Spiritual Shrubbery
It's a familiar scene in mystery stories...the detective moves slowly along, ear pressed against a wall..tapping, tapping, tapping. Somewhere around here there is a secret door - a hidden entrance. Maybe if he pulls the second book from the left a bookshelf will swivel around, or if he pulls down on that sconce hanging on the wall the back of the fireplace will lift up and reveal a passageway. These are places concealed and protected because often very special things are kept inside. Important information might be hidden there. Or maybe they simply lead to places of safety.
In the book of Job we learn about hedges of protection. The "hedge" is a literal spiritual barrier protecting us from the destruction of the enemy. Satan himself speaks of this hedge when talking to God about Job and how he hasn't been able to touch him. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?..." Job 1:10. I pray hedges of protection around my family every single day. We need all of the help we can get!
But what happens when that hedge is lifted? What happens when our secret place...our life, our heart and our mind...is left vulnerable and exposed? The enemy will waste no time in moving in! What happened to Job when his protection was temporarily lifted? He lost all of his livestock, all of his children were killed, and his health was attacked to the point that he wished he had never been born. It is NOT cool when Satan moves in and has free reign on certain areas of our life!
There are many ways that we can have vulnerable or weak spots in our hedges. I imagine it goes a little something like this: One of the enemy's minions goes skulking around our hedge tapping, tapping, tapping. He pokes and prods, looking for the tiniest hole, the littlest gap he can find. He's scanning along, eyes peeled, when suddenly a grinch-like grin spreads slowly across his face. "Hey, boss. I found one." Several of his buddies come running over...it's a big enough hole for them to stick their foot inside. They wiggle, twist, and turn, until suddenly - they're in! They've made it to the inside.
Welcome to a full-blown spiritual assault on your head, your heart, and your soul.
This happens all of the time. What causes these points of entry into our souls? Little things. Things we think that don't matter or that no one will ever find out about. Secret sins. Those lies we tell. That gossip we participate in. The anger and bitterness in our hearts toward that one person that we can't seem to get rid of. Those unholy thoughts we don't take captive and dwell too long on. That website we keep visiting. That show we watch. Those books we read. Anything and everything we do that we know is not something we should be doing or participating in...those "guilty pleasures"...they create weaknesses in our character and vulnerabilities in our spirit.
Satan will use ANYTHING he can to get a foothold in your life. All he needs is to get his foot in the door. After that, sin quickly moves in and builds faster than we can control it. It pounces like a roaring lion and before we know it, we are completely consumed by it. As the popular quote goes "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay." And it almost always starts with something small. It's just a whisper. Just an idea planted in your mind. Just a scene in your head. Before you know it - wham! The enemy strikes. From your head, to your heart, to your hands. Eventually it leaves you asking, "How did I get here??"
You got there because you let your guard down. You exposed yourself. You stopped listening to the quiet voice of God telling you, "Don't do that. I'm telling you. Do not do that." Psh, I can handle this one! God sees that little demon lurking around the corner. He speaks a little louder. "I'm telling you, you do NOT want to do that!" I'm fine! It's like yelling at the TV when someone in the scary movie is about to go someplace that they obviously shouldn't. God yells, "MY CHILD, I LOVE YOU, STOP DOING THAT!" You do it anyway. Here comes that sneaky snake looking for your weak spot...he finds it...and you can't say that you were never warned!
What is your weakness today? What is your guilty pleasure? Most of us probably don't have to think too hard or too long. Why? Because God has already been whispering to you what it is and telling you to knock it off. Please do not ever think that you have a handle on your secret sins. You definitely don't. What little bit of pleasure we might derive from our sins today will turn into nightmares later when the enemy decides to attack and we are left vulnerable.
I encourage you to pray today and ask God to search your heart, revealing the vulnerabilities you have in your spirit. Pray that he strengthens and fortifies your hedge. Make that hedge so thick and bulletproof that the enemy doesn't even bother wasting his time. Won't find any gaps here! Do you know something that brings God great honor and glory? Big 'ole thick hedges firmly planted around his children. It says something to the enemy. "Hey look. There are still some precious ones out there doing exactly what I have told them to do. You don't have control over ALL of them, after all." Make a statement in the spiritual realm today and make your dad proud. Strengthen your hedge and send Satan packing!
Peace!
In the book of Job we learn about hedges of protection. The "hedge" is a literal spiritual barrier protecting us from the destruction of the enemy. Satan himself speaks of this hedge when talking to God about Job and how he hasn't been able to touch him. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?..." Job 1:10. I pray hedges of protection around my family every single day. We need all of the help we can get!
But what happens when that hedge is lifted? What happens when our secret place...our life, our heart and our mind...is left vulnerable and exposed? The enemy will waste no time in moving in! What happened to Job when his protection was temporarily lifted? He lost all of his livestock, all of his children were killed, and his health was attacked to the point that he wished he had never been born. It is NOT cool when Satan moves in and has free reign on certain areas of our life!
There are many ways that we can have vulnerable or weak spots in our hedges. I imagine it goes a little something like this: One of the enemy's minions goes skulking around our hedge tapping, tapping, tapping. He pokes and prods, looking for the tiniest hole, the littlest gap he can find. He's scanning along, eyes peeled, when suddenly a grinch-like grin spreads slowly across his face. "Hey, boss. I found one." Several of his buddies come running over...it's a big enough hole for them to stick their foot inside. They wiggle, twist, and turn, until suddenly - they're in! They've made it to the inside.
Welcome to a full-blown spiritual assault on your head, your heart, and your soul.
This happens all of the time. What causes these points of entry into our souls? Little things. Things we think that don't matter or that no one will ever find out about. Secret sins. Those lies we tell. That gossip we participate in. The anger and bitterness in our hearts toward that one person that we can't seem to get rid of. Those unholy thoughts we don't take captive and dwell too long on. That website we keep visiting. That show we watch. Those books we read. Anything and everything we do that we know is not something we should be doing or participating in...those "guilty pleasures"...they create weaknesses in our character and vulnerabilities in our spirit.
Satan will use ANYTHING he can to get a foothold in your life. All he needs is to get his foot in the door. After that, sin quickly moves in and builds faster than we can control it. It pounces like a roaring lion and before we know it, we are completely consumed by it. As the popular quote goes "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay." And it almost always starts with something small. It's just a whisper. Just an idea planted in your mind. Just a scene in your head. Before you know it - wham! The enemy strikes. From your head, to your heart, to your hands. Eventually it leaves you asking, "How did I get here??"
You got there because you let your guard down. You exposed yourself. You stopped listening to the quiet voice of God telling you, "Don't do that. I'm telling you. Do not do that." Psh, I can handle this one! God sees that little demon lurking around the corner. He speaks a little louder. "I'm telling you, you do NOT want to do that!" I'm fine! It's like yelling at the TV when someone in the scary movie is about to go someplace that they obviously shouldn't. God yells, "MY CHILD, I LOVE YOU, STOP DOING THAT!" You do it anyway. Here comes that sneaky snake looking for your weak spot...he finds it...and you can't say that you were never warned!
What is your weakness today? What is your guilty pleasure? Most of us probably don't have to think too hard or too long. Why? Because God has already been whispering to you what it is and telling you to knock it off. Please do not ever think that you have a handle on your secret sins. You definitely don't. What little bit of pleasure we might derive from our sins today will turn into nightmares later when the enemy decides to attack and we are left vulnerable.
I encourage you to pray today and ask God to search your heart, revealing the vulnerabilities you have in your spirit. Pray that he strengthens and fortifies your hedge. Make that hedge so thick and bulletproof that the enemy doesn't even bother wasting his time. Won't find any gaps here! Do you know something that brings God great honor and glory? Big 'ole thick hedges firmly planted around his children. It says something to the enemy. "Hey look. There are still some precious ones out there doing exactly what I have told them to do. You don't have control over ALL of them, after all." Make a statement in the spiritual realm today and make your dad proud. Strengthen your hedge and send Satan packing!
Peace!
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