Spiritual Clutter
Have you ever looked around at your home and thought it would be easier to pack everything up and sell it than to clean and organize. Or the thought that with all the clutter building up it would be ok if a fire burned everything up and you got a clean slate at a clutter free life. Although both are extreme ideas, sometimes it is so overwhelming how much stuff we accumulate over the years, it isn’t really a matter of something we did, it is more like something we didn’t do. Stuff just keeps piling up as we refuse to throw away the unimportant. We hold onto things that really don’t have a purpose other than to take up space.
In our world it is also very easy to pick up and store spiritual clutter inside of us. Our hearts are filled with good and bad and the unimportant. Sometimes it gets so bad that it is like an episode of hoarders and it feels like I would be easier to just pack up everything and throw it out or to ask God to set our hearts on fire and burn it all up. But usually God just asks that we take the time with him to sit and sort. We have Holy Spirit fire moments where we get to have a little bonfire of bondage or times when God just shows up and takes out the trash. But God’s desire is for us to stop the problem at the source and to do that we need to be aware of the constant clutter that this world creates and how to guard our minds and hearts in such a way to keep the clutter at bay.
Your mind was never meant to be a dump site for garbage and the less we guard against it, the more the enemy can gain a foothold and what started in the mind has now relocated to the heart until we are completely surrounded by the good, the bad and the unimportant leaving no room for the extraordinary. And all the bad inside starts to taint all the good inside as it is allowed to rot inside. If you ever feel completely filled and overwhelmed and yet empty in so many ways it may be time for some spring cleaning. Allow the word of God to penetrate through the chaos and find a verse that can stand at the gateway of your mind sorting through the good, the bad and the unimportant.
Romans 12:1-2 is my scale.
“Therefore I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Smokescreen
When the enemy attacks he often uses tactics that disarm, or paralyze us, confuse and alarm our senses. One such tactic is the smokescreen. I have felt foggy lately, unable to concentrate, unable to rest, irritated and somewhat overwhelmed. I have not been able to see the forest through the trees. I feel as though as soon as I start focusing on the chaos I am done for. One well placed lie and I am walking through a wall of smoke, like a smokescreen, I walk around hurting myself and others because I can’t find my way out, and the more I run or struggle, the more I fight the worse it gets. Sometimes when you are lost it is best to just stay where you are and wait for your rescue, but what do you do when the quality of air around you is harming your health. I would refer to this place as the smokescreen of Hell. Satan knows that if he can keep you blind and choking on a poison that you yourself begin to create out of a negativity that he has won.
What do we do, Once the cycle of negativity has begun? How do we get out? First we need new air. We need Joy and Peace. Philippians 4:4-9 (Here is our air quality test and purification plan) “Always be full of Joy in the Lord. I say it again- rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace. Which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me- everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
First: “Always be full of Joy in the Lord. I say it again- rejoice!” Does your day start with a hallelujah and continue to build in praise to your king throughout the day? Be full… Meaning fill yourself until you can not contain it any longer and then continue to let it be so. Rejoice. How do we rejoice? Do we rejoice by turning inward and focusing upon ourselves or do we get filled with Joy as we ponder and praise the goodness of our God, of our maker of our king.?The smoke is created by kicking up a fire of selfishness. If we keep poking at all the problems then we get ourselves stuck in a smoky mess, instead shout out to God with a voice of triumph.
Second: “Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember the Lord is coming soon.” In our attempt to free ourselves from this unhappy place we often fend for ourselves and end up hurting others in the process, we slander others and put expectations and demands on them to change, to be better, to do unto us what we would like, but Christ offered a different idea- to serve not based on who deserves it, but to lay it all down in complete love and sacrifice to the least of these. We often think “when we are in a better place, then…” No! stop putting conditions on your love. Be considerate in all you do.
Third: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he has done . Then you will experience God’s peace. Which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The smokescreen visual is appropriate for worry because as we run around in fear we just get tired,lost and nothing is accomplished, but when we pray the focus shifts from the cloud of smoke to He who is greater, We thank him, not when something happens but we thank him before, knowing that he is in control. We trade our fear for faith and he gives us peace and that peace guards us and goes beyond our understanding. We don’t have to know how it is going to happen as long as we know who is in control.
Fourth: ”And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Your attitude will dictate your actions and your attitude is controlled by your thoughts. If our thoughts are allowed to drift and wander into the dark smoke our actions will remain in that dark place too. If you want out of the mire and the smokescreen then you have to stop worrying... but then fill your mind with good, because your mind left empty will fill with what it sees and most of the time we are not looking at the right things. Think about what is true… The word of God is pure truth! Fill yourself with it’s truth. Stop reading the gossip about unimportant things and start thinking about things that are excellent and worthy of praise, read stories about people who have done great things for God and who focus on his plans. Stop watching useless garbage on TV about people with empty life goals and focus on things that are truly worthy of praise. You have been given people in your space that are Godly and filled whatever is pure and honorable and noble and right, Surround yourself with these people.
Fifth: "Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me- everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” We have the word of God as our guide to walk us out of times when we feel as though we can not see. It is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path! We don't just get God's peace, we get "the God" of peace with us. We often seek out the gifts of God rather than the presence of God.
Of all the attacks that the enemy has planned against us we must remember that of all the armor we have to protect us we have one piece that is our weapon. We have the Word of Truth. The Sword of the Spirit.
John 1:1-5
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
This verse is thick and their is a lot of truth to take in but the core of this verse is about the Word, the word becoming man (Christ). Our weapon is Christ, he is the Word! every word of God is living and active and we should desire that encounter. verses 4 and 5 are about the smokescreen, this battle of light and dark. "The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it." What an amazing and powerful truth we need to understand here. The enemies weapons are no match for the light that Christ's life have brought to us.
So we are left with a choice as we find ourselves in the midst of a smokescreen. We can wander and be caught up in the dark or we can walk with the light and step out of the darkness.
Hung Up…
Have you ever been so hung up on someone else’s life that you couldn’t focus on your own. I don’t mean an obsession but rather just a small reoccurring voice that points out the little things that others do wrong or right, that rub up next to you in such a way that causes either judgment or comparison. If you answered no then listen up because I think we are very unaware of the fact that as we are in a state of constant comparison and judgment.
We turn on the TV and chances are we find one extreme or the other; People royally screwing up and making us feel better about ourselves or people living the life we could only dream. Magazines are lined with comparison and marketing tools to make us want to be someone else. And then there is the internet. Pinterest is called the fantasy football of women because we can fantasize about cooking like a chef, dressing like a model, being more organized, taking amazing trips and so much more but it is literally a picture gallery of all the things I could be doing better. And if you aren‘t thoroughly convinced yet that our world specializes in comparison and judgment let‘s talk about Facebook; A site that specializes in being a platform for people to try to keep up with the Joneses.
The point isn’t that social media is an onslaught of negative attention and a slippery slope for the battlefield of your mind it is that we are perhaps spending more time on the battlefield getting beat up than we are in the armory sharpening our weapons or in the infirmary getting healed.
I am very aware of my tendencies towards judgment and comparison and yet I still get “Hung Up”. One such situation is from last night at church. I was waiting to be prayed for by someone with a very beautiful prophetic gifting. As I sat waiting I tried to pray, but my mind kept racing around in circles. What was God going to speak into my life about? Would it be an answer to one of the many questions I have for God? I sat and sorted through some of those questions and one had me very hung up because it was about someone close to me. I then asked God if the way they were living out their relationship with him was right or wrong and if he could tell me so that I could either do what they were doing or I could do my own thing and feel better about it. No answer. As my turn came and went I was given an amazing very personal and real insight into God’s plans for me. But no insight into the nagging question in the back of my mind. One thing that did happen though was that when God honed in on my life and got very specific about me, I didn’t care about comparing myself to others because in that moment I was very satisfied to be me.
We rob ourselves of our destiny and God’s vision for our lives when we try to fit ourselves into other peoples lives. How very condescending of me to ask God if my brother and sisters in Christ are sinning so that I may be judge and jury. How very wrong of me to cling to the giftings and purposes of others when God has a hand full of that for me. We cannot take what God has gifted to us if our hands are full of other peoples stuff. The last Commandment given to the Israelites in Exodus 20:17 “You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.”
Coveting seems like a pretty mild sin in comparison to murder and stealing, we even water it down to the first part and say don’t lust after another man’s wife but the verse finishes out with not coveting “Anything else that belongs to your neighbor”
I have played in this pool of coveting other peoples purpose. I have wanted God to gift me with other peoples giftings. But this is a sin. And it is probably the most unchecked sin running rampant in the church today. Instead of grabbing a hold with both hands what God has for us individually we are trying to balance in one hand our life and in another hand someone else’s. I don’t know any better way to let go of the stuff that doesn’t belong to us than to hold onto with both hands what God has given us. Last night God didn’t want to speak to me about someone else and whether or not what they are doing is for me or not, He wanted to speak to me about me.
How do we let go of the things we so easily pick up when we are surrounded and bombarded at every turn? Paul talks about this to the Corinthians and the Philippians. We are to replace envy with Joy, be thankful when others do good in life or are blessed because God has done that for them. And replace judgment and worry for prayer and petition to God because those brothers and sisters need freedom and we can’t give it, only God can. Don’t try to fit through the door of other peoples destiny. Someone else’s blessing will be a curse if you take what does not belong to you. Someone else’s yoke does not fit. It would be a burden to carry someone else’s yoke, it would be too heavy or not heavy enough to plow the ground beneath, wasting time. We need to take upon us that which God has put before us. Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” He is speaking about what he gives to us, not what we take upon ourselves.
I fit through one door and instead of being sad that other doors are closed, rejoice for the door before you is beutiful and unique. God builds us each a special and unique destiny. He designs our purpose and our path like the master craftsman that he is. Each of us has an amazing story but if we keep trying to fit into someone else’s we are going to miss ours all together. Do not covet what your neighbor has, ask God what he has for you and hold on with both hands so that you can live a life that isn’t “Hung Up”.
