In a dream I found myself in a house holding a loaded and pumped pellet gun. I was thinking of discharging it to unload it but did not want to damage the house or things in the house. I looked at a large box of cleaning supplies and thought of shooting it there.

My interpretation:

I have a spiritual gun loaded and pressurized by Holy Spirit. My aim should be to activate cleaning solutions! 

There are cleansers for dishes, laundry, windows and walls, toilets and carpets. God has “Solutions” for us! When we look into God’s box of cleansing agents here is what we find:

Blood Cleanser

Water Cleanser

Holy Spirit Cleanser

Fire Cleanser

Scripture Cleanser

Stripes Cleanser

Christ’s Appearing Cleanser

 

     Blood Cleanser

“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev 7:14

“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Heb 9:22

“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God!”  Heb 9:14

     Water Cleanser

Both blood and water were used in the temple service for cleansing.

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22

 

     Fire Cleanser

“For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” Mark 9:49

 “…anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean.”Num 31:23

“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Acts 2:3

 

     Stripes Cleanser

God will use lashes and wounds to cleanse us. Physical chastenings and hard knocks in life cleanse us.

“Lashes and wounds purge away evil, and beatings cleanse the innermost parts.” Prov 20:30

 

     Scripture Cleanser

“…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”Eph 5:25-27

 

     Spirit Cleanser

“The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion: He will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by the spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.” Is 4:4

 

     Christ’s Appearing Cleanser

 

The appearance of Jesus brings a harsh, caustic scrubbing and a fiery smelting. The good news is that Saint’s willing to stand this scouring will present their offerings in righteousness!

“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.”

 

WHAT SHOULD WE CLEAN TODAY?

Let’s start by cleansing our hearts and thoughts.

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8

 

     PRAYERS FOR CLEANSING

Lord God, please show me (and your Church) what you would like us to clean up today.

“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalms 51:2

“Cleanse me with hyssop [dipped in blood and sprinkled], and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

 

     FATHER PROMISES CLEANSING

 

A loving father cleans his baby’s bottom. Our heavenly Father goes farther!

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean: I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.” Exe 36:25

 

DEEP CLEANING GRAVEYARDS

 

 

Jesus does a more dazzling job at cleansing than “Mister Clean!” Our Lord comes to renew the face of the earth. Every lonesome grave and every massive boneyard will be made clean!

Outside the Eastern wall of the old city of Jerusalem there are hundreds of thousands of graves. Many religious Jews wish to be buried there so they may be among the first raised when Messiah comes.

On the other hand, Muslims also have graveyards near the Eastern Wall and the “Golden Gate.” These are a “strategic” attempt at preventing the Messiah from coming. They believe the Messiah would not contaminate himself by coming through a cemetery. Putrefying flesh and dusty bones are considered unclean.

How can Jesus walk through a contaminated cemetery? By raising the dead!

How can Jesus make a cemetery plot holy? With resurrection power!

“The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”  Jer 31:40

We have a part in the cleansing process but God finishes the job because of His mercy in Christ!

 

     OUR PART IN CLEANSING

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:8-10

The following verse has been called “The Christian’s bar of soap.”

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

 

     GOD’S PART IN CLEANSING

God can wash places we cannot reach, like the middle of our backs and the center of our hearts. Praise His Holy name, because in Christ Jesus His Son He washes us white as snow!!!

“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.” Is 1:18

 

Steven C Johnson

LandingStripEnterprises.Com

 

 

 

HOLY MOMENT

“All creatures great and small, The Lord God made them all.”

The day started cool and wet. It was still dark and a drizzle required wipers for visibility as I drove through rural Washington. Arriving at my destination I found the back deck covered in big drops of water beading up like miniature puddles. It felt cold and unfriendly and I moved back to the warmth of the house.

A few hours later I went outside to check the temperature and found a honey bee struggling to survive. It was wet and cold having landed in a puddle and had stopped trying to escape. In fact, it did not move at all. I looked for a tool and found a leaf to scoop it up. It hung on and I knew what to do.

i placed it in the sun and went inside to find a food source. No honey, but I could dissolve sugar in a spoon. I placed the bee near the sugar but it did not respond, so I dripped a little on its mouth. It immediately began sucking up the sweet stuff. Awwwww!

I had done all I could and returned to my work. An hour later when I looked the bee had flown. Restored to return home!

For me, this was a Holy Moment.

Pamela Johnson

 

FIGHT OR STARVE?

If thieves were coming into your home to steal your food pantry, would you fight them to the death?

It’s probably unfair to ask people living in modern Western nations this question. Most of us would say, “It’s not worth the fight.” We’d step aside. A few might willingly share their food. Others would give up their food to appease. The next day we would go to the grocery store to restock the refrigerator.

Near Eastern people have had different circumstances, attitudes and practices.

Gideon warred to save the barley harvest

Boaz slept at the threshing floor to protect the wheat harvest.

Shammah fought to save the lentil harvest

Biblical characters would build watch towers in their fields to house their harvests. They would post lookouts on them to watch for marauders who wanted to loot their wealth by raiding their pantry. Food was the measure of your bank account as well as the measure of your longevity. Houses were built with the food stored in the back room so raiders would need to come through the living area, “over the owner’s dead body” to capture the family’s supply.

Consider the heroic stand of Shammah. “Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.”  2 Sam 23:11-12

It might be good to know “Shammah” means The LORD is there! He must have realized the Lord was present that day in the field of lentils!

Months later families could say, “We are eating tonight because Shammah saved the lentils.” Failing to defend the food supply meant slow and painful starvation. One might die fighting to defend the staff of life, but it would be a quick death. If they died fighting they would not have to watch their children starve. Defending the food supply was defending their family’s lives.

Going to the modern grocery is a marvel. Most of the world does not understand our abundance. When I walk through an American grocery store I am so amazed at the plenty! I often worship God in the grocery store, giving thanks for the wonderful access to food we enjoy.

Just a hundred years ago many of us still took in the crops, sacked, canned and dried the food, and stocked the larder. Ben Franklin as a youth helped his parents pack out the year’s foodstuff into the pantry. In his young tongue-in-cheek way, he suggested they could pray once for their food for the year. In different days having a year’s supply of food was not hoarding. It was basic planning. Albertsons, Safeway, Tom Thumb and Walmart would not be open that year. Today we save money to buy food. Before modern groceries we just saved food.

Biblical characters were willing to die to save their pantry. They were not defending the few contents of an icebox or cupboard. They were defending supplies to sustain their lives for the year!

In those days food was not easily gained with bonus discount coupons. Their backs and blisters produced it from the earth. Farming people were known for their faith and hard work.  Some suffered anxiety when it came to planting. If seed was taken from the pantry to sow the field would there be enough food remaining till the harvest? Would they grow enough to restock the pantry for the next year? The reassuring prophetic word to the farmers was, “Those who sow in tears will come again reaping in Joy.”

The lion protects its kill. Dogs jealously gauard their bones. Bees fight to protect their hives.

As an FYI – Fema on food and water preparations

A SPIRITUAL APPLICATION

It may be totally appropriate to defend your physical food supply in a life or death battle. But, are we willing to fight tooth and claw to defend truth, integrity and righteousness? Solomon said, “Buy the truth and do not sell it.” I agree! Don’t sell out on truth regardless what you are offered, or threatened with. We can share truth freely without cost but we must never sell out on the truths which sustain our lives. God’s word, our daily bread, is worth fighting for! Our lives depend on it!

 

CHRISTIANS WHO DON’T VOTE

I’ve heard three out of four Christian don’t vote.

Can we also say, Three out of four Christians don’t

Pray?

Witness?

Give?

Study?

Fellowship?

Serve?

Can we say, “Three out of four Christians – are not?”

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” James 2:17

 

PREPARATION

 

Question: What does a spare tire, fire extinguisher and gun have in common?

Answer: It’s nice to have them but you hope never to need to use them.

 

A HYMN FROM MY YOUTH RINGING IN MY SPIRIT

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
to serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
and end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
her strength unequal to her task;
rise up, and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where his feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
rise up, O men of God!

Steve Johnson

[email protected]

 

 

YOU MAY LISTEN TO THIS BLOG HERE

 

My childhood was very pleasant up to the time I entered grade school. Our family was loving and I felt like I was a pretty normal kid, managing life well and getting along fine with others.

1^st grade began and life became problematic. When it came to academics I discovered I wasn’t quite normal. I was the kid that just didn’t get it. I didn’t understand the alphabet or numbers. They didn’t make sense to me. I began to see I was not like the other kids.

I was last in first grade learning my ABC’s and my 123’s. I remember missing recess as I tried to write my numbers in order copying the shapes from the blackboard. I remember being held back from recess in the second grade doing the same. Why was it so easy for the other kids? I felt frustrated. I felt stupid. Stupid and shameful became my identity. When it came to academics I was the kid whose lightbulb was dim.

I remember trying to become invisible so the teacher wouldn’t see me and call on me with a question. I didn’t want to be embarrassed again, and again. I was the last in class in every subject. I remember getting knots in my stomach at the end of the school year wondering whether I would be advanced to the next grade. I don’t know why but they passed this “D” and occasional “C” grade student to the next level yearly.

In the Fourth grade I saw I was going to be dead last in learning my multiplication tables. The title for “last” would go to a girl in the class or myself. I put out a great effort practicing diligently with the flash cards, and broke a barrier. I came in second from last! What a relief not to be dead last again. Math was my strong suit!

In the sixth grade the unthinkable happened. I got an A on a ten-word spelling test. I don’t remember ever getting a B, let alone an A before. My parents had been out of town for a few days. I was staying with an Aunt and a cousin. Over three days with perhaps up to six hours of repetition they worked with me on the ten spelling words. I remember being totally amazed when I discovered I had spelled every one correctly!

I squeaked through the seventh grade but did so with a break-though. I realized I could copy two or three letters at a time from the chalkboard onto my paper rather than one letter at a time. At times I could copy whole words. It broke a speed barrier!

My father was a physician and was studying a learning disability called dyslexia. I apparently had it. P’s and d’s, b’s and q’s  looked the same to me. Even today I confuse them when writing, along with other letters like Z and S. Phonetics helped a little but I could never trust them  because I was always stumbling on the exception to the rule and creating my own ‘fonedik’ spellings.

By blessed fortune my parents were able to hire private tutors and finally send me away to a private boarding school in the eighth grade. There were small classes, intense tutoring and four hours of study hall a day. This was where I first prayed. “Dear God, my Dad and Mom want me to do well in school. Help me do well so they will be pleased.” I prayed this frequently, sometimes many times a day.

It is a testimony to the all-wise God, my loving parents, caring teachers and the power of determined effort. At the end of the school year I was a straight A student. The earth shook with wonder! I was learning that by depending on God and using all my effort I could succeed. That was the year by providence I accidentally picked up number four pencils rather than the standard number two pencils. I realized I had to give greater effort to make a clear mark with the number four pencils. The greater physical effort of pressure on the pencil while writing math questions drove the sense of mathematics deeper in my mind!

I’ve had many “moments,” and those moments still visit daily. In the eight grade I could not remember how to spell my middle name. “Craig,” after all is a challenging name to spell. You’ll be glad to know I practiced and learned how.

The mighty grace of God took me through college and on to graduate school. I was able to keep a B average though school, which I think is an accomplishment.  There was a moment in grad school where I was writing a paper and needed to write the world “of,” but could not remember how to spell it. I tried “uv” and “ov” but it just didn’t look right. I was embarrassed to ask a fellow student how to spell “of” so started looking for it in the dictionary. After 20 minutes trying to figure it out I realized if I read a book, in time, I would come upon the word “of.” It worked!

I found when studying Greek that if I worked two or three times longer than fellow students I could do as well, or nearly as well, as others. The willingness to work twice as hard as others became a key for achieving.

 

I am so grateful for the good fruit which has come to me because of this little handicap!

By the grace of God, I have been able to shake off the title “stupid” and the feeling of shame.

I have compassion for others who struggle with mental handicaps. They are my peers.

I’ve gained creative techniques for learning and have come to realize reading, re-reading and then reading again will help me understand a sentence or paragraph.

Even though many speak faster and come up with amazingly quick quips I’ve learned I don’t have to compare myself to them. I realize that in my own way I’m quite smart, even if I sometimes speak slower looking for words.

I savor accomplishments which require hard work more than naturally gifted people do.

I am able to be patient with others because I realize thinking can take a lot of time and effort. 

There are still times when I cut a board at 69 inches rather than 96 but most of the time I’ve get it right and have successfully applied math in many practical situations.

Every time I write a page I have to look up spellings because my spellcheck has no idea  what I’m trying to say. Still, my third-grade teacher would be amazed. I’ve written lots: Sermons, Bible study lessons, newsletters, a couple books and hundreds of blogs.

I keep learning to lean on God in my weakness, and ask His help.

Do you have a handicap which you have overcome?

What fruit have you been able to grain because of it?

Steven C Johnson

LandingStripEnterprises.Com