subject: Clear the deck for your blessings [print this page] Clear the deck for your blessings Clear the deck for your blessings
From the New King James version of the Bible, 1 Timothy chapter 1 verses 3 to 6 reads as follows:
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedoniaremain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. 5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, 6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
Key to this set of verses is where it says, from a pure heart, from a good conscience and from a sincere faith with the purpose of love.
The first derivation for the blessings is the overriding presence of love but the derivation of this is more so from the pristine clear waters of sincere faith, a conscience that is and can remain good, and pureness of heart in avoiding the divisions and strives that can easily arise and be focused upon.
These verses show that the blessings is really a call found under the banner of love, but that there can be interference to this to where the waterways of the blessings are in a sense unclear or even polluted.
Just like light trying to get through the clearing of a thick dense forest, at times we might need to clear things up if we want our blessings to get through and stay with us rather than just be a fleeting chance that almost was, like a flicker of light trying to get through.
And the first think to do is actually discuss with the Lord what might be blocked our paths to the blessings and seek the aid and help of the Holy Spirit as we specifically ask even within the day what might the blessings and how we can ready for them rather than always seeing them as a surprise
One thing to consider is the hope and possibility of changing.
Clearing the way now is necessary if we want particular blessings.
What could be impeding this blessing or just about blocking it from coming through is a question we may have to ask depending on what we are hoping for.
One could imagine the deck of an aircraft carrier, where planes are parked and there are also large clear landing strips on the deck with flagmen helping approaching planes to make this always somewhat difficult and dicey landing even in the best of conditions and circumstances
The flagman is there to hold the flag, to point the way of the approach and is not there to spew garbage piles all over the previously clear landing strips on the deck of the carrier.
In the same way you would want to flag on through the blessings that are coming your way, and bring them home for a good landing.
Like the situation with the air carrier, the landing for the blessing may be dicey and difficult in complicated world and times, where in many ways we don't know what to pay attention to, where to go, and how and when to hang our hat and we might further aggravate the already complicated situation by littering our personal landscape, the formerly pristine deck of our blessings, with a spewing of garbage.
What is garbage? It is anything that characterizes as and assimilates as interfering with our blessing that in actuality can be cleared away.
It could be beliefs, attitudes, things we are consuming with our time and attention, and things that we are watching and listening to that are distracting and ultimately taking us away from our blessing.
There are two aspects to trying to correct this.
One is even in the midst of the garbage to at least remain on the deck to flag the blessings on.
This is done by spending time in consultation with the Lord, staying in contact more rather than less in most cases and trying to adhere to his ways.
By at least doing this, you are still on the deck of possibilities, you are indicating your watch by actively participating in prayer and thanksgiving, and even if you can't clear the plane for the landing, you are still on the viewing deck, and you can begin to see the problems on the deck for what they are from the position of trying to get the landing in, or going for another landing attempt as the flagman or flag woman standing by
The second aspect involved is from this position trying to see what is needed to clear the deck for the good landing.
It might involve trying to identify what the garbage actually is as you view of this might be hindered by the fog of all else.
The garbage may be something you need to leave alone or give up altogether. It could even include trying to change something about yourself that you should leave alone and accept.
It may be strongly held beliefs about yourself, others and how the world works.
It could be that you haven't thrown out yesterday's garbage.
You could have the wrong package of an idle philosophy of faulty reasoning.
It could be residual anger over having mislaid garbage in the first place, and now you are mad at yourself for this need for cleanup and throwing the garbage off the deck, although that would be polluting the ocea
It could be material things you are latching onto for the wrong reasons and subjecting yourself to a hording mentality rather than believing that the Lord can land every and all blessings at your doorstep continually if you only let go a bit.
The garbage can be outright sin, that you need to confess and seek forgiveness for and also stop doing.
In any event there is an understanding that you are dealing with some garbage that is big enough and in the way enough to inhibit your blessing and in some way you need to hoist the garbage away from the deck of your blessings and out of your own view of the landing strip as you are the flagman or flag woman for your own blessings.
There are other related metaphors.
If you are on the beach in the warm rolling waves and an beautiful overall conditions and surf, but garbage suddenly appears in the waters, that the waters are polluted with any number of items will inhibit this blessed moment whether you are swimming or on the surfboard.
Another case of the need for garbage removal from a situation if the blessing is to land or sit properly, is when we are involved in something that operates as a direct affront to the blessing we are seeking.
A key is to realize you might be keeping garbage around from the past, imaging in garbage from the future, giving you therefore a combination of real and imagined garbage, making the clean up all the more impossible in your eyes.
And a further issue is mislabeling.
For example, if your in a job, and you are and your company as well as you are robbing people blind in a hidden type of way or even blatantly, you may have mislabeled this situation as good old fashioned hard work because you are logging hours at the office but this is actually garbage that is in no way clearing the deck for your blessings and you would be better off flipping burgers if you want the blessing to land your way and you have set yourself up for the fall in that you may have raked in a lot of cash, but you messed up your blessings.
If you are taking advantage of other people while making large sums of money, this becomes a catch 22 because it will accumulate as enough garbage to block your own blessings.
Toxic relationships, toxic atmosphere's, toxic situations all can begin to churn up garbage that can just about stop the blessing, or at least delay it or inhibit it.
You need to get away from that stuff and get into your blessing. That is why sometimes it is good to do an about face, sometimes this might involve leaving friends, leaving a high paying job, leaving even a career because no matter what these roadways have actually blocked your blessings.
A much stronger emphasis can be make on looking for your blessings on that great deck, and guiding them right to you, rather than giving high weight to other things, deemed important by others, but truthfully they are inhibiting your blessing, the blessing that had been meant for you and just right for you.
Don't be shy about calling garbage , garbage, and allowing yourself to clean it up and away, to give yourself a more pristine runway for possible blessings, so that the blessings can land beautifully right before your eyes, and then take hold for landing points that are finally real and not just a mirage of false hopes never realized.
