I Done Learned from the Critters!

So, before I left the house today for an accountability session with a friend and ministry teammate, I flushed PL down the toilet. It was a sad icky sight, chile. SMH ...

I found him at the bottom of the tank on his back ... lifeless.

He was on his back earlier this morning before the boys and I left the house for school, but when I tossed the fish food in, he flipped over and ate. I thought maybe he was just chillin 'til the vittles came down.

However, the story was over when I got back home from the gym.

SUPPLEMENT ... NOT MAIN EVENT!

PL (The LATE PL), the newest member of our fish family (a pleco), joined the team to help us keep the tank clean a wee bit longer between cleanings since we have three huge goldfish who do a good job of juhst beein' dirty. But here's yet ANOTHER message that the animal kingdom done taught me ... YOU STILL GOTTA' CLEAN THE STINKING TANK!

🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

Changing over to spiritual application here ...

1. We must keep our atmosphere clean. We cannot skip critical maintenance. Our lives depend on it.

2. We cannot depend on things that are intended to only be supplemental to sustain our spiritual health (all facets of our health, really) by themselves. We must stick to the instructions and regiments that give us the most bang for our buck. And in the case of all humanity, THE SOURCE is God the Father of Jesus the Savior.

3. We cannot be afraid to flush dead things ... things that we discover no longer have life to lend ... no matter how they made us feel, how they provided comfort to us, made us happy, fit in nicely at one point (cuz ya'll know that's where PL went ... down the toilet).

INFILTRATION FOR EDUCATION!

The animal kingdom has been really pressing into my moments recently. If you're one of my JB Blog Peeps, you'll remember a post I featured back in April, during which I shared a memory of a late night after Bible Study when there were three frolicking foxes outside of my home. These foxes were playing in the middle of the street as if they were way out in the country somewhere ... a place where there wasn't a lot of traffic nor people moving about. And this struck me oddly because this was [and is still] not a regular occurrence around my neighborhood. Ultimately, the GOD lesson for me (and the Body of Christ) was that we ought to be mindful of the sly, innocent-looking ways (Proverbs 2 refers to them as "little foxes that spoil the vine") that evil lurks to creep into our lives to cause chaotic uprising wherever we dwell.

And the way we keep evil from taking over our habitation is by obeying God and remaining in a posture that won't allow us to relent when it comes to doing what brings Him pleasure.

Something that three to four bees (that entered my vehicle -- unauthorized through open windows -- all different days and times) have taught me is that in life we must be careful to, when we see small things that can result in huge spiritual fender benders, enter our space, take the critical time to calmly, quickly, and wisely quench them ... end them ... squash them.

Chile, I'm just tellin' my story! And I have one more anecdote for you!

HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!?!

I came home from the gym two days ago to find a big black cricket on my kitchen countertop! Mortification quickly visited me, but I got my druthers about me and marched right to get the fly swatter! I began talking to myself in my head saying, "YOU KNOW YOU ONLY GOT ONE SWING CUZ IF YOU MISS, YOU AIN'T GONNA BE ABLE TO FIND IT AGAIN!" And as I swung at it, I found myself mumbling, very sternly under my breath, and tight lipped, expressing that it had the NERVE to be on my kitchen countertop! But I killed it in one FULLY amped swing! And then ... I had to clean it up with a paper towel, cleaner, and such.

My point, Christian people, is that we gotta' keep guard over our entryways and lives. The Bible says that we have to diligently keep watch over what gets into our hearts because the issues that we see coming from us start right there (Prov. 4:23).

These days when I'm riding in my car with the windows down, I'm watching closely because I don't want any unwelcome critters flying, buzzing, or creeping in.

This stands to be so with my walk. I'm watching my ports and am praying the same for the Body of Christ because we're supposed to be the ones who help others find Him. And it's not that we have to be perfect (because this will never happen on this side of heaven); however, our hearts are only safe in the hands of the Lord. If we leave them exposed to that which is threatening to our purity, we'll find all kinds of things that come to disrupt, inhabit, and feast on our souls in order to thwart our effectiveness in the Kingdom.

I'm JUHST sayin'.

* This post was originally written October 12th but was just finalized and posted today!

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