The Master Cleanse

Hey Guys! I pray all is well. I would love to tell you that I’ve been up to all things Jesus, but the truth is that I have not. I have been chilling…hard…this summer. My summer has consisted of few work outs, zero dietary limitations, few church visits and a lot less quiet time with the Father. I would love to say that every moment of it sucked, but the truth is that it didn’t. I felt free to do what I felt was right. If I wanted to travel, I did. If I wanted to binge watch Netflix, I did. If I wanted to binge cookies while I binged Netflix, I did. It was so awesome. I don’t feel as though I’ve had a free summer like this in years. It was pressure free. I did the desires of my heart, which was the issue. I also felt a bit empty. I always felt like there was something better I could be doing with my time. There were those days I listened to worship music and a plethora of mini sermons, but my bible remained untouched on the kitchen counter. The good thing about it all was that there was always the Holy Spirit that urged me to open the bible and learn. The bad thing about that was that I never listened. I was urged to read freely, write fearlessly, and learn creatively. Instead, I chose to lay waste my summer binge watching crappy shows (no, they weren’t crappy at the time I watched them. I was in total bliss lol). My laptop has not been powered on all summer. I ignored the bible, clinging to knowledge that I already had about Jesus in hopes that it would sustain me. How immature was that?! You eat everyday to sustain your body’s health, right? I should have done the same with my spirit. For it is the spirit that we walk by, right? The question is rhetorical. As I write this blog, God just downloaded on my that I became the actors in the show that I loved. I binge watched 8 seasons (22 episodes per season) of The Vampire Diaries and 5 seasons (22 episodes per season) of The Originals along with several other shows, but those two consumed about 75% of my time. I found the concept of vampires all too consuming. In retrospect, it was also a great analogy to my life. I was living, but spiritually dead. I felt off, naturally and spiritually. I always felt hungry. The reality is that I needed living water. I needed God. I’m just excited that I was not completely dismissive to God. I knew He was calling me, and I knew I needed to answer. I knew that I needed him to fix what was happening to me. I’m glad that I could still hear that small voice and that my life was not completely submitted to sin without conviction. You guys may be thinking that binge watching a few TV shows is nothing to be uptight about…which may be true, but for me it was about who I was serving. Who was my master? I allowed myself to be my God, which breaks more than one commandment. It’s about open doors. Who did I give an invitation to by not reading and studying my word? Yes, God’s grace is sufficient, but you have to recognize who and what you are allowing to manifest inside of you. I submit to God, not myself. I should have been constantly renewing my mind with his word. Today, I am choosing not to fill my spirit with television and everything that I desire but I am going to take out time to spend with my Father. I hear and see a lot of master cleanses on my timeline. God has given me the idea to do a master cleanse. It means to cleanse all the things that have knowingly or unknowingly have become your master: television, social media, food, another person, your kids, etc. Let’s cleanse these things and put God back in his respective place in our lives. It doesn’t mean to entirely give up these things, but make sure that you are putting God first. Feel free to cleanse yourself of the things that are not like him. I choose him daily over my own will. Let’s completely deny ourselves and submit to his authority. Let’s focus on the things of God that will propel our lives and aid us in fulfilling God’s purpose. I urge you to join me. Please email me; let’s talk and pray for one another. Let’s be great together.

God loves you, and me.

Let’s love one another.

Cici