Matthew 22:37 “…with all your heart…” Last night we did this powerful exercise during my inner healing session. I visualized visiting the rooms of your life and letting God clear them out. It reminded me of a story I heard a couple years back. Once upon a time, there was a man who moved into a big house with 10 rooms. On the first night, he heard the doorbell ring and went down to answer it. A menacing man slammed the door open and started punching him in the face. He beat the owner of the house until he fell unconscious. In the morning the new owner awoke to a trashed train wreck of a house. Later in the day he heard another ring and went to open it up. "Hello?" "Hi, my name is Jesus… would you like to let me in and stay for a while?" The owner let him in and they spent some time hanging out. As night fell, the owner settled Jesus into the master bedroom to retire. "OK sleep well Jesus" he said as he closed the door. Later the doorbell rang again, and the owner went down to answer it. Opening it just a crack, he saw the same menacing man. As the owner went to slam the door, the man took out a trident from his jacket. He blocked the door, kicked it open and slashed the owner in the face. He then proceeded to strangle him, punch him and kick him to the ground. When the owner came to in the morning he saw Jesus' face there above him. "Oh dear, the whole house is trashed except for the room that you put me in. And you're cut and bruised all over. Come let's get you fixed up." The next night the owner decided to give Jesus the whole top floor while he took the bottom floor. When the doorbell rang, the episode repeated itself. But this time the whole top floor was totally untouched. Suffering injury to the point of near death, the next night the owner pleaded with Jesus. "I'll give you the whole house including the reception area near the front door. I'll just stay in the guest bedroom, which is more like a little closet." "As you wish" said Jesus before the owner closed his door and retired for the evening. In the middle of the night the owner woke up in terror. The menacing man stood outside his window, trident in hand. Blood dripped from his exposed teeth and horns protruded out of his head. The man shattered the window to the tiny room and jumped through. He punched the owner's face, broke his ribs, gouged his eyes and pulled all his finernails. All night long the owner suffered intense abuse. When he came to in the morning, he could barely crawl to open his bedroom door. Beyond the point of all despair, he pleaded "I don't need anything to myself. Jesus, please take the whole house tonight." "As you wish." That night they left all the doors and windows in the house open. The owner slept on one side of the couch with Jesus on the other. When the doorbell rang, the owner inched towards the front door, filled with terror. As he put his hand on the doorknob, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked behind and saw Jesus there. "This is my house now. Step aside." Jesus opened the door with full authority to see Satan there. He stood poised to beat the owner, but when he saw Jesus there he fell to his knees and begged for mercy. Todd White told us this story on the final night of his Power and Love conference in Singapore. The key to miracles, power, abundance, and a spirit filled life is being completely sold out to Jesus Christ. Too many times too many Christians invite Jesus into their hearts, but they want to keep a part of their hearts for themselves. "Jesus you can have the whole house except for my work." "Holy Spirit I’ll spend some time with you each day, but I really do need my sleep (or my Netflix or my video games or whatever).” “God please come into my heart, but just this little bit of space I need to keep for myself." But even if it's the tiniest closet, the enemy will use it to destroy you. When you completely submit yourself to God, when you truly believe that nothing else that is as important as him, when you expose every last nook and cranny of yourself for Him to consume, there is nothing in this world that can come close to beating you, let alone scaring you. Father, help me not to be discouraged or afraid ever… because I know the battle is not mine, but yours. I invite you to take over my whole heart today. Amen.
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