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Once there was this very wealthy young man. He lived in a great,
elaborate house with dozens of rooms. each room was more comfortable and more beautiful than the one before it. There were paintings and
sculptures. Crystal chandeliers, golden, ornate railings on the stairs.
More beauty than most have ever seen.
One day he decided to invite the Lord to come home and stay with him.
When the Lord arrived, this young man offered him the very best room in
the house. The room was upstairs and at the end of the hall. "This room
is yours, Jesus! Stay as long as you like and you can do whatever you
want to in this room, remember Jesus, its all yours."
That evening after he had retired for the night there came a loud
knocking at the front door. The young man pulled on his robe and made
his way downstairs. When he opened the door he found that the devil had
sent three of his demons to attack the man. He quickly tried to close
the door but one of the demons kept sticking his foot in. Sometime
later, after a great struggle, he managed to slam the door shut and
returned to his room totally exhausted.
"Can you believe that", the man thought. "Jesus is upstairs in my very
best room sleeping while I am down here battling demons. Oh, well, maybe
he just didn't hear". He slept fitfully that night.
The next day things went along as normal and, being tired as he was,
the young man retired early that evening. Along about midnight, there
came such a terrible ruckus at the front door that the young man was
sure that whatever it was would tear the door down. He stumbled down the
stairs once again and opened the door to find that were dozens of
demons now trying to get into his beautiful home.
For more than three hours he fought and struggled against the demons
from hell and finally overtook them enough to shut the door against
their attack. All energy seemed to fail him. He really didn't understand
this at all. "Why won't the Lord come to my rescue? Why does he allow me
to fight all by myself? I feel so alone". Troubled, he found his way to
the sofa and fell into a restless sleep.
The next morning he decided to inquire of the Lord about the happenings
of the last two evenings. Quietly he made his way to the elegant bedroom
where he had left Jesus. "Jesus," he called as he tapped at the door.
"Lord, I don't understand what is happening. For the last two nights I
have had to fight the demons away from my door while you laid up here
sleeping. Don't you care about me? Did I not give you the very best room
in the house?"
He could see the tears building in Jesus' eyes but continued on, "I just
don't understand, I really thought that once I invited you in to live
with me that you would take care of me and I gave you the best room in
my house and everything. What more can I do?"
"My precious child," Jesus spoke so softly. "I do love and care for
you. I protect all that you have released into my care. But when you
invited me to come here and stay, you brought me to this lovely room and
you shut the door to the rest of your house. I am Lord of this room but
I am not Master of this house. I have protected this room and no demon
may enter here."
"Oh, Lord, please forgive me. Take all of my house - it is yours. I am
so sorry that I never offered you all to begin with. I want you to have
control of everything." With this he flung open the bedroom door and
knelt at Jesus' feet. "Please forgive me Lord for being so
selfish."
Jesus smiled and told him that He had already forgiven him and that He
would take care of things from now on. That night as the young man
prepared for bed he thought, "I wonder if those demons will return, I am
so tired of fighting them each and every night."
But he knew that Jesus said that he would take care of things from now
on. Along about midnight the banging on the door was frightening. The
young man slipped out of his room in time to see Jesus going down the
stairs. He watched in awe as Jesus swung open the door, no need to be
afraid. Satan stood at the door this time demanding to be let in.
"What do you want, satan?" the Lord asked.
The devil bowed low in the presence of the Lord, "So sorry, I seem to
have gotten the wrong address." And with that, he and the demons all
ran away.
There is a moral to this tale. Jesus wants all of you, not just a part.
He will take all that you give Him but nothing more. How much of your
heart have you given to the Lord? Are you keeping a portion of it away
from Him? Perhaps the attacks are coming more and more each day. Why
not let the Lord fight the battles for you? He is always victorious. I
have found that God made man simple, all of man's complexities are of
his own devising.
Amen? Amen!!!