Sermon Central
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No Dumping
Contributed by Lorraine Greeff on Jan 27, 2016 (message contributor)
Summary: the garbage that we allow in our heads, thoughts.
NO DUMPING
DID YOU KNOW THAT THE AVERAGE PERSON HAS 10,000 SEPARATE THOUGHTS EACH DAY? IF YOU LIVE TO BE 75 THEN YOU WOULD HAVE HAD OVER 26 MILLION THOUGHTS. ALREADY MOST OF YOU HAVE HAD OVER 2000 THOUGHTS SINCE YOU GOT OUT OF BED THIS MORNING AND YOU STILL HAVE 8000 TO GO. THEN YOU START ALL OVER AGAIN TOMORROW.
WELL TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT GARBAGE!!!
PICTURE A COUPLE LIVING IN A WELL TO DO NEIGHBOURHOOD, THERE IS NOTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT THEM, EXPECT THEY DO NOT THROW OUT THEIR GARBAGE, THEY STORE IT. NOW IT IS NOT A PROBLEM BY THE COUNCIL, A GARBAGE TRUCK COMES PAST EVERY WEEK. EMPTY BOTTLES, JARS BROKEN OR NOT WERE THROWN INTO THE GARAGE. NEWPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND OLD PAPER WRAPPINGS WERE PILED UP IN THE ATTIC, IN THE CEILING UNDER THE ROOF.
WHAT A FIRE HAZARD!!!!
OLD SCRAPS OF FOOD, LEFTOVERS WERE PUT AWAY IN CUPBOARDS WHERE IT ROTTED AND STANK. THE ROOMS WERE FULL OF OLD CONTAINERS, PLASTIC BAGS, AND BOXES.
NO ROOM FOR ANYTHING ELSE!!!
THE FURNITURE WAS DUSTY, THE WALL GRIMY, THE CURTAINS AND WINDOWS ALWAYS CLOSED, WHAT A SMELL OH AND OF COURSE THE COCKROACHES!!!!
YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED IT, THE OUTSIDE WAS PAINTED AND CLEAN, AND THE GARDEN LOOKED LIKE A PICTURE OUT OF A MAGAZINE.
A LITTLE FAR FETCHED? WHO WOULD LIVE LIKE THAT AMONGST THE GARBAGE WITH COCKROACHES AND FLIES? YET IT DOES HAPPEN, WHY ARE THEY TOO PROUD TO ADMIT THAT THEY HAVE GARBAGE, DO THEY THINK THAT PEOPLE WOULD BELIEVE BADLY OF THEM FOR HAVING GARBAGE.
My dear brothers and sisters, don't be fooled. Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon. God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us his most important creatures. Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and should not get angry easily. An angry person doesn't do what God approves of. So get rid of all immoral behavior and all the wicked things you do. Humbly accept the word that God has placed in you. This word can save you.
DO YOU KNOW THAT SOMETIMES THE PERSONAL GARBAGE IN OUR LIVES GETS OUT OF CONTROL!!!
IN FACT I WOULD SAY THAT WE ALL STORE UP GARBAGE INSIDE WHERE NO ONE ELSE CAN SEE IT. BROKEN BOTTLES AND SHARP TINS OF INPATIENT ANGER AND BITTERNESS, ILL FEELING AND RESENTMENT DEEP IN OUR MINDS WHERE THEY CUT DEEPLY AND HURT, EVERYONE INCLUDING OURSELVES.
OTHERS STORE AWAY HATRED , ENVY, RIVALRY, GREED AND JEALOUSY. ATTITUTES WHICH WHEN HEAPED ON OTHERS, CAN CAUSE INFLAMMED ANGER AND CURSES TO COME OUT.
SOME OF US LOCK AWAY OUR FEARS, OUR SHAME, OUR GUILT IN OUR MINDS UNTIL IT ROTS LEAVING US HOPELESSNESS, DESPAIR, SELF-PITY AND FEELING WE ARE NOT WORTHY.
SOME OF US CLUTTER OUR LIVES WITH BUSY WORK SCHEDULES, HOUSE WORK, PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE NO TIME FOR THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE.
SOME OF US HOLD GRUDES AGAINST PEOPLE, AGAINST SITUATIONS THAT HAVE HAPPENED, WE BECOME WHAT WE DESPISE AND STILL BLAME OTHERS FOR EVERYTHING THAT GOES WRONG.
WE DO NOT LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE SHOW US THAT WE HAVE BEEN PRETENDING EVERYTHING IS ALL RIGHT, WE DON’T WANT THEM TO KNOW THAT BENEATH OUR CLEAN CUT EXTERIOR THERE IS AN UNHEALTHY MESS.
WE ARE UNWILLING TO CHANGE OR TO CLEAN IT UP!!!
WE STOW OUR GARBAGE AWAY INSIDE, CLUTTER OUR MINDS AND SOULS UNTIL THERE IS NO ROOM FOR ANYTHING ELSE, THE GARBAGE OF SIN MESSES UP OUR LIVES, IT BEGINS TO STINK.
NEGATIVE THINKING LEADS TO NEGATIVE LIVING!!!
SOUND FAMILIAR? SOMETHING SAID OR DONE? IT IS THERE IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND IT WILL NOT GO AWAY UNTIL YOU HAVE OWNED UP TO IT, IS IT CLEANED OUT?
COME ON YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!!
A HEATED ARGUMENT, WRONG WORDS SAID, WATCHED A BAD MOVIE? WE ACT IF CHRIST WERE OF NO CONSEQUENCE IN OUR LIVES.
I know that God's standards are spiritual, but I have a corrupt nature, sold as a slave to sin.
I don't realize what I'm doing. I don't do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate. I don't do what I want to do, but I agree that God's standards are good. So I am no longer the one who is doing the things I hate, but sin that lives in me is doing them. I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don't do it. I don't do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don't want to do. Now, when I do what I don't want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it. So I've discovered this truth: Evil is present with me even when I want to do what God's standards say is good.