Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Landlord

There is a young woman in my life who I have had the privilege of mentoring. She lives in New Jersey now. She is a nanny there. 
Recently she moved out of the home of the family that she is working for and moved into an apartment of her own.
She texted me the other day and said that her apartment had been broken into. Her new tv and her mail was all that was gone. She texted me the next day and her neighbors apartment had been broken into. There was evidence that the landlord was the thief. 
I was encouraging her in the beginning to get some deadbolts on her door. After the last report, she was ready to move.
John 10:10 again....."The thief comes but to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly." 
Sometimes we allow the thief to be the landlord of our heart. We can expect him to do his job and wreck havoc with the dwelling place of our heart. However if the Lord is our LandLord He will provide us with an abundance of peace, joy, love, kindness, goodness, self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, and patience in abundance.
If Jesus is the LandLord of our heart, He will help us to protect the heart and keep the enemy away. 
My husband was coming in the back door of our house the other day and let out a big scream. He never, ever does that so I was really shook up. He began to do a little dance. There was a tarantula that had slipped in the door when he opened it. He didn't reach down to pick up that huge black beast, he was shoving it right back out the door with his feet. 
My husband is the landlord of our home. He lives here with me. He wasn't going to let that beast come in and take anything from us. 
The Lord Jesus is so good at protecting the door of our home. He can spot the enemy and give him a boost right back out the door. I guess I could have said, "Honey, please let that sweet spider live with us! He won't hurt anything."
We do that sometimes with the enemy. We invite him into our lives and then expect him to behave. 
We must remember the enemy will always have the nature of a thief.
He will always steal. 
He will always try to kill and destroy.
The Lord will always bless our abode with an abundance of all that He is made of. The Lord does not share any of the attributes of the enemy. He is not in our lives to take from us. The Lord is a giver, not a taker. 
He wants us to have life in abundance.
He will build us up and restore our souls.
I am keeping my LandLord. He is the best! How about you?

Blessings,
Cheri

7 comments:

Joyful said...

This is what really hit me in your post today: "We do that sometimes with the enemy. We invite him into our lives and then expect him to behave. We must remember the enemy will always have the nature of a thief. He will always steal. He will always try to kill and destroy."

Sometimes I can foolishly think that I can resist the enemy - but I can't on my own! I'm only kidding myself to believe I'm strong enough to withstand him. No playing with the enemy. I can only stand in God's strength and dresssed in His armour.

My Pastor gave a sermon once entitled, "Playing on the Highway" and it talked about how close to danger we often choose to get and still justify our actions, instead of seeing how close we can get to Christ.

Praying I will allow God to rule in my heart today - He's the only "Landlord" that is trustworthy.

Love & hugs,
Joy
PS. Still feeling creepy after reading about your tarantula. Seriously? I'm terrified of spiders and that would just give me nightmares!!!! YIKES!!!

Cheri Bunch said...

Dear Joy,

I hope you slept well! I don't like spiders either. I am not terrified of them, but I don't like them! I was glad to see him go. I was sorry that my husband only kicked him out and didn't kill him.

The Amplified Bible calls the enemy "the evil genius" in John 14. I am no match for him either. Jesus said of him, "he has nothing in me".

I want to be as wise as the serpent and as innocent as the dove when it comes to the enemy.

I have been foolish in regards to my enemy before. Sometimes I don't recognize him for who he is. Oh but when I get onto him it makes me really mad at him.

Then I start talking to my God about him. I pray that he will have to give back 100 fold of everything that his fingerprints are on in my life. I also pray that he will regret that he ever messed with this family.

Many times we just have to stand firm against his schemes. Sometimes that means we will stand alone.

Whew! Didn't mean to preach. I get riled sometimes when I think about the enemy of my soul and his ways. He hates me. The feeling is mutual.

Jesus did not come just to give us eternal life........there is so much more! Abundance of life! Our eternal life begins now. The enemy would love to take that from us.

How I love you and appreciate your faithfulness!

Hope your day is fabulous!

Blessings of JOY for you Joy!

Cheri

Joyful said...

Wow Cheri - this reads like a continued blog post! Your passion for Christ is contagious. Thanks for this additional word.

And...for the record...I slept well last night. I think my fear of spiders - tarantula's especially - began as a child watching the television program the "Brady Bunch" when they went on vacation and a tarantula was in one of the girls beds! As Lysa would say..."have mercy!"

Hope your day has been filled with JOY too!
Love,
Joy

Limolady said...

You are so wise! I love how you make the bible real and present to those who read your writings. It is so awesome that the Word is timeless and can be applied to all.

I almost fell of my chair laughing at the thought of Scotty screaming at the spider. I thought maybe you were exaggerating about the tarantula - so I had to do a little research. I am now glad that I live in Nebraska - we don't have tarantulas. I thought you might enjoy these little tidbits that I got from Tarantulas.com. Seems that Scotty's approach was the right one - but I am sure that he already knew that. lol. "There are over 50 species of tarantulas native to the southwestern and central portions of the United States, including several undescribed species (unknown to science). They can be found in all or parts of (going in a circle): California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. " I found this interesting "Mature male tarantulas native to the USA are not long-lived. They have no interest in anything other than finding a mate. They are also, like all tarantulas, HARMLESS to humans and most pets (e.g., dogs and cats). Their venom is of no medical significance, and contrary to popular belief, nobody has ever died from such a bite; most people compare the bite to that of a bee sting and experience no lasting ill-effects other than mild to moderate pain and slight swelling at the site of the bite."

And finally this part you need to read. "Most species are nocturnal, and if one shows up in or around your house, it is just because he is trying to hide out during the day to return to his search at night (or maybe you have female tarantulas living around your house). Remember, these animals are completely beneficial to humans, feeding on cockroaches, crickets, scorpions, and likely mice and other rodents."

Love you much

Shala

Cheri Bunch said...

Joy~my thoughts exactly! It sounds like a blog!

Shala~I am still going to leave the tarantula outdoors to do their work! You did your homework, girl! Wow! I am very impressed. You should be a journalist or something!

Caleb flew home yesterday!
Been a busy day!

Blessings,
Cheri

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Jennifer said...

I enjoyed this post. Jesus is so wonderful. I will definitely keep Him!

Have a great day!

Jennifer Barker
http://jennifer-asag.blogspot.com/