beyond measure

"But as it is written: What no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what has never come into a man’s heart, is what God has prepared for those who love Him." =1 Corinthians 2:9

My whole life can really be summed up with the word, "moving". We were always moving. I have 2 older brothers and one younger sister. So there was always a need to have more space.

Right now the Kerr household has moved a total of 5 times (that's not counting my brothers and their families now and me and my wife's future move as well.)

One house I remembered in paticular though that I wanted to share. It was our 3rd house. We had been there at that time for about 13 years. With my oldest brother married and moved out, and now my second brother doing the same it was time to downsize.

So my parents, my sister and I moved into a house that we were renting, during our time of looking for a new house. This house was very interesting...

Where do I start? The ants and bugs coming from everywhere in the house...the bad a/c...Or the constant leaks everywhere in the house. It seemed that during that time that our furniture consisted of plastic trash cans and towels surrounding our carpet. I remember especially, that in our computer room that the leak got so bad, that the roof crumbled down and left the room covered in pink insulation and water.

And we stayed there for 4 months...4 long months!!!

Then something happened. We had come upon a house that literally blew our mind! It was amazing. The guy who had owned it before, had designed it himself and it was only a few years old. It was a two story house, that had all wood floors within. It was truly my Mom's dream come true. It was available and it became ours.

And looking back, that verse became real in my life...

We had never seen anything like this with our eyes, never heard anything like this before, mind has not conceived, or entered into our hearts... all that God has in store for us!!!

I also applied this to life. That rent house, with all it's problems, and all that moving...is this world. With all struggles that we go through downhere. It is just a training ground. A transition stage...While we were there we believed this promise and believed something beyond measure was on it's way! (And it was and it is here as well.)

Then there is heaven. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind conceived, or entered into hearts all that heaven will be like. It will been beyond measure!!! no words will be able to express all that we'll experience!

random thoughts

This is something that has recently been on my mind lately...

There is a verse in the bible, 1 John 1:9, which says,"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

This is a very powerful verse in the Bible. It shows us what a great God we serve.

Though something grabbed my attention on the end of that verse. The word "cleanse" stood out. So I thought about going deeper, and looking up the meaning in the greek. It gave some other word choices, such as "purge" and "purify".

The Dictionary says about "purge"is =to rid, clear, free, rid of impurities, to put to death...
Then "purify" means = free from anything that debases, pollutes,adulterates, or contaminates...

Sometimes I would read this verse and not let it really sink in. I would use it, when I felt I had sinned and needed to be forgiven. Then quote this verse and believe the promise it contains.

Though this forgiving is not all that easy. It is a messy process.

purge...

Think of someone trying to clean a wound or cut. They might put something in it, to clean the wound out. It doesn't always feel good...no at times it hurts. That's because the impurities are working their way out, so that way we can be clean.

purify...

Or like a addict, who is on the road to recovery. That first few weeks (or could be longer), is hard because their body is craving and hurting for that drug of choice. It hurts to cleanse the body of those impurities, and bringing it back how it was made to be.

It hard whenever that purge, cleanse or whatever you want to call it takes place. It will always be different for each. Though it is tough, because it requires a change. A change that takes place on the inside. Remember that forgiveness is not just one sided it takes an effort of two people. God promised to do His, will we do ours?

Thank God that He has the power to work out those impurities, and has the ability to bring us back to how we are made to be.