BBD 02.08.05 Stealing The House
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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02.08.05
Stealing The House
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. - John
10:10a
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought
at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are
God's. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
When the parents of Jon Thomas moved to an assisted living center in 2000,
their house was closed up but not sold. They returned two days before
Christmas 2003 because his widowed mother has just passed away and it was
now their responsibility to take care of the house. It was a shock to Jon
(Who now lives in New York City.) when he returned to the house and found
someone living in it. Lights were on inside of the house with a large
Christmas display on the front lawn. Cars were parked at the rear of the
house. Jon said, “I was dumbfounded.”
Richard Lenard, 26, a man who had been a neighbor to Jon’s parents, moved
into the house after the parents had gone to live at the assisted living
center. He not only moved in but he had two estate sales in 2003 in which he
sold $180,000 worth of furnishings. Someone else is actually living in the
house now claiming ownership after buying the house from Lenard for $50,000
(worth much more). The deed was transferred based on a fake driver’s license
and a forged power of attorney.
Hard to believe someone would actually move into a home they did not own and
then begin to sell off the furnishings and even the house itself! However,
the devil has been in that same business for centuries and he has been very
successful.
When we receive Christ Jesus as our personal Savior the Holy Spirit takes up
residence in our life. We still have freewill and can decide to do things
that God does not want us to do. Instead of having God as an honored guest,
we may decide we want Him out of sight down in the basement somewhere. This
too seems to be a very strange thing to do. However, the apostle Paul knew
that was exactly what some people were doing because he refreshes the
memories of the Corinthians that they no longer own their own bodies. Their
bodies were bought and paid for with the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the
cross.
Sadly, far too many Christians have not only relegated God to a dingy room
in the basement of their lives but they have also invited the devil to move
in to one of the bedrooms. What they did not know is that the devil is a
house stealer. The devil wants to control more and more of the house.
Ultimately, the devil is worse than a house stealer - he is a house
destroyer and that is what he will do if you allow him to gain control of
your life. The downward spiral will begin with everything in your live
becoming worse and worse until you have been destroyed.
It doesn’t have to be that way! Ask the Holy Spirit to come back upstairs
and be in control of your life once again. In the Name of Jesus, kick that
old devil out and begin the upward spiral of things becoming better and
better. Because Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that
they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10b).”
Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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