God cleans His own fish!

God cleans His own fish. There are many people around us that are very good
actors. I try hard not to pretend that things are going great when they are
not. And lately, it seems that I am following the old saying, "Fake it till
you make it". From the outside, it seems that all is well, but on the
inside, what is going on in my mind and heart is a scrambled mess. The
emotional scars, the "baggage" that I can't seem to put away, seems to
haunt me everyday. I know that every part of my past, my brokenness,
loneliness and sin, has made me who I am today. Becoming a Christian has
truly been life changing. I take the words written in the Bible seriously,
I look at *2Cor5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.*
and know that those words were written for me. The challenge is that
sometimes it is a process that takes longer than I want. A new creation
takes time. The Fruit of the Spirit is a full basket, and yet to have it
all, seems to be a life long challenge. *Gal5:22 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control...*. I think self-control is at
the end for a reason, for me it is the most challenging. I fight to
remember the written words *Phil4:13 I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me...* John Travis Newton wrote - “I am not what I ought to be,
I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world;
but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am
what I am”. And my hope is believing will all that I am, that I am His.

Douglas