You know, sometimes God speaks through the funniest and oddest things. For that reason, I keep my spiritual ears attuned to listen for His voice. I had one of those moments this week.
My friend share with me that her 80-year-old mom had started asking her to pick something up for her to get rid of flies. After a few days, she purchased what she was asking for. It was called at Zevo – it was something you plug into an outlet that that gets rid of insects such as flies. While she didn’t find that particular brand, my friend did buy her mom one of the off brand insect traps. These are for the inside of the house, so my friend fully expected her mom to plug it in her house. That’s not what happened.
My friend went to her moms house a few days later to find this contraption plugged into an outlet on her porch – outside. Bewildered, she questioned her mom as to why she had it plugged in her porch when it was supposed to go in her house to keep flies out. Her mom’s answer was priceless. Maxine replied, “So I stop them before they get in the house.”
How do you argue with that logic? Marsha and I laughed and laughed about this. Yet, as I was laughing, God began to show me something.
Maxine wanted to stop the flies before they even got near her house – therefore she set this trap outside of her home. We need to do the same exact thing with the enemy and all those nasty things that try to get inside our home – or even our temple.
I’m talking about things like anger, frustration, bitterness, disappointment and even sin. We need to learn to stop those things before they get inside of us because once they get on the inside of us, in our heart and our mind, it is much more difficult to get rid of.
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. (Prov 4:23)
Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. (1Peter 5:8)
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (Rom 6:12)
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Cor 10:13)
Scripture after scriptures tells us to stay away from sin and temptations of the devil.
Daily we are tempted to become angry or frustrated. To become bitter or disappointed. We all know there are daily darts thrown our way by the devil. However, just like Maxines bug zapper, God has given us all we need to resist the devil. The Bible says when we resist him, HE HAS TO FLEE. He has no choice, he must flee. Our job is to resist whatever he is bringing our way.
I love that she said she put it outside to stop the pests before they could get in her house. May we do the exact same thing. May we stop the enemy before he gets in our heart or our thoughts. May we stop him BEFORE sin enters our temple. May we be diligent to keep him out of our house and our home at all times.
