Saturday, July 6, 2013

Is God Comfortable in Your Home?


Is God Comfortable in Your Home?

Several years ago while listening to the Pastor’s sermon, I felt an overwhelming prompting from the Lord.  I sensed that HE wanted me to “clean up” my home since there were things that were displeasing to Him. I wasn’t aware there was a problem but I knew that I needed to take inventory as soon as I got home from church… and this prompting had nothing to do with the Pastor’s message, so I knew it was a “God thing!”

That night I prayed that the Lord would show me what needed to be purged from the house and I felt a strong impression to read Joshua 7… here’s the paraphrased version of what occurred in that chapter.

Joshua had just led the Israelites in conquering Jericho.  The people were ecstatic, and probably overconfident.  The next town to be conquered was Ai, so insignificant that Joshua only sent a few thousand men to fight them.  The men were ambushed and killed, and the people were shocked and extremely fearful.  The scripture says: “The hearts of the people melted and became like water. And then Joshua and the elders tore their clothes and fell down before the Ark of the lord.”  Joshua cried out to the Lord, “why would you give us such great success with Jericho, and then make us run from our enemies?”  He pleaded and begged God for an answer and God said, “Get up…Israel has sinned by keeping things from the battle of Jericho that were devoted to the Lord.  That is why they are running from their enemies and being defeated.”  And then the clincher: The Lord spoke to Joshua and said, “I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever is among you that is devoted to destruction.” 

Immediately I knew what the Lord was saying.  There were things in my home that were devoted to destruction….things that were potential hazards with my relationship with God. Let me say that these things were snares for MY household and for me as a worship leader and are not necessarily applicable to anyone else. Each person must determine what the Lord directs them to do respectively.

I asked the Lord to reveal anything in my home that was devoted to destruction, and as I took out a pen a paper, these snares were quickened to my heart.  Here are a few from the list that the Lord prompted me to remove quickly:

Videos that had language or inappropriate behavior

Videos for the kids that promoted spiritualism, innocent toys/pix, actually of demons

Music that had lyrics promoting ungodly lifestyles

Toys that promoted spiritualism and dabbling into anti-Christian themes

Books that propagated answers to problems that were contrary to the gospel

TV shows we watched that were not appropriate for a consecrated Christian.

The list went on. 

Once we purged our house of these destructive items, something dramatic literally happened overnight.  Because we chose to consecrate our house to the Lord, it affected our kids’ spiritual lives, as well as Grace and mine. Anyone who entered my home from that point on said, “This is a house of peace”…there was something special you felt when entering the home.  I believe it was because the Spirit of the Lord was comfortable there.

God requires all of us to make sure that our homes are pleasing to HIM.  As we prepare to face the years ahead, I pray the Lord would reveal those things “devoted to destruction” and anything else that could hinder our relationship with Him. The challenge for us is simple…is God comfortable in your home?


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