Where I live, there is a river nearby. Back in the day, the riverfront was an area of great activity. Warehouses were built to accommodate the massive amounts of merchandise that was being shipped up and down the river. The owners of the warehouses built strong fences and walls to keep the merchandise from being stolen. There was only one entrance to the property and that entrance was protected by security personnel 24 hours a day. No one was allowed onto the property unless they had a reason to be there. Now, the guard shacks sit empty. The walls and fences are in disrepair or missing and anyone can find a way into the buildings without any difficulty. As the weather turns colder, more and more people make their way into these abandoned warehouses and set up living quarters. They are called "squatters". They take up residency in property that is not theirs. Eventually, the word gets out to others that there is room in these abandoned warehouses and they become filled with squatters trying to survive the harsh winter environment.
Our body is our earthly shelter for our soul. Like a warehouse, the valuable material is inside the shelter and a layer of defense is around it to protect it. Our soul is the valuable material and our body protects our soul from the negative influences of this world. The warehouse has a guard shack at each of the entrances and, when there is valuable material inside, they are fully manned to keep out those that might do harm. Our body has entrances where messages from the outside world can be funneled into our soul. The soul receives messages through our ears, our eyes, and our skin. Our body has the ability to set up guard shacks at these entrances and provide a strong defense against messages that might do harm to our soul.
The question is: how strong is our defense against the messages that might do harm?
Before we can answer that question, we must first believe that our soul is worth defending. If we don't see our soul as being "valuable," then why would we protect it? If our shelter is empty and void of any value, then who cares what takes up residency in our shelter.
You must first believe that you are valuable to someone.
How do you assign a value to someone?
Is there anyone in your life that is happy to see you?
There is a certain internal joy that boils up inside a person when they see someone that obviously cares for them. But what if the world has removed all of the caring people from your life? There may not be any caring PEOPLE in your life but there certainly is one that loves you deeply. God loves you! He loves you more than you can possibly imagine. He has assigned a value to you that is greater than any measuring device can measure. He has given you a gift that is the greatest gift ever. All you have to do is accept it, and believe in Him. He has given you the ability to live all of eternity with Him in Heaven. It cost Him the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus' blood has covered the cost of ALL of our sins... Yes, even that one.
OK - let's stop right there... because we have to deal with that voice in your head. Yes, the one that just told you that God would never forgive you for.... (fill in with that awful thing that you did).
We are God's creation! He created us out of love! He loves us unconditionally... no matter what. He want's us to love Him back. That message needs to be received into our soul. Repeatedly. Unfortunately, our guard shacks are unmanned and this message is getting lost in all of the worlds negativity. We need to man our guard shacks so that only God's message of love can get through. You see, there are two entities that want your valuable soul. One has determined to force you into his way of thinking and the other has offered you the free will to choose which one you want. Which approach is based in love?
Perhaps you've heard the saying "If you love someone, set them free. If they return, they are yours forever. If they don't, they never were." God created us. God loves us and He gives us the free will to choose. Satan doesn't want us to know God. He has provided a great deal of emptiness wrapped in glitz and glamour to force us to choose him. When we follow his ways, they always lead to eternal emptiness and great loss.
You have great intrinsic value to God and He is the only entity that matters! He sent His Son to earth to die for your sins so that you could be with Him in heaven for all of eternity. Your soul is worth defending! Let's place some guards in those guard shacks! Let's make sure that the only messages that reach our soul are messages that are going to do good to our soul. We don't want any "Spiritual Squatters" in our shelter! You see, once we understand that there is a spiritual war being fought around us (and through us) and what is being sought is our souls, the world becomes a completely different picture.
So back to that voice in your head. That is a "Spiritual Squatter" - a negative thought that needs to be evicted. Negativity flees in the light of love! It's time to surround ourselves with the light of love. You are loved and you are valuable. Our guards need to keep out negativity - but what does that mean?
Let's start with what you hear. If you listen to music, are you listening to music that is filled with references to love? Not references to sex, but to love. There is a HUGE difference. Sex is NOT love. There are way too many songs that are enticing society into thinking sex is the answer to everything. These songs are popularized by the lost. They always have a good beat and cause us to start gyrating in ways that then entice men to think sexual thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I love a driving beat and a good dance mix but we need to be aware of the end destination. These all work together to drive us down a path - a path that can lead to destruction if we let it.
We need to make sure that we are monitoring what we listen to. We need to be aware of the message. Too many of us believe that we can listen to the music and not the lyrics and it will be okay. It is a lie!! Throughout all of history, music has been used to memorize historical events so they are passed down from generation to generation. It is far easier to remember something that has a tune around it. If we take a message and wrap it into a tune it is captured in our brains and is repeated. "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Here's another example, "I like big butts and I cannot lie... no other brother can deny..." (maybe you don't know that one but you get the point)
Let's set a guard around what we hear. Let's ask God to strengthen our ability to be aware of what is going into our soul. Then, let's ask God to give us the strength to remove the messages that aren't nourishing our soul and ask Him to provide messages that will nourish our soul. Removing this constant barrage of negativity from our ears will have an amazing impact on how we respond to other things in our lives. Believe it or not, our response to other things in our lives will be different if we control the amount of negativity that enters our soul.
Next, let's discuss what we watch or what our eyes see. Over my life, I cannot believe the speed at which television has degraded from dramatic entertainment to constant violence, rage and sexual references. There was a comedian when I was kid that made references to the seven words you can't say on television... that list is now down to just two. By constantly barraging our souls with messages of graphic violence, anger, rage and hate messages, we change the way we respond to real life situations. Rather than being concerned about the well-being of the other person involved in an auto accident, we quickly lash out at them for being stupid for not seeing our car or not yielding. But it's not just television. The internet offers our eyes anything we wish to see without regulation. Pornography rules the internet and in doing so it enslaves our souls. Pornography makes us think that every person is just interested in having sex or that sex is the only reason for our existence. Anything that causes us to change the way we respond to situations in our lives is a "Spiritual Squatter."
Let's set a guard around what we watch or see. Let's ask God to strengthen our ability to be aware of what we are watching. Let's ask God to give us the strength to remove this type of message from our lives and watch something that actually builds up our soul.
Next, the skin. Touch is one of the most powerful sensations in this world. A loving touch can bring so much pleasure and a hateful touch can bring so much pain. Sex and violence are two polar opposites of the sensational world of touch. Sex, when used incorrectly, is a "Spiritual Squatter" that destroys our self image. Oh sure it feels great!! And it should, because God created us to enjoy each others touch and sex is the ultimate touch... but it's meant for those that have already committed themselves to each other. When sex occurs between two individuals that are not committed to each, it clouds their thinking. It causes drama. It makes the two feel like they have so much in common. It's one of Satan's most powerful tools to lead souls to emptiness. Violence is inflicting pain on someone. At the root of violence is hate and hate is the opposite of love. It's no surprise that violence is also one of Satan's powerful tools. It makes the person feel more powerful as they beat another human into submission or oblivion.
We need to set a guard around our sensation of touch. Obviously, certain skin to skin contact is desired but once the desire starts to grow, we need to be mindful of where it's going and the damage it may do. Let's ask God to give us the strength to draw an appropriate line that we will not cross until we are in a committed relationship. Let's ask God to help us control our anger and rage so that we don't inflict pain on others. Both of these are "Spiritual Squatters" that will lead to a downward spiral into emptiness and loneliness.
All of these "Spiritual Squatters" are tools of Satan that will be used to show that we are not worthy of God's love. You see, Satan roams the world like a lion seeking those in which to devour. Instead of the phrase, "spiritual squatters" we could use the word "demons." We allow demons to enter our body when we don't have strong defenses. God's holy word is the strong defense that opens our eyes to God's love and shines His light into our darkness. When His light shines, the demons flee. When the demons flee, they make room for goodness to return to our souls. When we regularly read the Holy Bible and send nourishment to our souls through scriptures, we are strengthening our security guards in our guard shacks. The more strength we give them the faster they identify the evil messages that are constantly trying to overcome our defenses. After awhile, the demons move on to others that don't have strong defenses. That's why we need to be constantly reaching out to others to help build up their defenses.
I am here to help you build up your defenses. If you have questions, please ask. If you have prayer requests, please send them. If you would like to know more, please leave comments.
We must all work together to help each other in this spiritual battle to remove our spiritual squatters.
The Shepherd
Our body is our earthly shelter for our soul. Like a warehouse, the valuable material is inside the shelter and a layer of defense is around it to protect it. Our soul is the valuable material and our body protects our soul from the negative influences of this world. The warehouse has a guard shack at each of the entrances and, when there is valuable material inside, they are fully manned to keep out those that might do harm. Our body has entrances where messages from the outside world can be funneled into our soul. The soul receives messages through our ears, our eyes, and our skin. Our body has the ability to set up guard shacks at these entrances and provide a strong defense against messages that might do harm to our soul.
The question is: how strong is our defense against the messages that might do harm?
Before we can answer that question, we must first believe that our soul is worth defending. If we don't see our soul as being "valuable," then why would we protect it? If our shelter is empty and void of any value, then who cares what takes up residency in our shelter.
You must first believe that you are valuable to someone.
How do you assign a value to someone?
Is there anyone in your life that is happy to see you?
There is a certain internal joy that boils up inside a person when they see someone that obviously cares for them. But what if the world has removed all of the caring people from your life? There may not be any caring PEOPLE in your life but there certainly is one that loves you deeply. God loves you! He loves you more than you can possibly imagine. He has assigned a value to you that is greater than any measuring device can measure. He has given you a gift that is the greatest gift ever. All you have to do is accept it, and believe in Him. He has given you the ability to live all of eternity with Him in Heaven. It cost Him the life of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus' blood has covered the cost of ALL of our sins... Yes, even that one.
OK - let's stop right there... because we have to deal with that voice in your head. Yes, the one that just told you that God would never forgive you for.... (fill in with that awful thing that you did).
We are God's creation! He created us out of love! He loves us unconditionally... no matter what. He want's us to love Him back. That message needs to be received into our soul. Repeatedly. Unfortunately, our guard shacks are unmanned and this message is getting lost in all of the worlds negativity. We need to man our guard shacks so that only God's message of love can get through. You see, there are two entities that want your valuable soul. One has determined to force you into his way of thinking and the other has offered you the free will to choose which one you want. Which approach is based in love?
Perhaps you've heard the saying "If you love someone, set them free. If they return, they are yours forever. If they don't, they never were." God created us. God loves us and He gives us the free will to choose. Satan doesn't want us to know God. He has provided a great deal of emptiness wrapped in glitz and glamour to force us to choose him. When we follow his ways, they always lead to eternal emptiness and great loss.
You have great intrinsic value to God and He is the only entity that matters! He sent His Son to earth to die for your sins so that you could be with Him in heaven for all of eternity. Your soul is worth defending! Let's place some guards in those guard shacks! Let's make sure that the only messages that reach our soul are messages that are going to do good to our soul. We don't want any "Spiritual Squatters" in our shelter! You see, once we understand that there is a spiritual war being fought around us (and through us) and what is being sought is our souls, the world becomes a completely different picture.
So back to that voice in your head. That is a "Spiritual Squatter" - a negative thought that needs to be evicted. Negativity flees in the light of love! It's time to surround ourselves with the light of love. You are loved and you are valuable. Our guards need to keep out negativity - but what does that mean?
Let's start with what you hear. If you listen to music, are you listening to music that is filled with references to love? Not references to sex, but to love. There is a HUGE difference. Sex is NOT love. There are way too many songs that are enticing society into thinking sex is the answer to everything. These songs are popularized by the lost. They always have a good beat and cause us to start gyrating in ways that then entice men to think sexual thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I love a driving beat and a good dance mix but we need to be aware of the end destination. These all work together to drive us down a path - a path that can lead to destruction if we let it.
We need to make sure that we are monitoring what we listen to. We need to be aware of the message. Too many of us believe that we can listen to the music and not the lyrics and it will be okay. It is a lie!! Throughout all of history, music has been used to memorize historical events so they are passed down from generation to generation. It is far easier to remember something that has a tune around it. If we take a message and wrap it into a tune it is captured in our brains and is repeated. "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Here's another example, "I like big butts and I cannot lie... no other brother can deny..." (maybe you don't know that one but you get the point)
Let's set a guard around what we hear. Let's ask God to strengthen our ability to be aware of what is going into our soul. Then, let's ask God to give us the strength to remove the messages that aren't nourishing our soul and ask Him to provide messages that will nourish our soul. Removing this constant barrage of negativity from our ears will have an amazing impact on how we respond to other things in our lives. Believe it or not, our response to other things in our lives will be different if we control the amount of negativity that enters our soul.
Next, let's discuss what we watch or what our eyes see. Over my life, I cannot believe the speed at which television has degraded from dramatic entertainment to constant violence, rage and sexual references. There was a comedian when I was kid that made references to the seven words you can't say on television... that list is now down to just two. By constantly barraging our souls with messages of graphic violence, anger, rage and hate messages, we change the way we respond to real life situations. Rather than being concerned about the well-being of the other person involved in an auto accident, we quickly lash out at them for being stupid for not seeing our car or not yielding. But it's not just television. The internet offers our eyes anything we wish to see without regulation. Pornography rules the internet and in doing so it enslaves our souls. Pornography makes us think that every person is just interested in having sex or that sex is the only reason for our existence. Anything that causes us to change the way we respond to situations in our lives is a "Spiritual Squatter."
Let's set a guard around what we watch or see. Let's ask God to strengthen our ability to be aware of what we are watching. Let's ask God to give us the strength to remove this type of message from our lives and watch something that actually builds up our soul.
Next, the skin. Touch is one of the most powerful sensations in this world. A loving touch can bring so much pleasure and a hateful touch can bring so much pain. Sex and violence are two polar opposites of the sensational world of touch. Sex, when used incorrectly, is a "Spiritual Squatter" that destroys our self image. Oh sure it feels great!! And it should, because God created us to enjoy each others touch and sex is the ultimate touch... but it's meant for those that have already committed themselves to each other. When sex occurs between two individuals that are not committed to each, it clouds their thinking. It causes drama. It makes the two feel like they have so much in common. It's one of Satan's most powerful tools to lead souls to emptiness. Violence is inflicting pain on someone. At the root of violence is hate and hate is the opposite of love. It's no surprise that violence is also one of Satan's powerful tools. It makes the person feel more powerful as they beat another human into submission or oblivion.
We need to set a guard around our sensation of touch. Obviously, certain skin to skin contact is desired but once the desire starts to grow, we need to be mindful of where it's going and the damage it may do. Let's ask God to give us the strength to draw an appropriate line that we will not cross until we are in a committed relationship. Let's ask God to help us control our anger and rage so that we don't inflict pain on others. Both of these are "Spiritual Squatters" that will lead to a downward spiral into emptiness and loneliness.
All of these "Spiritual Squatters" are tools of Satan that will be used to show that we are not worthy of God's love. You see, Satan roams the world like a lion seeking those in which to devour. Instead of the phrase, "spiritual squatters" we could use the word "demons." We allow demons to enter our body when we don't have strong defenses. God's holy word is the strong defense that opens our eyes to God's love and shines His light into our darkness. When His light shines, the demons flee. When the demons flee, they make room for goodness to return to our souls. When we regularly read the Holy Bible and send nourishment to our souls through scriptures, we are strengthening our security guards in our guard shacks. The more strength we give them the faster they identify the evil messages that are constantly trying to overcome our defenses. After awhile, the demons move on to others that don't have strong defenses. That's why we need to be constantly reaching out to others to help build up their defenses.
I am here to help you build up your defenses. If you have questions, please ask. If you have prayer requests, please send them. If you would like to know more, please leave comments.
We must all work together to help each other in this spiritual battle to remove our spiritual squatters.
The Shepherd
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