The reality of freedom, freedom won and freedom lost, has become for me an issue of passion.

I watched an amazing video documentary the other day about the hopes, dreams, and reality of youth and young adults in Cuba. It was an eye opening presentation of a generation that longs for the very freedoms we are allowing to slip away.  As I watched, I could not help but compare their passion for freedom in a rigid political system, to our alarming trend towards allowing, or even worse encouraging a more socialist posture.

In Cuba, “jobs” are government jobs, the pay is not enough to live on, and the rations the government supplies each month, last for only 2 weeks.  Young married couples must often live with relatives due to a shortage of housing, and for them, simple privacy is a rare luxury.  Promising students study hard to earn advanced degrees, and even with the skills and knowledge they have worked so hard to acquire, they have no hope that it will secure them a brighter future.  Only loyalty to the revolution offers one a chance at material success.

But young Cubans are no longer buying into the excuses the aging regime makes for their circumstances.  They have hopes and dreams of a better life, and they believe that Cuba has the resources to build a better future, if only they had the freedom to use them.  Sadly, those who speak out are subjected to censorship, beatings, and all manner of restrictions that will make an example of them, and deter others from being so bold.

If only our young people understood the value of the freedom we have enjoyed in this country.

If only they understood that there are decisions the government should not have the power to make for us. (more…)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right spirit within me.”

The above quote is from Psalm 51:10.  It is the psalmists plea for God to keep doing the work in him that enables a clean heart to exist.  Christians all over the world still sing this and offer this prayer.  An outsider looking into the church might wonder, why haven’t they got this right yet?  Why do they keep asking for a clean heart over and over again? Doesn’t God answer?

Last Sunday, while these thoughts were running through my head after the praise band led us in this very song, my Pastor made a profound statement.  She said, “We all struggle to live under the umbrella of God’s expectation.”  Oh yes, we do struggle, and God’s definition of a clean heart surely has a more stringent qualification than anything I could dream up.

The human condition is a reflection of the great fall from grace in the Garden of Eden.  Ever since that ancient example was set, all of mankind has shared the same experience in life from birth to physical death, physically, mentally, and spiritually, we fall down, we get up.  The plea to God to create in us a clean heart is our cry for help, and I believe each time we ask, God answers yes, but after a while, we will get it all dirty again.

We must work at keeping a clean heart daily, sometimes even minute by minute.

The important thing to help a non believer understand is that we need God because we are not perfect.  We don’t serve Him  because we are perfect.  Too many generations with a “holier than thou” attitude left the non Christian world with a grave misunderstanding of the Christian walk.  We desire a clean heart, but it does not come easy.  We resolve to maintain a clean heart, but it often does not last for long.  We try very hard to achieve a clean heart, but it is something that we cannot do alone.  A clean heart is gift from God that is precious, yet so fragile we are just not equipped to maintain it in a manner that would continue to meet His high standard of purity.

Is it hopeless?  Will I ever have a clean heart?

No, it is not hopeless.  Yes, you can have a clean heart, because God will continue to say yes, as long as we continue to ask for His help.  Just as God gave Solomon unequaled wisdom in response to an earnest and selfless prayer, God will cleanse our hearts when we come before Him asking for a clean heart, not to please others, but rather to please Him, and as long as we keep our gaze firmly focused on Him, we will have a clean heart.

There in lies the catch my friends.  How many of us will keep our gaze firmly focused on Him for long? That is why I resolve to pursue a clean heart.  I know I will achieve it and lose it many times over, but as long as I remain in pursuit of this elusive connection to the heart of God, I am on the road to becoming the person He wants me to be.

Blessings & Adventure,

Lynn “lynnibug” Rios

Psalm 51:10-12 (NKJV)