Just made another trip to the garbage dump.<\/p>\n
I despise that stinkin\u2019 place. Sorry to say, I\u2019ve spent too much time there. Some of the junk I\u2019d discarded had somehow made its way back into my life.<\/p>\n
A scrap of anger. A handful of discouragement. A chunk of worry. A sliver of fear. A crumb of negative thinking. A sack of grumblings. A basket of resentment. A barrel of hurts.<\/p>\n
How many times I\u2019ve given my inner house a thorough cleansing and taken a load of putrid stuff to the dump, only to find morsels lingering in the caverns of my heart\u2026like seed\u2026waiting for an offense to water it and activate new growth.<\/p>\n
And grow it does. Rapidly. Profusely. Uncontrollably. Why do I let that happen?<\/p>\n
Just when I\u2019m feeling clean and confident, interactions of daily life send me with a watering can to my rancid garden to nourish old hurts.<\/p>\n
Wish I could find a way to filter out those cowardly specks hiding in the crevices and empty that space forever.<\/p>\n
The apostle Paul struggled, too. He wrote, \u201cI do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do\u2014this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is sin living in me that does it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God\u2019s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho will deliver me from this devastating cycle of defeat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Immediately Paul gave the answer. \u201cThanks be to God\u2014through Jesus Christ our Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n
His understanding: \u201cSo then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God\u2019s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin\u201d (See Romans 7: 15-25 NIV).<\/p>\n
In Chapter 8:1-2 he expounded on the good news. \u201cTherefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s worth the time to read the rest of the chapter.<\/p>\n
Are you weary of constant introspection, wondering what evil lurks in the chambers of your heart?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m throwing a blanket of protection over me\u2014a simple prayer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer\u201d (Psalm 19:14).<\/p>\n
I may not handle life perfectly today. But I have a cushion for my fall, 1 John 1:9. \u201cIf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting my day clean and confident\u2014in him! How about you?<\/p>\n
I\u2019d love to know if you relate to my struggle. Please leave a comment. And I\u2019d be honored if you\u2019d share these thoughts with your friends.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Dianne Barker 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Just made another trip to the garbage dump. I despise that stinkin\u2019 place. Sorry to say, I\u2019ve spent too much time there. Some of the junk I\u2019d discarded had somehow made its way back into my life. A scrap of anger. A handful of discouragement. A chunk of worry. A sliver of fear. A crumb […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[39,38,48,47,9,40,42,44,46,43,45,41],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-anger","tag-another-trip-to-the-garbage-dump","tag-christ-our-deliverer","tag-defeat","tag-dianne-barker","tag-discouragement","tag-fear","tag-grumbling","tag-hurt","tag-negative-thinking","tag-resentment","tag-worry"],"yoast_head":"\n