Imagine you’ve been looking for a home, you finally found the perfect home, paid all of the closing costs, and you officially have the key to your new home. Now you’re ready to move in. You load up all of your boxes and furniture into the moving truck and say goodbye to your old house for good. When you arrive at your beautiful new home the movers begin to unload your things. All of a sudden, you see one of the movers coming back to the truck to tell you that they can’t unload your items into the house because it’s no room. Confused and surprised, you run into the house only to find the furniture from the previous owner still there, sheets still on the bed, clothes still hanging in the closets, dresser drawers still full of clothes and everything still unpacked and untouched. How would you feel?
Now, imagine how God must feel, when you profess that you’re a Christian and say that he is living on the inside of you, but you still have the devil’s attitude hanging up in the closet all ironed and ready to put on when someone rubs you the wrong way; You still have the devil’s sinful habits and addictions spread across the bed so you can find them whenever you’re feeling low; You still have his vulgar language and profanity sitting on the nightstand at arm’s length ready to be used every now and then. How do you think this makes our God feel?
When Christ moves into your heart, the devil and all of his junk has to go. Because Jesus has sheets of peace that he wants to decorate the bed with. He has curtains of love and joy that he wants to drape over the windows. He has a dresser full of blessings and miracles that he wants to put in the master bedroom. He has boxes and boxes of mercies that he wants to hang on the walls, but if the devil is still storing his junk in your life, then Jesus doesn’t have room to put any of these things.
And you wonder why you don’t have peace, joy and happiness. You wonder why God is not answering your prayers. Isaiah 59:1, 2 says that the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God. And your sins have hid his face from you.” You don’t have joy and peace because Jesus doesn’t have anywhere to put them. He can’t find a place to put the blessing that he has for you because envy and bitterness are all over the counter tops. He can’t find a place to put the healing he has for you because doubt and unbelief is still in the closets. He can’t find a place to put his peace because there’s gossip underneath the bed. He can’t put his joy anywhere because pride is hanging from the ceilings and sprawled all across the floor.
One thing you need to understand is that, in Christ, your life is made new. So if you are not in Christ, you can’t be made new until you accept Him into your life. If you say that you are in Christ, and you still do the same old things, then you need to check to see who is really living on the inside of you. Because the word of God says that if you say you have fellowship with Him and you walk in darkness, then you are lying (1 John 1:6). If you claim that you belong to him, but you live for yourself and don’t put away the sinful ways of living, this is hypocrisy. When you’re in Christ you don’t do the same things that you did when you were in sin because you’ve been made new. (2 Corinthians 5:17) You don’t have the same desires because you’ve been made new. Take a look at the works of the flesh: (Galatians 5:19-21) Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred…and many more. Now notice what it says at the end of verse 21: “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” There is absolutely no way you can make it into heaven with all of this stuff still in your house. You have to get rid of it, but you can’t do it by yourself. These things are too much for you to try to pack up and haul off on your own. You need some help. If you’re still lying and cheating, then you need some help packing (Rev. 21:8). If you’re still fornicating and committing adultery, then you need some help packing. If you don’t have a desire to read your word and pray and seek God’s face, but you have a desire to do everything else that pleases your flesh, then you need some help packing.
Let me refer you to a spiritual moving company called The Holy Ghost. It’ll help you pack up all of those sinful habits and haul them right on out of the way. And when The Holy Ghost gets through, you’ll be a different person…you’ll talk differently…you’ll think differently…you’ll act differently…your desires will change…And guess what? It won’t cost you a dime because the price has already been paid. Jesus paid for it when he died on the cross for your sins and mine. All you have to do is ask God to forgive you of all of your sins and to come into your life and save you and fill you with His Holy Ghost. Acts 1:8 says that you will receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you. Once the Holy Ghost gets finished, you’ll have the power to say no to sin, to hate what God hates, and to love what He loves.
So, who’s living on the inside of you?
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