Mosquitos & Sponge Baths

"Next Door Savior" by Max Lucado. Love it!

"...in God's presence, the devil is a wimp. Satan is to God what a mosquito is to an atomic bomb."

Okay, so I'm thinking the reason I love this quote by Mr. Max Lucado is because of its simplicity and truth screaming at the reader. I love that Satan is compared to a mosquito. I hate mosquitos. In the summertime they make you all itchy and give you big bumps on your appendages that cause you pain, irritation and frustration. Mosquitos are blood hungry creatures. They crave living blood to fill their bellys and satisfy them. They're wimps too. At the sight of a flailing arm they buzz around, half concious because of the blood intake. They spread diseases from animal to animal, human to human causing pain and suffering to those they encounter. Satan craves the "blood" of all who are living because he wishes to cause us great torment and claim us as his. (NOT going to happen!!!) But wait...if one is patient, focused and content on squashing a mosquito all it takes is one swift slap of the arm and CAPAMM! It's a heaping pile of fuzzy legs and blood. Just as we squish pesky mosquitos all summer long, Jesus squishes the biggest and peskiest mosquito of all, the blood thirsty, torment giving, hell dwelling devil.
Now for the atomic bomb...BAM!!!!!!!!!!When Christ enters our lives it's like an explosion of life, redemption and love. God is Almighty and powerful. Just as the atomic bomb offers great power and the mere sight of one would probably crush a mosquito, the presence of the Lord frightens Satan and his legions of demons that dwell amongst the Lord's people. Crush them Jesus, crush them!


"God gives no sponge baths. He washes us from head to toe. "He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit"(Titus 3:5MSG). Your sins stand no chance against the fire hydrant of God's grace.But more is needed. God is not content to clean you; he indwells you. God deposits within you "His power, which mightily works" (Col.1:29).

The way I look at this passage is through eyes of deep appreciation for the love our Savior gives to us. A sponge bath's purpose is to do what? To clean up the outside of something, to wash away the dirt, grime and blemishes of the surface. A young child may get a sponge bath from his mother on Sunday morning when he decides to play around in the driveway before Sunday school. But Jesus, he's not really keen on the whole sponge bath idea. Sure he wishes to clean us on the surface and on the outside, but first he wants to cleanse us from within. He knows that the dirtiest place dwells deep within us. The once place that needs the most cleaning and housekeeping is our heart. Jesus doesn't baby us with "feel good sponge baths", he washes us from head to toe, inside and out. (He gets our minds, our hearts and our everything.) The sins that dirty our lives aren't sponged away with a bar of soap and a washcloth. They are blasted away with the overflowing hydrant of God's grace, his love shown in his ultimate sacrifice of his son's life on the Cross. Now here's a part that makes my eyes tear up a bit and my heart inside get all tingly...after Jesus washes us, cleanses us from head to toe, he doesn't just ask us to pay our token and head back on the road of life. No...he indwells us. If we will allow him to, he deposits within us. He speaks life to our spirits and passion to our souls. Now the thing about deposits is that as human beings we have a horrible habit of letting them build, build, build and build, all the while telling ourselves that we'll use them later, we're just saving them for later. Slowly we allow those deposits to become dusty and dirty them with other things we fill ourselves with. When God deposits within us, we need to step out and use those deposits, we need to freely speak his name, show his love, live with grace and forgiveness and TRUST that God will continue depositing within us as he indwells us. :) Aren't we blessed, lucky even, to have a God that loves us enough to toss aside the sponge and blast us from head to toe in his cleansing grace?

Smile today because God created you beautifully.
Fussing about how you look today? Don't look in the mirror, walk away and thank God for creating you for giving you breath.
Feeling a little dirty on the inside? Put away those sponges and let Jesus clean you from head to toe. All you've got to do is ask!
Mosquitos pestering you again? Let Jesus squish them.
Be much blessed dear ones! We serve an awesome God!