Excellent post, Lori. I usually think and pray about the things I need to add to my life of faith (serving others) rather than about the spiritual clutter I need to get rid of… thinking too much about how others perceive me is pure clutter! (and keeps making its way back into the house no matter how often I chuck it out)
Wow some heavy duty thoughts here and excellent writing. I need to rethink the decluttering of my faith, thanks to you. This post is worth wide distribution. Maybe rework and send it to Christianity Today or similar. One small criticism--did you realize that third point was one L O N G sentence? Continued blessings as you are obviously writing for Him.
Thank you for your vulnerability in this post - obviously the Lord is working on your heart to declutter your focus with Him. I must say though, my first impression is that you are being very hard on yourself and what God has provided for you during the course of your life as you so faithfully have ministered to the souls of His kingdom. This summer I used your book "God's Abundant Mercy" as my focus (also gave it to 15 ladies in my bible study). Your life has been so rich in following Jesus and you have so many fantastic stories of how God has met and used you over the course of a faithful life. It is very obvious to me that you have not been putting your trust in your clothes (or whatever) - you have been faithful and will continue to be. Thank you very much for being such a wonderful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ - you are truly a light in this world!
Charlene, how kind! I don't feel any hardness toward myself, just joy to fling off false dependence and move forward lighter toward life and toward God. I could have written this better, apparently, because I see the recognition of petty idolatries as a freeing, not as a condemnation. There is therefore, no condemnation in Jesus!
That's a tough assignment, Lori. The struggle is real. Thank you for sharing the wisdom of digging deep into that clutter. Things I stored up for my retirement years are just that ... stored up. Now it's time to share those treasures and focus on the debris that resides within.
I’ve already filled three blogs confessing my sinfulness in all the areas you’ve listed and I still don’t feel unburdened either spiritually or even emotionally. The one thing that I haven’t done is cleared out of my closet the clothes and other stuff crammed in there nor cleaned out my messy home office. But while I’m taking a sabbatical from blogging, I’m gonna do that and see how that feels. At least I think I’ll do that. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll write a good blog post about good intentions if I ever do start blogging again. In short, please pray for us. 🙏✝️❤️
Excellent post, Lori. I usually think and pray about the things I need to add to my life of faith (serving others) rather than about the spiritual clutter I need to get rid of… thinking too much about how others perceive me is pure clutter! (and keeps making its way back into the house no matter how often I chuck it out)
This is why we're friends! Me, too! Thought I'd gotten rid of it but it was hiding under all that stuff!
Wow some heavy duty thoughts here and excellent writing. I need to rethink the decluttering of my faith, thanks to you. This post is worth wide distribution. Maybe rework and send it to Christianity Today or similar. One small criticism--did you realize that third point was one L O N G sentence? Continued blessings as you are obviously writing for Him.
Ha! Yes, sometimes I do go on . . .Thank you!
Thank you for your vulnerability in this post - obviously the Lord is working on your heart to declutter your focus with Him. I must say though, my first impression is that you are being very hard on yourself and what God has provided for you during the course of your life as you so faithfully have ministered to the souls of His kingdom. This summer I used your book "God's Abundant Mercy" as my focus (also gave it to 15 ladies in my bible study). Your life has been so rich in following Jesus and you have so many fantastic stories of how God has met and used you over the course of a faithful life. It is very obvious to me that you have not been putting your trust in your clothes (or whatever) - you have been faithful and will continue to be. Thank you very much for being such a wonderful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ - you are truly a light in this world!
Charlene, how kind! I don't feel any hardness toward myself, just joy to fling off false dependence and move forward lighter toward life and toward God. I could have written this better, apparently, because I see the recognition of petty idolatries as a freeing, not as a condemnation. There is therefore, no condemnation in Jesus!
That's a tough assignment, Lori. The struggle is real. Thank you for sharing the wisdom of digging deep into that clutter. Things I stored up for my retirement years are just that ... stored up. Now it's time to share those treasures and focus on the debris that resides within.
Indeed! It's very freeing AND revealing.
Whoa! What a deep perspective that now has me looking at a lot of “things” in a different way. Thank you!
Me, too!
Don’t get me started, Sister.
I’ve already filled three blogs confessing my sinfulness in all the areas you’ve listed and I still don’t feel unburdened either spiritually or even emotionally. The one thing that I haven’t done is cleared out of my closet the clothes and other stuff crammed in there nor cleaned out my messy home office. But while I’m taking a sabbatical from blogging, I’m gonna do that and see how that feels. At least I think I’ll do that. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll write a good blog post about good intentions if I ever do start blogging again. In short, please pray for us. 🙏✝️❤️
I always do, my friend.