Troublesome Topic: THE MOST CRUCIAL POSITION IN THIS SPIRITUAL BATTLEFIELD IS THE HOME

We are losing many crucial spiritual battles in what is probably the most strategic position of all—our homes. We have let the enemy sleep in our camp and rent space in our headquarters building by allowing him access to our minds through things we have in our own homes. Television, secular movies, the internet and video games are nothing short of having a direct hose hooked up from the sewer system to our living rooms (with 8 essential vitamins added to make us feel better about it). Although there is a small number of things available through each of those media that are not destructive, the majority of that stuff is either totally unnecessary and a waste of my time, or it is the very type of thing that God has been wanting to rid from my life all along. There are sexual innuendoes and suggestively dressed actors in the vast majority of TV shows and movies; bad language is found in almost all movies, even those for children; violence is the norm for shows geared for children and adults alike; commercials are just as bad, and in some cases worse than the rest; almost all video games prove in the end to be addictive. I cannot control what will be presented to me when I leave our house, but by all means I WILL CONTROL what comes into my own house. Satan has successfully won numerous battles in the courts, in the school systems, in the corporate world and in the media, why should I allow him easy access to my home as well? Yet that is exactly what we have done. He has managed to make our homes one of his greatest assets; what should be our personal refuge has become his fortified stronghold. He has done so only because we have allowed him to; indeed we have invited him to.

This is a matter of the heart. Before we look more closely at these huge barriers to our relationship with God, we must address the issue of transformation. The discussion that follows is intended primarily to be applied to the life of people who are already following God and are allowing Him to work in their lives to transform them into His image. If someone who has not allowed God to begin transforming them from the inside out takes what is said below and eliminates these things from their life, it would be nothing more than a futile human effort to transform oneself. This is precisely where legalism is cultivated, in radical external actions on the part of people whose hearts have not been transformed. Inner transformation comes first, outer changes must follow.

However, there are numerous believers who sincerely desire to be obedient to God but have been struggling to get closer to God. It is quite possible that these dear people have not considered carefully the effect that TV, movies, video games and the leisurely use of the internet has been having on that relationship. If you fit in such a category read prayerfully on.

The next lesson is: My Favorite Place