!) had to cart it all out…

Trash (STUFF!) we didn’t need…

And…Have a Garage Sale…UGH!!!

It was hard work…It was hot and humid…We had to force ourselves to part with some of the things…They were no longer serving a useful purpose to us…It was time to get rid of them….But it was exhausting!  Whew!

Apparently, in the ten years we’ve lived in FL, we’ve had no will-power over our constant accumulation of STUFF!!  Seems we couldn’t resist buying and hoarding things to decorate our new home…

But, truthfully, we brought most of our excess stuff  here from our life in NJ, and didn’t realize we didn’t need them in our new life…

Me, in particular!

Long-sleeve dresses, pants, boots, winter coats, gloves, hats, scarves…and on and on…

And also, clothes my son no longer wore…

Tons of junk in the attic…

We had just hung on to them for no good reason…

Eventually, our treasures from NJ, became our trash here in FL…

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:21   NIV

So, after I completed my Minister’s courses in March last year, after my permanent substituting job was over in mid-April, after my son’s graduation from college at the end of April, after we spent quality time with my husband’s cousins while they were visiting, after our vacation at the beach, after I completed my courses to renew my FL Teaching Certificate, and after I purged and cleaned my house…

I decided we needed to have a garage sale!!

I called it “Trash Day!”

We looked through cabinets, in drawers, in boxes, on shelves, or through things hanging in closets…things too small, too large, too ugly, too whatever!  We sorted and hunted for unused stuff in every nook and canny of our house:  Kitchen, family room, dining room, bedrooms, bathrooms, den, lanai, garage, attic, and then outside…

For stuff that needed to go elsewhere…

Our trash!

I was adamant that NOTHING we put in the garage sale was going to come back into this house!!!  Anything left was going to go to Goodwill!

Yipee!!  Everything’s gone!!  My house is in order…I don’t miss any of  it…I don’t even remember now what I had.  There was so much…and as we were pulling it all out of its hiding places, all of it landed on our dining room table for a few days ’til the garage sale started…

It was such a huge pile…

That looking at all that junk in one place made me sick!!

After we come to Jesus…

After we’re filled with God’s Holy Spirit…

He takes the trash out…

It’s like the Holy Spirit says, “Oh look, they want to serve Jesus…It’s time to help them clean house!”

We can’t try to clean it out ourselves…

We need His help…Without God we can do nothing!!

He takes away the desire to bring all that trash back into our “house'”again…

The stuff from our old life, that we don’t need in our new life anymore!!

When we’re filled daily to over-flowing, we have more power to resist the enemy’s temptations to accumulate  junk in our lives…

We’ll know we’re due for a refilling of the Holy Spirit, when we can’t seem to get rid of the trash…

When we hoard it…

When it builds up and chokes us…

It’s piled so high, it makes us sick…

It separates us from God…

The reason for each of us individually to have a very real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ is that we need to hear directly from Him concerning those things that are trash in our lives…

Those things that are obstacles to the abundant life He has planned for us…

Obstacles, separating us from our Father…

For instance…I like sugar, but it makes my blood sugar level go up so high that I get very disoriented.  My body is personally telling ME,  not to eat sugary foods.  You can tell me to stop all you want, but until I personally feel it confirmed in my body, I won’t listen to you.

Because it’s something I love…

I don’t want to give it up!

I can choose not to listen to my body, but my health will suffer…

Trash in our lives is like that…Only God’s Holy Spirit can make us desire to give it up…

So, when we ask Jesus to take control of our life…

That gives the Holy Spirit permission to help us…

Give it up!

Cart it out!

Sin is trash we don’t need!

Trusted spiritual leaders can confirm truths to us…But, only the Holy Spirit can convict us and convince us…

We need to hear from God personally about when it’s “Trash Day” at our house, and in our hearts!

Obey…

Take it out…

Of our lives forever…

Let it all go!

We can choose not to listen, but our spiritual condition will suffer…

Our relationship with God will suffer…

“But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all Truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13   NIV

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”  Proverbs 14:12   NIV

Give it up!

It’s “Trash Day!”

What do we have to “trash?”

Things from our “old life” that take up too much of our time?

Replace them with time to go to the gym…

Or, to go to a Bible study…

God stretches us out of our comfort zones…

It feels uncomfortable…

Sometimes it’s exhausting!

It’s just like when I go to my chiropractor and get aligned…

My back hurts the next day…

It’s not used to being aligned correctly…

We must sort the things in our lives carefully…

We can’t give up real treasures…The things of real value…The things for eternity…

We’ll end up regretting it…

The Joy of the Lord is our strength…

Keep that Joy…

The Holy Spirit convinces us of the things that need to stay…

Our relationship with Jesus…

The eternal value our relationships with family, friends, co-workers, even our beloved pets…

Things that bring Joy…

But, the trash needs to go…

What do you need the Holy Spirit to trash in your life?