The Grooming Process

My wife and I were grooming our dog Rocky. He’s a toy yorkie and although he is small he has a lot of fight in him. My wife Kawonia washed Rocky the other day and of course he tried to escape his cleansing when he felt he had a chance. He nearly jumped out of the sink, and he would have fell flat on his head had she not caught him in time. He was risking serious injury when all she was trying to do was clean him up. All Rocky was thinking about was how uncomfortable he was, instead of looking at his need and what had to be done to keep him healthy and clean. Kawonia dried Rocky and brushed him (which was also a fight) and then we decided to cut his fur because it had been awhile. Previous times we would cut his fur down just enough before we got tired of fighting with him and said basically that we could live with trimming him some. This time we went all the way, a trimming was not going to be enough. We had to do some cutting! As I sat there holding Rocky and my wife began cutting his fur, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to show how we are just like Rocky. We try to escape when God says it is time for us to be cleansed. We also try to jump out of the “sink” before the cleansing process is finished, even at the risk of falling on our heads. We fight the drying and brushing because we don’t understand that God just wants us to be fresh and healthy. And when it comes to the cutting, we really fight! We don’t realize that he has to cut the obstructions from our eyes so that we may see clearer. We don’t understand that he has to cut the obstructions from our ears so that we may hear more soundly. We don’t understand the cutting of the excess around our body, so that things aren’t easily able to snare themselves and cling to us. The cutting seems bad because it is uncomfortable especially as we watch it fall from us. We spend much time looking at what was lost instead of seeing the need for it.

Job’s experience was very uncomfortable. We don’t always look at the grooming process with fondness. Little boys usually fight being washed and you can see a mother chasing after them in his escape attempt. I don’t know of any little boy who didn’t fight having his hair cut at one point out of fear. My sisters hated getting their hair braided. The grooming process is a daily process and when not done daily, it can become a hassle or even problematic. The longer we go unkempt the longer the grooming is. If we trim a little off the top, the sides and the back, the cutting process then doesn’t take so long or it might not even have to happen. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said “if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Jesus told us that if we want to resemble Him, we must trim ourselves of ourselves daily, grooming ourselves in daily total obedience and discipleship to Him. Once we have done that, then we can follow Him. We have to be groomed from head to soul….

Greetings!

I greet you all in the matchless name of Jesus Christ! My name is Rev. Carlton E. Neely and I am honored and pleased that you have come to share in God’s plan for me, you and quite frankly all of us. I have been in ministry since Dec 31 2000 when I finally accepted my calling from God and I was ordained Nov 28 2004. I felt a pull to come to ministry at an early age but I of course like others decided to fight it. Have you ever seen those contraptions where a mother has her kid tethered to a harness so that she can pull them back when she wants too? That harness was also meant to keep the child connected to her. Well that was basically what I felt God did with me, tethered me, pulling me back when I got as far as He felt I should go. I am forever grateful for that spiritual harness because it kept me from a lot more stuff that I would have gotten into.

I decided to start blogging after feeling the Lord calling me to a different platform to put the many things that He had given me to share. I would write poems here and there and I would write sermonettes in the notes section on my social media page and for a season I was content with that, feeling that those who were meant to see it would happen upon it eventually. I was content to keep myself hidden or better yet keep hidden what God gifted me with. As I was fasting and praying God dealt with me and placed it on my heart to take what He had given me and to go further. I was not being a good steward of the gifts He had given me and I was going to be held accountable for not doing what He said, and I didn’t want that!

The purpose of this blog actually has nothing to do with me; it is about all of us. This blog is meant to reach those who are lost, who are hurting, who feel alone, who know God but their faith is on empty sometimes, those who are spiritually bankrupt, those taken advantage of, those who have learned to be content with the good and the bad, those who are half-stepping, those running from God’s call on their life, those hurt by people in the church or those who just would like to spiritually grow more. I am tired of seeing people being spiritually abused, taken advantage of and led astray by others. I want as many people to be free as I (with the help of God of course) possibly can help to be free, and the only way I know how to do that is to show them Jesus. I’m just a lantern being used to help people find the way out of this dark sinful world. Please take my hand, let us walk on that road called Straight, even through the valley of the shadow of death together, knowing that we will get to that glorious destination that we long for, which is to see Jesus and to experience eternal life….