SO LONG SELF... POUR IT OUT...

TRANSFORMING THURSDAY

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Thanks for stopping by. I'm back to teaching this week and will not be able to write today. I've been waiting for an opportunity to re-post this from 2008, from the first few months of this blog. It will give you a peek at what's coming next in the Sermon on the Mount, too.

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A KETCHUP BOTTLE

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I'm a ketchup lover!

Bottles have been redesigned over the years for easier pouring.

Yet, there still seems to be a lot of ketchup that goes to waste at the bottom of each bottle.

I've tried alot of tricks:

• "just keep shaking it...it will come..."
• "hit the bottom of the bottle..."
• 'just add a few drops of water..."
• "stick a knife down in it..."
• "turn it upside down for 5 minutes and let gravity do it's work..."
• "keep working at it...don't give up..."

I'm a self lover!

Many ideas have come across the pike,

over the years, for easier ways to

• "be who you were designed to be".

Yet, there still seems to be a lot of

"self" left in me when I've tried those approaches.

There's one thing I do know:

God blesses me when I give myself up,

work at being selfless / poor in spirit...

so, I'll keep working at pouring me out....

I won't give up..."

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A MOUNTAIN STREAM

I'm a mountain stream lover!

I've both lived in and vacationed in Colorado.

I've spent many hours "experiencing" its rushing mountain streams,

wondering where they came from and where they were going.

• Weeks before this stream picture was taken, during our Sikes family reunion, Cole and Sara were mourning their sinful circumstance and studying how their sins could be washed away and become "right" with God. Several weeks ago, our Sikes clan cried tears of joy as we stood on this bridge at the Estes Park, Colorado YMCA and watched both Cole and Sara give their lives to Jesus. I've already shared some pictures with you of that event in my July 11 post.

• Many years before in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the age of nine, I cried tears of repentance as I named Jesus as my LORD and Savior, was buried with Him in baptism, and rose from my watery grave to began walking in a new way of life...eternal life.

• Eight years later, I sat by a mountain stream and contemplated the untimely death of a non-christian friend who fell off a cliff while rock climbing the summer after our high school graduation. My eyes wept over my sinfulness and the lost condition of my friends!

There's one thing that I do know:

God blesses me when I mourn and pour out my tears over sin!

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Psalms 126 says,

"...As the streams in the South.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.

He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,

shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him."

THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI RIVER

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I'm a mighty Mississippi lover!

I've lived three blocks from the Mississippi River!

Yes, I've lived in Crystal City, Missouri - only three blocks from the mighty Mississippi River. I've spent many hours "experiencing" its power and mystery. I've seen it when it's flooded its banks and defied sandbagging. I know its potential to provide energy for millions. I've heard the discussions, "If only we could bottle its power..."

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There is one thing that I do know:

GOD is willing to keep pouring out His Holy Spirit power in me

if I'm making room for Him...not competing for space with Him...

in this vessel of me!

Ezekiel 47:4-11...

This scripture gives me a glimpse

of how a river might compare to Holy Spirit living...

how deep are you willing to go?

"...He led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.

...He led me through the water, water reaching the knees.

...He led me through the water, water reaching the loins.

...it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen,

enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.

And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?"

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Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. ..."These waters go...toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh...every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live....so everything will live where the river goes...."

2 Corinthians 4:7-11

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,

that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God

and not from ourselves;

we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;

perplexed, but not despairing;

persecuted, but not forsaken;

struck down, but not destroyed;

always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,

that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."

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Make room for Jesus by saying,

"SO LONG SELF!"

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~BLESSED~

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