Made a Mess of Me? Jesus Can Clean it Up. – Purity 1835
Purity 1835 12/09/2025 Purity 1835 Audio Podcast
Purity 1835 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a tornado of a sunset in an ethereal sky over a view ofs where the Hudson River becomes the Schodack Creek comes to us from yours truly as I captured this simple scene of riverside beauty at my place “down by The River” yesterday afternoon.
Well, it’s Tuesday and even through I am living with the consequence of bonehead blunder committed months ago, I paused yesterday to remind myself that God is still with me by looking over the view from my front driveway and remembering how the Lord had blessed me with my home in Stuyvesant after a period of prolonged darkness when I didn’t know how I would survive and live in the future. Although I didn’t know what my future held, God did and He used my wiliness to work and my humble submission to do His will to turn things around in way I could have only dreamed for.
I haven’t been in a “big in-between trial of failure” in a long time and I forgot about how persistent the trauma of failure can be. Even after you take corrective action and receive positive reports of hope to come in the future, you can still be plagued doubts and the condemnation that comes from messing up. Each new morning you awake in another day of the aftermath of your mistake, and even though you have a plan and are working towards a solution, the broken pieces of your life are still there – broken and in need of repair.
But I am fighting the good fight of faith and realize that there is no way to go back and undo what I did and that the only way out of my trial is to go forward with God and to follow His lead the best that I can, with hope, peace, and joy.
Without God, there is no peace, no hope, or joy for those who fail. Without God, there is condemnation. If I try to move forward without the Lord, I have no reason to think anything other about myself than the results of my performance and the mistakes I have made. And I have made a LOT of mistakes in my life. If I move forward without the Lord, I have to achieve a level of prosperity equal to or greater than what I have known previously to feel like I have been restored. The longer it takes for me to get a full-time job that I can take pride in, the longer I would be subject to the depression that comes from judging myself according to my circumstances. Without the Lord, the negative thoughts and feelings I have about myself because of my mistakes and poor performance wouldn’t disappear until I had something tangible to celebrate. Until I had a “win”, I would continue to feel like a loser.
But I do have the Lord and even though I have made a mess of things, He still loves and accepts me and calls me to go forward with Him in peace. God’s word tells us the truth about those who put there faith in Jesus and for His children there is no condemnation and there is the sure hope that God is moving all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Since being saved and set free, I have to believe these things apply to me. There is no condemnation for me, because I am in Christ Jesus and I believe that God is moving all things together for my good. So, every morning when the realization of my current circumstances affirm themselves, I thank God for His presence and put my hope in following Him out of the darkness.
Even though my silly mistake has made a mess of my life, I know that Jesus is really good at cleaning up messes and bringing people out of the darkness.
Speaking of Jesus cleaning up messes, the In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley devotion today talks about that topic. So, I am sharing it on the blog today to encourage all of us to humble ourselves to submit to God and to follow the example of Jesus. Charles Stanley writes:
“Clean Feet, Clean Heart
Humbly serving others glorifies our Savior.
John 13:3-15
In ancient Israel, sandaled feet got filthy after a day of walking. It was customary for a person entering a home to remove his sandals and clean his feet. Or, if the homeowners were wealthy, servants would do the washing. This distasteful but necessary task fell to the worker of lowest position in the household.
Imagine the disciples’ surprise when the Son of God put Himself in the role of a lowly servant and knelt to clean their feet. The need for such a service was great, but not one of them offered to do it. Jesus did more than fill a need; He offered an object lesson, explaining, “I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you” (John 13:15).
Jesus desires that we be willing to humble ourselves to serve others. He is looking for men and women who will ignore pride, position, and power in order to do whatever must be done, wherever it needs doing, and for whoever requires assistance.
Jesus performed this humble act of service the day before His trial and crucifixion. Yes, He washed dirty feet, using the same hands that would be pierced by nails. He took the time to show us that every task God gives us, no matter how “lowly,” is important to His kingdom.” – Charles Stanley
Amen. Jesus’ lowering Himself to wash the feet of the disciples was a shocking spectacle – so shocking that Peter initially refused to let Him do it – but when it became clear that if he refused Him, Peter would have “no part” or “no share” with Jesus – Peter immediately changed his tune and submitted himself fully, and then some, as he offered not only his feet, but also his hands and head for Jesus to wash. Peter didn’t understand what was going on but when he realized that refusal would cost him his relationship with Jesus, he fully submitted.
Jesus assures Peter that He is clean already but needs to submit to this “foot washing”, which has been interpreted spiritually as the need to regularly confess our sins to be periodically cleansed. Although we are clean or “saved”, we still need to wash the dirt of what we pick up from the world as we walk through it, we need to confess and repent when we sin.
That’s the spiritual interpretation, but it could also simply point to lowering ourselves to serve others in humble ways.
If Jesus would lower Himself to do such a duty, we have no excuse if we are called to do likewise.
And why is that?
Because of the work that Jesus would do after this scene would make us clean forever. The hands that washed feet were pierced as Jesus was crucified to wash our sins away and if we want any part or share with Him, we accept His redemptive work by faith and then seek to follow His example as His disciples.
When we humble ourselves and serve others, we reflect the light of the world. Our lowering of ourselves in service exalts the Lord Jesus. So don’t think too highly of yourself and seek to do good for others as Christ did good for us.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/.
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
(While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling By John G. Kruis on Amazon )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Prayer – Waiting On the Lord.
Matthew 6:11 (ESV) “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Today’s verses fall under the second point of our counseling reference guide resource section on Prayer.
3. Pray for daily needs.
Today’s Bible verse encourages us to “spiritualize our lives” as Jesus instructs us to pray for our daily needs to be met. Our relationship with God is supposed to encompass all the aspects of our lives.
Taking the fulfillment of our needs for granted is to show great ingratitude to the Lord. So Jesus prompts us to pray for all the things we need as we are truly dependent on God’s mercy and grace for everything we need.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “Day by Day Along the Way” By Jay E. Adams.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Adams’ books for your own private study and to support the late author’s work. This resource is available online for less than $20 at many sites.
Day 334
Apollos was an eloquent man who powerfully expounded the Scriptures. – Acts 18:24
Here, we must pause to note that God can use even the eloquent. Such a quality should be neither overly praised nor held against a preacher as if he were a show-off. It is true that not many mighty or noble—or eloquent—come to Christ (1 Corinthians 1:26ff.). But some do. God has people of every sort in His ministry. Not everyone can be eloquent, but all can powerfully expound the Bible. The task, however, is to become a powerful expounder, not to be eloquent. But eloquence is an advantage—so long as a minister doesn’t depend upon it alone. Powerful exposition, combined with eloquence, is something that all appreciate. It is always a blessing when a minister knows how to use language as well as how to teach truth.[1]
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[1] Jay E. Adams, Day by Day along the Way (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 342.
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