“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV)

I’m a messy person by nature. I don’t like to live in messy environments, but I make a lot of messes. My approach to cleaning is the path of least resistance. If there’s clutter on my desk, I pitch it into a drawer. Out of sight, out of mind. I tell myself that I’ll get to it later. I allow messes to build up—in certain areas of the house, in my car—until I can’t take it any longer. Then I go into attack mode. I clean until everything is back in order. And I feel proud of myself. And then I start making my little messes again.

My wife is my polar opposite. She’s a very neat and tidy person. She is constantly cleaning. When she makes a meal, she starts cleaning the dishes before the meal is done. She is always straightening and organizing.

So we see two approaches to straightening up and cleaning. You can take the Greg approach, which is never do today what you can put off until tomorrow. Or you can take the Cathe approach, which is deal with it today and don’t let messes get worse.

We can apply those same approaches to our spiritual lives. Sometimes we allow little problems to develop. Maybe it’s a flirtation with sin. Or a spiritual mess we get ourselves into. Or a compromise we allow. One thing leads to another, and the problem begins to build and build. Suddenly, what started out as a small issue becomes a big problem. Maybe a fascination becomes a habit that turns into a full-blown addiction.

The question is, are we going to let the mess build and build until it starts to overwhelm us before we start to clean it up? Or are we going to attend to each mess immediately and then frequently thereafter, as needed?

You probably won’t be surprised to discover which approach the apostle Paul favored. Look at his words in 2 Corinthians 7:1: “Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (NIV).

That’s a call to immediate action. Paul understood the dangers of letting spiritual messes get bigger.

Maybe you made a commitment to Christ five, ten, or twenty years ago. You cleaned out things in your life, such as bad habits and misplaced priorities that displeased God. You dealt with your personal messes in your pursuit of becoming a hardcore Christian.

Since then, maybe you’ve relaxed your vigilant life-cleaning. You’ve let a few messes start to accumulate. You can’t quite work up the motivation to tackle them.

This is your call to action. It starts with a simple prayer: “Lord, I need another cleaning. I’ve let things go, and I need your help.”

And then? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NIV).

Reflection question: What areas of your life need to be cleaned?

Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

—

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

Become a Harvest Partner

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16 NLT)

Have you ever fallen unexpectedly? It happened to me several years ago. I was riding my bike on my way to meet my wife at a restaurant for breakfast. Unbeknownst to me, someone had loosened the levers that held the front tire on my bike. As I was crossing a street and approaching the curb, I pulled up on the handlebars. The handlebars and wheel forks pulled up with me. The wheel did not. I ran into the curb, went over the front of the bike, and hit the ground face-first. I didn’t know it was coming, so I didn’t have time to brace myself for the fall. I blacked out for a few seconds. When I came to, some fellow was standing over me. He asked, “Are you okay?” I said I was fine. I wasn’t fine. I was bloodied and bruised. It’s hard to be fine after a fall you didn’t see coming.

It’s tempting to say that the same thing applies to unexpected spiritual falls. But I suggest to you that when people fall away from the Lord—when they crash and burn, spiritually speaking—there are always steps leading up to the event. Maybe the people involved weren’t fully aware of the steps, but that doesn’t change the fact that those steps were taking place. We need to realize that nobody falls away overnight or immediately. There’s always a process that unfolds over a period of time.

The apostle Paul urged his protégé Timothy not to allow such a process to get started in his life. His words apply to every believer. “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16 NLT).

We must talk the talk and walk the walk. Our words and actions should bring glory to God. People should be able to see Jesus’ life-changing impact in us. We do that by staying true to what is right—that is, studying, understanding, and applying God’s Word.

Sometimes we get careless in our approach to Scripture. We listen to people who have ulterior motives in their interpretation of the Bible. We try to stretch God’s Word to fit our political or social agendas.

Keep in mind, though, that the serpent’s temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden began with four seemingly harmless words: “Did God really say . . . ?” (Genesis 3:1 NLT). If your enemy can put distance between you and God’s Word, or if he can cause you to doubt or twist what Scripture is really saying, he can make you vulnerable to attack. He can prime you for a fall.

You can maintain your spiritual balance by holding fast to God’s Word. If you support yourself with His truths, you can walk with confidence.

Reflection question: In what areas do you need to watch your step, spiritually speaking?

Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

—

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

Become a Harvest Partner

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.” (2 Timothy 4:6 NLT)

When you take a trip, you have to leave at a certain time. If your flight departs at 8 o’clock, you have to account for traffic, parking, getting through security, and finding your gate. You need to allow time for all of them. You have to prepare for your departure if you want to arrive at your destination as planned. Of course, how you approach your departure will depend on how you feel about your destination.

I remember taking a trip to North Carolina that I wasn’t looking forward to. The weather there was hot and very humid. And I had a three-hour layover in Chicago. It’s safe to say that I wasn’t eagerly anticipating the trip. The very next week, however, I was scheduled to fly to Hawaii. And I was eagerly anticipating that trip. It all comes down to destination for me. If I’m going to a place I don’t want to go to, I dread the trip. But if I’m going to a place I do want to go, I look forward to the trip. I don’t mind the travel, even if I’m sitting in coach with a person in front of me fully reclined. It’s okay. The destination makes everything else worth the journey.

In 2 Timothy 4:6, the apostle Paul was anticipating a different kind of departure. “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near” (NLT).

Paul had lived a remarkably dangerous life. He offered a glimpse of it in 2 Corinthians 11:24–27:

Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. (NLT)

Yet, through it all, there’s no indication in Scripture that Paul ever thought the time of his death was near. Until 2 Timothy 4:6.

There’s no trace of sadness or regret in his announcement—only victory. In the next verse, he declared, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful” (NLT).

More importantly, Paul was excited about his destination. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord” (NLT).

Are you excited about your ultimate destination? Will you leave this life with a sense of accomplishment and victory? If you trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, you can approach death with the confidence, assurance, and excitement that Paul had.

Reflection question: What is your attitude toward death?

Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship!

—

Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast

Become a Harvest Partner

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.