Friday Fight 180: An Unwelcome Guest
Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF180.
When preparing for a special event or gathering, what comes to mind as necessary preparations? Ensuring the space is thoroughly clean is typically high on the priority list, along with whatever else is needed to ensure the event's success. Of course, we all want a perfectly curated outcome and a warm, inviting space, but have we also considered the importance of spiritual preparations for the event as well? What does it mean to spiritually prepare?
An Unwelcome Guest:
As many of you know, God has repeatedly opened many doors, allowing the birth of River Church. While we no longer hold services on the water, we still have a few special events, including a worship night in October. In preparation for this occasion, I have been deep cleaning, organizing, and feeling excited about a large gathering to praise God. Part of my preparations include lifting this event and those attending in prayer. While praying, I felt like the Holy Spirit revealed to my heart that God would protect our home, land, and service, but He can do very little about what is carried in our hearts as we walk through the front door. While God is protecting all the space around my house, if we hold a grudge against someone, we unknowingly open the door to darkness as an unwanted guest.
Understanding this lesson required additional time with God, but allowed a further explanation and analogy. For example, we can closely monitor our nutritional intake, watch the sugar our children eat, or use the Yuka app to guarantee we are not eating anything harmful. Again, what grows in the heart will extend to the body, contaminating our physical and emotional bodies by ignoring our spiritual bodies. Just as we take care of our physical health, it's equally important to take care of our spiritual health. Proverbs 4:23 warns us to guard our hearts above all else as everything we do flows from it. Our heart determines the course of our lives, and what is in our hearts will pollute our flesh and pour out of our mouths. Growing our own food, having chickens in our backyards, and eating clean using whatever app will do nothing if we haven't spoken to a sibling or friend because of a grudge we continue to carry— it’s time to acknowledge and let it go.
Grudges can be easily separated in our minds as unforgiveness because the hurt or anger may not be constant. When the pain comes and goes like a changing tide, we think less of placing it in the same category as hatred. Whether intermittent or repeated, bitterness contaminates the heart, which destroys the body. Even though we may imagine a grudge only applying to someone who has hurt us deeply, let’s look at this through another lens keeping in mind that darkness works to constantly manipulate. Consider the grudge that has developed from resenting someone we love, like a sister, a cousin, or spouse. It could stem from a comparison to another's life, while trying to manage our pain observing this seemingly pain-free person who is without problems. This is pride creeping into our hearts and poisoning us. What loved one do we hold a grudge against without realizing? Taking time to manage our hearts is just as important as managing what we put in our bodies or removing dirt from our homes. Giving these grudges to God will remove darkness, the unwanted guest from our hearts and homes. Ask God to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us!
Pastor Shannon
New Life River Church