The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. - John 10:10a

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

When the parents of Jon Thomas moved to an assisted living center in 2000, their house was closed up but not sold. They returned two days before Christmas 2003 because his widowed mother has just passed away, and it was now their responsibility to take care of the house. It was a shock to Jon (Who now lives in New York City.) when he returned to the house and found someone living in it. Lights were on inside of the house with a large Christmas display on the front lawn. Cars were parked at the rear of the house. Jon said, “I was dumbfounded.”

Richard Lenard, 26, a man who had been a neighbor to Jon’s parents, moved into the house after the parents had gone to live at the assisted living center. He not only moved in, but he had two estate sales in 2003 in which he sold $180,000 worth of furnishings. Someone else is actually living in the house now claiming ownership after buying the house from Lenard for $50,000 (worth much more). The deed was transferred based on a fake driver’s license and a forged power of attorney.

Hard to believe someone would actually move into a home they did not own and then begin to sell off the furnishings and even the house itself! However, the devil has been in that same business for centuries, and he has been very successful.

When we receive Christ Jesus as our personal Savior, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our life. We still have freewill and can decide to do things that God does not want us to do. Instead of having God as an honored guest, we may decide we want Him out of sight down in the basement somewhere. This too seems to be a very strange thing to do. However, the apostle Paul knew that was exactly what some people were doing because he refreshes the memories of the Corinthians that they no longer own their own bodies. Their bodies were bought and paid for with the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Sadly, far too many Christians have not only relegated God to a dingy room in the basement of their lives, but they have also invited the devil to move into one of the bedrooms. What they did not know is that the devil is a house stealer. The devil wants to control more and more of the house. Ultimately, the devil is worse than a house stealer...he is a house destroyer, and that is what he will do if you allow him to gain control of your life. The downward spiral will begin with everything in your live becoming worse and worse until you have been destroyed.

It doesn’t have to be that way! Ask the Holy Spirit to come back upstairs and be in control of your life once again. In the Name of Jesus, kick that old devil out and begin the upward spiral of things becoming better and better. Because Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10b).”