Monday: Martin Gets a Bath

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is Monday and it is August. Where has summer gone? Monday, the day we pray for our leaders, so brothers and sisters we need to be praying for our President and for his family and for our Vice President and his family and all our other leaders, those in authority over us, and they do need our prayers. Please pray first for their soul and then for them to take all things they do before God, before they bring it to us. It is also the day we pray for all those who work so hard to keep us safe and free. Our veterans, our military, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines, National Guard Units, and also the reserves. Pray for our Police, our firefighters, and all those who are in the ambulances on the land, sea and in the air. It is a big list, and think, all these people are working for us, to keep us safe and free.

Prayers also for Vicki and her family in the passing of her dad, Don. Please pray for peace in this family. Also please keep praying for the Saylor Family. Dad, Don, is in the hospital. Pray for Pastor Charles, for Pat, Jo, William, and for Greta, all who reside at the Bridges and want to come up out of those wheel chairs and walk. Also please be with Henry as we release him over to You. Be with Art and Elaine in this time of sorrow...

Martin Gets A Bath: Psalm 51: 1 - Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. (NIV)

Each morning when I am getting ready for my shower, Martin, one of our little K-9s and yes, the one that travels with us when we are singing, runs and hides under the bed. He knows that there are days when I will put him on my shoulder and take him in the shower with me. He hates a bath. He even knows now if I am thinking of giving Martin a bath even during the day, and I might say to Dolores, I am going to give Martin a "B" and he runs under the bed. He knows code words..

Maybe Martin thinks that if he hides from me, I will not see how dirty he is, which brings me to this... We cannot hide our dirt from God. God knows our sins, each and every one of them, and we cannot hide under a bed or anyplace else that God cannot not see ... He sees it all ...

So let me get back to my beloved little boy Martin. He is just so cute and I still can get him for the bath. I just get a leash and say bye, bye, and he comes running... then I let the leash on him, and get ready for my shower. When I am ready for him, he is hiding under the bed, I just get the end of the leash and pull him out for his bath. Now this is different from our sins. Jesus does not put us on a leash, we have been given free will. And again we cannot hide our sins from our Lord Jesus. He knows... He knows. Ok, so I give Martin his bath and he looks and smells so good, and I put him down and in a few minutes I look outside to find Martin who had gone out through the dog door and is now rolling in the grass. Oh and did you ever see a wet dog, who just rolled in grass that was just cut? Back to the shower again..

So how does this relate to God? Well, it works like this... We come to Jesus, and we come in faith, we are ready to give it all up for Him and we confess we are sinners and ask that He wash away our sins with the blood of Jesus. And when we give it all over to Jesus He will wash us clean. Then like my dog Martin, we go out and roll in the dirt we call sin. After you have asked for God to forgive you of your sins, how long does it take till you get dirty again? How long till you sin? For some people it might be a while, for others it is right away. Folks, some people even pray to be cleaned of the sin they are about to do..

This week I want to give you a few examples like Martin rolling in the dirt, and relate it to us being forgiven and then sinning again. We need to repent...

Dear Father in Heaven... Thanks for forgiving us of our sins, and Lord we need to repent, we need to turn and walk away from sin. Lord, today I ask that You are with our leaders, protect them, and Lord I pray for their souls, that they know You, that they come to You with their work, before they bring it to the public. Please also protect our veterans and heal their wounds and protect those in our military and their families. And yes, those members of our family in the Military. Protect our Police, and our firefighters, and all those who work so hard to keep us safe. Be with Vicki and her family in this trying time and please work out the differences in the family. Be with the Saylor family and heal them Lord. Be with Henry, Lord, as we place him in Your arms for love and care. Be with Art and Elaine and comfort them. And Lord, these people want to walk again... and Pastor wants to preach. Lord, please heal, Pastor Charles, Pat, Greta, Jo, William, and others who want to walk again... In the loving name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Go forth, and remember you cannot hide your sins by going under a bed, so come out, repent, get washed in the blood, and yes, of course, share your blessings... love ya, dan.