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January 9, 2008
Happy Hump Day family,
I hope all is well with everyone this morning. Today is another great day in the Lord and I thank God for waking me up this morning to be able to see another day. It is truly a blessing because the Lord has really been working on me. The Lord and I have been in some serious dialog lately, so He has His hands on me, reshaping and remolding me. If I sound a little un-Antoineish sometimes, it's because I'm in God's garage getting a tune up (speaking of which, sorry Deidra, I know I have unfinished business) and trying to understand what is happening to me right now.
So with that said, let's go into the WFTD. You know whenever you take something apart to put on a new part, or to simply add some adhesive to something the instructions clearly state: "thoroughly clean surface and dry before applying". A good example of this is for Auto Mechanics. When they take parts off your motor for repair, a lot of the times they have to scrape off old adhesive from the place in order to apply the new adhesive and part. Why do they do this? Well the adhesive and new part will not hold as well if the surface applying it to is dirty. Another example is your rear view mirror. For those of you who have had to replace your review mirror, you know that the instructions say to take a razor blade and scrape off the old glue, clean thoroughly and dry the surface before applying the new adhesive (and ultimately the mirror). If you don't you won't make it out the driveway before the mirror is sitting in your lap.
This is how God has to do us a lot of the times. God has to clean off old adhesive where junk or old parts once hung in order to apply new adhesive and new parts. Sometimes, it may not be a replacement part, it could simply be an addition for you, but still God has to clean the surface before adding to you. If you've ever gotten glue, paint, oil, etc. on your arm or hands, you know that sometimes require some serious scrubbing and washing to get it off. Sometimes depending on how soiled you were, you may have to scrape, and that didn't always feel nice. Some scripture if you will:
Proverbs 3:11, says "My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:". Again, simply put, God has to work on us and not every work will feel pleasant to you, but just know that all that God will and can do is Good. If you experienced this part in your life, then this may be all familiar to you. If you have not, I pray that this word will help you when (NOT IF) you reach a point such as this in your life. God works in many ways that we do not understand, but we must know and accept that whatever it is He does to us, it is for our own good.
Be Blessed Gang and have a Happy Hump Day.
I hope all is well with everyone this morning. Today is another great day in the Lord and I thank God for waking me up this morning to be able to see another day. It is truly a blessing because the Lord has really been working on me. The Lord and I have been in some serious dialog lately, so He has His hands on me, reshaping and remolding me. If I sound a little un-Antoineish sometimes, it's because I'm in God's garage getting a tune up (speaking of which, sorry Deidra, I know I have unfinished business) and trying to understand what is happening to me right now.
So with that said, let's go into the WFTD. You know whenever you take something apart to put on a new part, or to simply add some adhesive to something the instructions clearly state: "thoroughly clean surface and dry before applying". A good example of this is for Auto Mechanics. When they take parts off your motor for repair, a lot of the times they have to scrape off old adhesive from the place in order to apply the new adhesive and part. Why do they do this? Well the adhesive and new part will not hold as well if the surface applying it to is dirty. Another example is your rear view mirror. For those of you who have had to replace your review mirror, you know that the instructions say to take a razor blade and scrape off the old glue, clean thoroughly and dry the surface before applying the new adhesive (and ultimately the mirror). If you don't you won't make it out the driveway before the mirror is sitting in your lap.
This is how God has to do us a lot of the times. God has to clean off old adhesive where junk or old parts once hung in order to apply new adhesive and new parts. Sometimes, it may not be a replacement part, it could simply be an addition for you, but still God has to clean the surface before adding to you. If you've ever gotten glue, paint, oil, etc. on your arm or hands, you know that sometimes require some serious scrubbing and washing to get it off. Sometimes depending on how soiled you were, you may have to scrape, and that didn't always feel nice. Some scripture if you will:
2 Corinthians 5:17 "(17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. "Old things are suppose to be passed away, but how many of you know that some things, God has to bring you back into his shop for subsequent repair and updates? Just like a car repair or maintenance though, no one ever said it would be a pleasant experience always. Sometimes you are without your car for a few days because of the magnitude of the auto repair. For children in Christ, sometimes its like we don't know what is happening in our lives until God is through with the maintenance/repair work.
Proverbs 3:11, says "My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:". Again, simply put, God has to work on us and not every work will feel pleasant to you, but just know that all that God will and can do is Good. If you experienced this part in your life, then this may be all familiar to you. If you have not, I pray that this word will help you when (NOT IF) you reach a point such as this in your life. God works in many ways that we do not understand, but we must know and accept that whatever it is He does to us, it is for our own good.
Be Blessed Gang and have a Happy Hump Day.
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Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22
