Artist: Loriann Signori

9 How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
Psalm 119

O Father I give all of myself to You now to do with as You wish. Amen

Our heart was and is defiled. We have come from a place where our heart is putrefied in the ungodly ways of the world. All of us have been and are still sinners. We know that our journey is a constant one in His way. He is perfecting, ever-completing us until the day of the Return of Christ Jesus. Yet as we were defiled we need not lay claim and pay homage to that defilement now! We shall acknowledge our sin and make an oath of repentance. For in His way, we walk without a defiled heart. O our once contaminated heart! We believed the world. We were deceived because death has a deceiving sweet fragrance for which to lure the outwitted.

So how can I cleanse my heart? I was tasked with this endeavor recently. I searched my heart thoroughly. I took note of all things that currently and in the past, have bound my heart in sin. The list is long. Follow the Lords precepts and count your sins. Write them so you may see them. It serves you well, this exercise. We will see the clutter of the lack of forgiveness, lust, dislike, foul language, distrust, and more. Is this just me?

So how can I cleanse my heart? In this inventory we now have the chance to acknowledge past and present clutter held tightly against the walls of our heart. The very place we are promised the indwelling of the Spirit. The Light. The light and darkness – we cannot appease both simultaneously. We cannot straddle the fence of light and darkness. To cleanse our heart -to purge darkness, we acknowledge and cast off the darkness with an oath of repentance, a vow to cast burdens on the shoulder of Jesus.

We take heed according to Your word, Father. Cast our burden onto the shoulder of He whose burden is light. According to Your word Lord: Matthew 11:30

The cleansing of our heart is a special invitation to the Spirit who already works in us. Now with less clutter thus clearing a conduit between us and God! With the clutter in our heart, we walk on God’s path with ankles chained. Slow progress. With clutter cast off,  we have the brisk gait of a Spirit-filled life. Our one-on-One relationship with the Holy Spirit and the precepts of our Lord are now clear. Clarity brings growth. His commandments ring in all fullness. However, if we do not choose to do this inventory, the burdens from our past-our present, delay our walk into godly fruition and hold firmly against the walls of our heart like a plaque. We do not know the fullness of the Lord’s work. Our progress is slow but he will progress us. He is the Master surgeon Who will perform the work that is well required on our hearts.  We choose: Quick or drawn out.

With a cleansed heart and with clarity, we hear God. We see Him with a greater clarity. The Spirit moves in us with greater fluidity. We adhere closer to His commandments. His laws. His freedom for us. Chains are broken and we are restored in greater fullness today than yesterday. This process is giving ALL of ourselves to God. Not a portion. We already stated that oath! Yet, we see that all of our self isn’t necessarily all.  Acknowledge the past pain, hurt unto others, lusts of the flesh, hatred for man, gossip… Cleanse the past. Cast it away. We are saved to be sure and clear. But to see the fullness of God’s work today through His spirit, we clean house. With a clean heart, the Spirit is able to give His gifts, and we will see Him. Feel God. Know the perfect law of liberty as freedom – the response from God, as we first respond to Him with obedience.

Believe He does a great work in us. Even as we walk with chains. But also believe, we can loose these binding chains to walk with a brisk gait along His path.

For a new day dawns and we are thus refreshed. Release my heart that is bound, In Jesus’ Name.

Rick Stassi

February 24, 2012