Addition by Subtraction

Long time, no write!  Sorry I have been away from my writings. I missed it and you!  Alas, I have been busy with getting rid of the baggage so to speak.

Bag #28-Bag #39
Puzzles (I like to buy puzzles at Salvo and then return after using...I had just forgotten the return part for several years!), organizers that weren't such great organizers, clothing
The best part was 3 appliances that I sold on a Facebook area Rummage Sale site and a piece of furniture that we no longer use!  Fabulous! 

Getting rid of clutter is so liberating. My linen closet has now become an area of peace with less puzzles, my pantry has more space for supplies instead of appliances. It's all so good.

There have been amazing finds as I have been de-cluttering. A wonderful gift given to me dated 2005 was rediscovered. And, as the Lord would have it, impeccable timing. It is the book Fresh Faith by Jim Cymbala.  The title of my blog is from Chapter 12 of his book.  These verses are brought to the readers' attention.

^{Prov 25: 4-5} Remove impurities from the silver
    and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice;
Remove the wicked from leadership
    and authority will be credible and God-honoring.

And this verse:

Isaiah 1:25

New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ I will turn my hand against you;^[a]
    I will thoroughly purge away your dross (something regarded as worthless; rubbish.)
    and remove all your impurities. 

 

Or the Message version:

I’ll give you the back of my hand,
    purge the junk from your life, clean you up.

Purging, remove impurities. Less is more. Addition by subtraction. 

Taken from the book mentioned above: We can easily avoid the fact that all the noise and knowledge in the world will take us nowhere if there is unremoved dross in our lives. In God's math, you sometimes get more by having less.  His process is to subtract in order to add. He will never make a treaty with our secret pockets of sin. "That has to go," He will insist. "you cannot go on with that in your life. I cannot make a beautiful silver vessel with that dross still present."

We have to face the fact that in order to be what God wants us to be, he will have to take away things in our life that don't belong.

Unforgiveness

Competitiveness

Glory seeking

Prejudice/Judgmentalism

Habits

Attitudes

I am blessed by how He reinforces the learning process for me. I could retype the entire chapter for you here.  It's all so good. Basically, He desires us "to be conformed to the likeness of his Son" (Romans 8:29). And this most certainly requires deep cleaning, getting rid of the rubbish, baggage removal, kind of work.

As I sat in the sauna reading this book, the sweat was rolling...I thought...how cool to have a physical analogy of this process.  In this removal of heavy metal toxins and others from my body, I must heat up to 130 degrees and sit there and sweat it out. It's not a quick, pill taking kind of fix. Day after day, week after week, month after month, the toxins need to rise to the top and be wiped away. 

And so it goes with the heart cleansing process.

One layer at a time. Asking Him to reveal what needs to bubble to the surface next to be skimmed away by His ladle.

Now, back to the 40 bags before Easter challenge...

Bag # 40...it's a long story. I will share that with you later.

It didn't fit in a bag.

Blessings to you on this special week,

Amy