GOOD EVENING! I played something for you tonight.

This beloved traditional African-American spiritual has been on my mind lately, and the Lord has been speaking to me through it - and since it's been raining in Central Texas today for the first time in ages, I thought it was the perfect time to share.

Do you ever feel like you need some junk cleansed out of your life? I've certainly have: heartache, bad habits, mistakes, and sins that feel like they accumulate like gunk in an engine -- or, in my case, gutters.

I recently noticed my rain gutters weren't working right, so I got up there on a ladder and saw a thick wall of dirt, twigs, and debris had built up and blocked everything. I cleared out a good chunk then got a big bucket of water and poured it all in the channels, and the result was quite glorious - the rushing flow caught up all the debris and cleansed it all down the drain. Clean and good as new.

Jesus invites us to come to Him and "cast all of our cares upon Him, because He cares for us" (1 Peter 5:7). He promises to give us "beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3).

So take a moment, settle in, and enjoy this song.

I pray the Spirit of the Lord washes over you.