Fields United Methodist Church

Side by Side with Jesus.                                                      Pastor Tom Joyce

February 26, 2021

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:1-10

There are times when we need to acknowledge that we are heading in the wrong direction and need to turn around, retrace our steps and start over again. God is a God of second chances, thank you Jesus for that gift! The challenge often times is confessing that we are not the person we hope to be nor the person God has created us to be. When we pray, “create in me a clean heart,” we admit our life needs to cleaning up and shifting around, and that is a good thing. Jesus is not in our midst to condemn us, but to offer mercy and grace, leading us to the path of God’s righteousness and not our own. In the age of electronics, often the easiest, and cheapest, fix is to just reboot a computer; turn it off for a minute or two then turn it back on allowing it to working properly without the computer trying to complete a myriad of functions. In other words, the computer needs to clear out those many programs that are working simultaneously adversely affecting the efficiency of the entire system. So it is with our “heart;” when we are pulled in too many directions eventually we will just “shutdown” causing us not to see and follow the one true path that leads to living life in the abundance of God’s love and grace. Sin has a way of pulling us away from God and turning us in every direction except towards God. When we confess that our lives are pulled in many directions by those things we have done and left undone, we ask God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to take charge, refocusing our attention only on what is true, real, and holy. Turn back to God (repent), confess those things that are keeping you from living in the fullness of God’s grace, and allow the love of God to cleanse your life, replacing all those things that lead you away from the source of your being and the promise of new life. Pray with every prayer, “create in me a clean heart, and put a new and right spirit within me.” As you invite the love of God to “clean house” in your soul, you will know the freedom of God’s grace in your life resulting in your life being a blessing to others as you have been blessed. 

Rev. Tom Joyce