Create In Me a Clean Heart...by Pamela Sonnenmoser(Guest Blogger)

        
          I'm honored to introduce my new friend, Pamela Sonnenmoser, to our blog.  She is an energetic, creative, passionately  talented Mighty Woman of God.  She loves to teach, equip and inspire others to draw towards  God's amazing love.  Although  I've only known her a short while, her zeal to encourage others is contagious!

  

Create In Me a Clean Heart

                                                                                        By Pamela Sonnenmoser

 

It is hard to believe that another year has passed and that we are already a month into 2011. How did you do with all of the resolutions that began 2010? If you are like most people, the resolutions you made lasted about two weeks. Some of you might have made it until February, and a meager 15% of you might have actually kept your resolve for the entire year.

I have resolved in past years to keep my house cleaner, lose weight, send cards out more often, and quit procrastinating as well as a few other things that I can’t remember. A few years ago I resolved to read the Bible through again.  I even picked up one of those guides that help you read through the entire Bible in a year. I started out great, but as soon as a cold morning brought a round of hitting the snooze button to stay under the covers longer, my resolve met the frenzy of waking up late and it was over. I read God’s Word and studied regularly for the rest of the year, but my “plan” was dissolved and my guide to read through in a year got buried under the stack of junk mail littering my coffee table and eventually found its way to the burn barrel.

The next year I was given one of those Bibles that are designed to be read in a year. Each day there is a dated selection to read. I will admit it seemed like the answer, but if I needed to study something else for an article or a talk I was giving, that day’s reading was traded for the more pressing text. Then I would be off a day or two, and my resolve was once again replaced by other priorities.

We all look forward to a new year. For many people, January 1 is a release from the year before and a new lease on life. We hear people say things like “2011 has got to be better than 2010.” Or, “2011 is the year I will …” I am sure you can complete the sentence. I am also looking forward to the rest of 2011. My speaking schedule is filling up and God is opening doors for ministry, even into 2012. Yes, 2011 holds many things that I am looking forward to.

                                                    

As I was preparing my planner for the coming year I began to think of things I want to change in the new year. My pondering brought me to a scripture that I have always loved. Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

That was it, my new year’s resolution for 2011! Create in me a clean heart. My prayer for 2011 and every day of my life needs to be for the Lord to clean my heart.

 I was talking with someone recently about nutrition and healthy living, he pointed out that our bodies are full of toxins that come from the environment, foods we eat and chemicals in the water and so on. He said that we need to cleanse our body periodically to flush those toxins out so that healthy things can take their place.

It was a light-bulb-moment for me as I thought of my heart for God. I love the Lord with all of my heart, but I live in the world. Like most of us, I don’t live in a bubble. I hear things I would rather not hear and I see things I would rather not see. I protect my heart as much as I can and I try to be spiritually healthy by studying God’s word and spending time with him in prayer and praise. Yet, there are still thoughts that creep into my mind that are far from holy. There are things that come from my mouth that I wish I could erase as soon as they hit the air. Where do they come from? Why would someone who loves the Lord and wants to please him say or even think such things?

Sometimes I forget that my spirit needs to be cleansed. Daily I must ask God to create in me a clean heart. My spirit needs renewal, daily to remain strong in faith. I cannot wait until my thoughts are muddled with the garbage that is acceptable to the world. Every day I pray that the Lord will take out the impurities and sweep out anything that interferes with my relationship with Him. I don’t want to be cast away from his presence because I allowed the trash from the world to overcome me.

Psalm 51: 10-13

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. 13 {Then} I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.

My relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship I have. It is the only one that is worthy of my all. He is the only one who has given me His all. His word is full of everything we need to walk in right relationship with him. It is a clean heart and a steadfast spirit that I need in order to show the joy of the relationship I have found with the Savior. How else can I lift Jesus up? How else can others be drawn to Him?

So, what resolution have I made in 2011? To share the joy and love of Christ with everyone I meet. This time, it’s a keeper!

Thank you, Pamela, for taking the time to share with us today your wisdom and insight.  Pamela is giving away one of her books called, Praise and Paraphrase . Please leave a comment today and we will enter your name into a drawing for this weekend. 

Pamela Sonnenmoser is the founder and director of Fresh Cup Ministries. She is the author of Praise & Paraphrase: 90 Days of Spiritual Truth from Every Day Life (CrossRiver Media, 2010), and the soon-to-be-released, Beside the Empty Cradle (Beacon HIll, June 2011). She is an international speaker for churches, retreats, camps, luncheons and other women's events. Pamela lives on a farm near Kansas City, MO with her husband John and a menagerie of dogs, cats and critters. For more information please visit her website at www.freshcupministries.com.