Psalm 51:10-13 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.

I spent years as a single Mom and during that time I honed my skills of being this “independent, self sufficient woman”  that could protect and care for myself and my children, or at least I thought that was what I was doing.  What I was really doing was building walls and creating this tough exterior because I thought that would protect me.  I chose to not “need” anyone else because I felt that if I didn’t need anyone it would save me from getting hurt.  The sad thing about that is that the tough exterior didn’t keep me from “getting hurt” and it kept the love and the real me from getting out.  I have been a very loving person since I was a little girl so when I built that hard shell around me I trapped the love inside as well.  The only people who received any of that love were those I hadn’t shut out, for example; my children – they were “safe”.

God spoke to my heart the other day telling me that as long as those walls are there it keeps others from seeing Him!  We don’t need to be self sufficient we need to rely on Him to protect and love us and to provide all we will ever need.  Let’s face it Ladies no one really wants to be around the person who oozes an air of tough, self sufficiency and there is nothing in that “look” that is able to attract others to God.  Picture this:  you get to choose from these two little old ladies to spend an entire day with 1) is the teacher you had when you were younger that was as tough as nails and you did what you were suppose to do in her class because she scared the fire out of you OR 2) the sweetest little old grandma lady that loves the Lord and she will bake chocolate chip cookies with you and just smother you with all the love she has inside.  Who would you choose?  Which one will make you feel as though you saw the face of God today?  Which one do you want to be?  I want to make chocolate chip cookies and see God!

My challenge to you today is that no matter where you are in life there’s always more love we can show and the best way to do that is to pray and allow God’s love to flow through you.  I love these verses because I truly believe that when we have a clean heart and a right spirit and we fully grasp what a privilege our salvation is and how much God loves us we can have the joy of our salvation back.  When the joy of our salvation fills our hearts we cannot help but show the love of God to others as well which will in turn draw sinners to God and the fallen back into God’s graces.  If you have walls up it isn’t easy, I know to allow them to come down but a life filled with love is by far more fulfilling than spending it trying to protect yourself.  God will help you no matter where you are on this journey to show more of His love and grace today if you will allow Him to.

Quote:  “A loving person lives in a loving world.  A hostile person lives in a hostile world.  Everyone you meet is your mirror.”  Ken Keyes