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Get Rid of it....Stop!






Potable water will never be drawn from a contaminated well. You would never swim in a pond covered in thick, green algae. Nor would you buy any food product if the safety seal over the top of the jar or bottle has been torn, opened or punctured.

The fact remains: a heart full of sin, darkness and carnal, selfish desires will never give rise to anything pure, holy or loving. A heart that has never sought out confession and forgiveness will always be troubled, unsettled, unhappy and ungrateful. These attributes contribute not only to spiritual decay, but to the various moods we struggle with such as anger, depression, sadness and regret.

What must we do? We must strive to remove those things in our hearts that block, hinder or hurt our relationship with Jesus. Once those things are removed, then the ā€œside-effectsā€ will also begin to disappear.

Sometimes, it is as simple as deciding to no longer listen to certain types of music or determining never to watch certain shows on TV. Maybe we need change the genre of books/magazines we read or decide never to go to movies that are PG-13 or R rated.

Other things could be a little more challenging, but not difficult, such as ā€œun-friendingā€ bad influences or blocking certain groups/pages from Facebook or other social media platforms. Perhaps it would be finding a different store or Mall to do your shopping.

Now, letā€™s get realā€¦.I will admit that there could be more challenging obstacles to overcome such as ending a dating relationship, stepping away from a circle of friends, and possibly ending a business partnership, quitting a job or changing your major in college. As it has been said, ā€œsometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do!ā€

Hebrews 12:1 (TLB), tells us ā€œā€¦let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us upā€¦.ā€ The word ā€œstripā€ means to ā€œcast awayā€ or to ā€œgive upā€ or ā€œrenounce.ā€

We must literally give up and ā€œwalk awayā€ from anything that causes harm to our faith and relationship with Jesus. In other words, ā€œjust stopā€ā€¦.literally drop it like a hot-potato. We might even say, ā€œgo cold-turkey.ā€ (*please noteā€¦I am not talking about your marriage, so I am not saying ā€œgo ahead and divorce your spouse.ā€ I am not saying to cut off communication or to ā€œdisownā€ one of your family members or even one of your own children.) Yes, sometimes we take drastic measures, but not at the expense of our marriage and family.

Overall, your relationship with Jesus is THAT important and should mean that much to you to be willing to do ā€œwhatever it takesā€ to shield and protect it. We shouldnā€™t allow things, possessions, people, career, and leisure (just to name a few) to damage, corrode or break our relationship with Jesus.

Soā€¦.what adjustments, changes and sacrifices will you need to make to better, deepen and strengthen your walk with Jesus? It is worth ā€œstripping offā€ anything that prevents that from happening. Make those hard choices todayā€¦.right now! Amen!

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