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Luke 11:24-28, “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Has anyone ever asked you what kind of “shape” you are in? They are usually referring to your health, specifically your fitness. My response usually ends up being that “round” is a shape! You might be surprised how unimpressed my medical professionals are of that lame attempt at humor. The truth is I could be in better shape. But the shape of anything can also be about what the vessel intended to contain or hold securely. In that respect we also have a very specific shape. We are actually intended to hold the Spirit of God within us. The problem is that sometimes we take in the wrong inhabitant and actually house something destructive and devastating instead of the life-giving presence of God.

Satan is many evil things. He is not creative. He does stick to his singular mission of attempting to destroy anything God has made. Man is at the top of his hit list. You are the primary target of Satan.

Please pay attention – you are in danger! We were designed to be inhabited by God, not the evil, death ridden carcass of our spiritual enemy. We were also never created to be empty. We are designed be filled to max capacity. Our problem is that man tries to “fix” the vacuum created by God’s absence, and the remedy is to see it “filled.” Our solutions come in the form selfishness of every type. The problem is that anything but God in that void kills us. At the very least we starve and die spiritually.

Recently, we have been separated by circumstances beyond our control. We have worshipped and communicated at a distance. It is entirely unnatural for God’s people to be so distanced. We are designed to exist in close proximity and within intimate distance. The model we have is Jesus prayer is in John 17. As our Congregation and our society slowly opens up, please don’t take these freedoms for granted. A travesty revealed by our current governmental leaders is that the Church is, or was, thought to be “non-essential.” Maybe it’s just me, but I find that thought to be offensive and an affront to God. How would you feel if the very thing your only child purposely died for was deemed nonessential?

Back to my subject. As we find in these verses when the demon is evicted, but the dwelling is left empty, he returns and invites seven additional problems even greater than himself. How convenient, a cleaned, repaired, and furnished dwelling that is now more dangerous and deadly than it was before. This very process is the same as the addict who seeks peace in any other place than God. They cease their habit, (briefly) and then seek out something to fill the void in their life. The problem is that the void they are trying to fill will contain only one shape – God. While I used addiction as an example, any sinful activity can be placed there.

Interestingly, the demon chooses to return to his former place of eviction. Unprotected and unoccupied he simply moves in. Now, the landlord has an even more difficult problem – he has multiple entities to evict. If one was difficult, more will be harder. It is here that many find hopelessness and despair. Having barely survived the first battle this one seems impossible. There is some truth to human helplessness in life. It’s not that we aren’t responsible, but we often put ourselves into positions that are actually unrecoverable on our own. We can move into the spiritual fetal ball and give up, or we can call on the only name that can help us. We tried helping ourselves and here is where we are… Call on the name that gave His life for you.

The one who can heal, and bring us to final victory! If your house is empty, fill it with no less than that Spirit of God. If you are in the precarious position of evicting an overwhelming squatter and his friends, then call on the one who will evict, clean, repair, and reinforce your soul – Jesus the Christ. Godspeed on your journey!