Stay Alert

Last night I received a dream from the Lord.  In my dream Scott and I were looking for a new rental house.  We had visited a few over the previous months and finally decided on a large one we had seen a few months earlier.  We rented it without going back to look at it again.

On the day we began to move our things into the home, I went into the back of the house where the bedrooms were located and discovered that there were over 30 cats of various ages living in the back half of the house.  They were all friendly but were very demanding for attention.  They had also left their waste everywhere.  

We saw the landlord out in the yard and went out to talk to her about the cats.  She said that people had been dumping cats in the yard.  She had been feeding them, and they had figured out how to get into the house and had taken over the back half.  

I told her we would not live with them!  We had two cats and two dogs of our own.  She said she did not know what to do about them.  I told her she could take them to the shelter, and they would find them good homes.  She said she did not want to take them because they would ask her a bunch of personal questions.  When I told her we would take them for her in our name, she gave us to green light.  

Rounding up all those cats was a chore, but eventually they were all caught and taken to the shelter.  However, the work had just begun.  We now had to remove all their waste and clean up the mess they had made. 

I woke up and God began to speak to me about the dream.  Like the cats, sin leaves a residue in our souls that must be cleaned up even after the sin is dealt with in order to purify our temple. We do this by the renewing of our minds.  Romans 12:2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV) 

We cannot allow sin to take up residence, unchecked in our minds/lives.  We cannot tolerate sin in any form! It is a lie of the enemy that causes us to believe we are in control of the sin, that we can stop whenever we want, when the opposite is true, sin always takes control of us and takes us farther than we want to go and costs us more than we want to pay.  The enemy plays dirty and for keeps! He lures us in with tempting thoughts and then pounces to destroy us when we let the thoughts run their sinful course.

Like the cats in my dream, sin multiplies and leaves a mess in our souls that must be dealt with.  If we do not deal with it, we will eventually find that Holy Spirit has no room to dwell in us.  He will be pushed to a corner, and we will struggle to hear his voice over the sounds and voices of the enemy.  

Sin cannot be tolerated or entertained!  It must be eradicated the moment Holy Spirit identifies it to us.  

In the dream, if the landlord had removed each cat as it was dumped in the yard, the house would have stayed clean.  The same holds true in our lives.  When sin tries to enter, we must STOP it before it gets a foothold.

There are four steps we must take to keep sin out of our temple (our soul man – our heart and mind).  

First, we must repent and turn away from the sin.  Keep in mind that all sin begins with a thought.  It is not sin when it crosses our minds.  The old saying goes something like this: You cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair.  The same is true with thoughts, they will come but we do not have to entertain them.  Sin begins when we dwell on those thoughts rather than taking them captive and kicking them out.  If the enemy cannot get us to dwell on the thoughts he plants in our mind, he cannot get us to sin!

Second, we must take all thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). (AMPC)

We take them captive by refuting them with the TRUTH of the WORD.  When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:1-11), his only words to the enemy were direct quotes from the scripture.  He did not engage the enemy in conversation.  He did not try to prove his point with his own human wisdom.  He simply quoted the TRUTH that refuted the enemy’s lie!  

I say simply because stating the truth is simple.  However, the enemy will not give up with one thought.  He will keep at us to see if he can weaken our resolve to take our thoughts captive.  Again, we look at the temptation of Jesus.  The enemy did not leave after Jesus’ first victory, on the contrary, he came back twice more with new temptations. And again, we see that Jesus simply quoted the refuting scriptures.  

We must not grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9) but remain on the alert. 1 Peter 5:8-9 warns, Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. (AMPC)

Third, we must meditate on the Word of God.  Meditation has been given a bad reputation by those who practice Eastern religions which involve a form of “meditation” that’s purpose is to open one up to the spirit realm, essentially allowing demons to speak and guide the individual.  

For a Christian, meditation is intended to keep one’s mind renewed by focusing on and thinking about the Word throughout our day.  As believers we are already “open” to the spiritual realm.  The spirit realm is the realm in which we live.  Earth is not our home.  We are seated with Christ in Heavenly places (the spirit realm). 

Ephesians 2:6 states, And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

When believers meditate, we are pondering a particular scripture passage or spiritual truth.  We are allowing Holy Spirit to teach us truths from the Word.  Meditation allows the Word to take deep root in our spirit and causes it to grow our faith and guide our lives.  

John 8:31-32, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  

Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines abiding as: Dwelling; remaining; continuing; enduring; awaiting.  Meditating on the Word is dwelling on, remaining and continuing to think about or pondering it.  This is how we endure until the end as we await our blessed hope of ruling and reigning with Christ throughout eternity.  

Finally, we must stay accountable.  In my dream the landlord did not want to answer the personal questions, so she never took the cats to the shelter but allowed them to take over her home, so too many believers try to live their Christian life on their own, so they do not have to be vulnerable to others.  

Psalm 100:3 tells us, Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (ESV) Did you read that, we are the sheep of his pasture.  How do sheep stray protected?  In the flock.  Sheep are far safer if they stay in close relationship (proximity) to the other sheep.  The same is true for us.  We need others to come along side us to encourage us, hold us accountable, pray with/for us….  

Accountability is defined as: The state of being liable (responsible) to answer for one's conduct; liability to give account (Webster 1828). We need others who will hold us responsible for our conduct.  Those who will ask us to “give account” for our thought life, our daily Christian walk, our commitment to holiness.  

If you do not currently have someone like this in your life, I encourage you to ask Holy Spirit to lead you to know who to talk to about becoming your accountability partner in this season.  I know that in different seasons I have had different individuals who held me accountable.  

In conclusion, we must be on the alert against the lies of the enemy. We must guard our heart and mind with all diligence for out of it flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). To do this we must, repent and turn away from the sin, take all thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ, meditate on the Word of God, and we must stay accountable. 

Jesus is returning for a Bride without spot or wrinkle.  We must keep our temple clean and our robes white!