My Journey...

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There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long,

Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, with an axe.

The axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, hone it.

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, on what?

On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone.

The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,

The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

With w hat shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?

In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,

In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, bucket.

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,

There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

This old song from when I was a child keeps repeating over and over in my mind...the every day duties of life - what do I do first.  What has the highest priority?  It seems everything is important, but what do I do FIRST?

Last night I read in Evelyn Christensen's book "Lord Change Me" about the importance of storing the LORD's Truth in my heart, and I am thankful for the day the LORD caused a hunger and thirst inside me from His Word.  Because of my love of the Word of God, I knew when I heard "Body, mind, spirit" that He was dropping them into my heart, and I needed to look them up...once I did that I understood that I had just been handed a key.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 & 24...

"May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it."

Here's how easily we deceive ourselves...first, I only got two out of the 3 words right (the second word is soul, not mind) and second I got the order wrong.  My body and my mind wanted top priority, but thankfully, the Lord sets it straight in His Word.

Even in my "remembrance" my body seeks first place, and my mind wants a close second.  But in reality, it is my spirit which must be nourished first...and then the soul (in which the mind is hidden).  The spirit nourishes the soul; the soul nourishes the heart, and the heart nourishes the mind.  The heart is taken care of first and from there the mind is nourished.  Once the heart and mind are tended to THEN the appetites of the body can be tended to.

This makes sense...these things must be done in the proper order so that the "God of peace can sanctify me through and through."  Out of order...out of balance.  It's as simple as that.

So, what is "sanctify"?  According to my "New Concise Bible Dictionary" sanctification implies rescue from the pollution of sin.  The New Testament lays equal stress on both God's part and ours in sanctification.  There is an intense struggle against sin to be fought, and God does not transform a person without their active co-operation in the battle against sin.  The Holy Spirit works through the believer's faithful dependance upon Him to produce increasing Spiritual maturity.

Okay, so the first step is to admit complete dependance...so much easier said than done.  Again, my flesh rises up with my mind - a team of sorts - to shout cheers from the side line "you can do it"...but again I CAN'T!  Again a scripture is dropped into my remembrance...2 Corinthians 12:10 "For when I am weak, THEN I am strong." 

My mind has always been a "problem solver" and my body determined to "do it myself".  But those things are in contrast to what the Lord is instructing.  When we are strong in abilities or resources, we are tempted to do God's work on our own, and what can lead to pride.  When we are weak, allowing God to fill us with His power, then we are stronger than we could ever be on our own.

So the first step is to work with God to be sanctified -- set apart - in order that I can be rescued from the pollution of my sin.

Hmmm...again I feel the LORD explaining something to me through the very day events of our lives.   You see, we have a roof problem; actually we have a combination of problems in our roof system.  When we built this house we used a fairly new (at the time) product to insulate our ceiling, which is vaulted with an unventilated roof system.  We had spray foam (a super tight insulator) installed on the underside of our roof sheeting.  The spray foam acts not only as an insulator, but also as a vapor barrier...as long as all the surfaces are coated.

But, the system failed because there were obstacles that prevented the foam from completely covering every surface...preventing a perfect seal.  There are areas that the foam shrank, and there are areas that small, subtle areas that have allowed the warm, moist air to seek an escape from our house - causing the roof sheeting to absorb that moisture and mold.

In addition, we had defective shingles.  Now, at the risk of sounding crazy, I think maybe the problem with the shingles was actually a blessing in disguise, because without the obvious problem with the shingles, the other more serious problem would not have been dealt with.

So, how does this relate to sanctification?  There is a hidden part inside us that only God can see, and only God can reveal.  Sometimes - most times - it takes the trials of life to make us deal with these problems.  And like the shingles on our roof, the problem is a result of the actions of someone else - but it's still a problem in MY life.  So, as I work on what I can see, God reveals what has been hidden...under the roof and above the ceiling.  The part that I can't see...the part that no one can see.

Sure, there are signs...but they're subtle and easy to overlook.  Staining on the soffet, melted areas on parts of the roof when the rest is covered with snow...our lives are like that too.

So, how do we overlook the "rot" that is taking place in our soul?  By feeding our flesh!  We eat too much, we spend too much...we obsess with sex, we obsess with the emphasis not on health but with making ourselves "look good" to others...and in doing all this, we place ourselves in a prison where there is no peace.

Why is this?  Because we have not uncovered the inside - the places that are the root of the problem.  The obsession with self...in trying to make ourselves "feel good" only makes us feel worse.

I mentioned earlier that the LORD has shown me the key, and here is the glimpse He has given me. First, we must be set apart for God.  That means we admit our dependance on Him...in doing this, we work with Him to remove the "pollution of sin" from every part of our lives.

Second, we must spend time with God first thing every day - praising Him, meditating on and studying His Word as well as praying.  This allows the Spirit of God to nourish the spirit inside  us...which then in turn nourishes our soul - the keeper of my heart and mind.

And last, we feed our body...it yells like a child to be taken care of first, but it must be made to submit to the power of Christ.  It is only in doing these things in the proper order, and in the proper way that we can truly be made whole...spirit, soul, and body - and blameless in Christ.  And as we work in co-operation with the One who has called us, He who is faithful WILL do it!

So, that brings me full circle back to the beginning...and the hole in the bucket.  The hole in Henry's bucket can't be mended unless someone else provides the needed straw, cut to the proper length.  And the hole in our soul...the place where our mind and our heart reside cannot be mended without provision from above by means of God's Spirit.  This is the only way we can achieve true balance..we can not do it on our own...