Well I had planned on posting part 2 sooner than now but this pollen has kicked my butt lately!! I am also in the process of some upgrades to the site, so multi-tasking with limited oxygen intake has slowed my brain function!!! Part 2 isn’t very long but the intent on breaking this post into two parts was just to allow some time to ponder on the final point of part 1 uninterrupted by a conclusion.
Waterless places…. verse 43 kept me coming back over and over again. When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through waterless places seeking rest…but finds none. The definition of waterless place is somewhere where there is no life, its dead, dry, useless. This became interesting to me that this spirit would travel through waterless places, seeking life where there was none. Isn’t that what we do though, we seek fulfillment in places where it’s waterless, places God doesn’t dwell, he can’t because of the present sin, where there is no life, its dead, dry…….waterless. Places, lifestyles, friends, that lack the True presence of Living Water!!! I have learned with sin comes consequences, this is something we can’t shake…we are born with it! Yes, when we give our lives to Christ our sin is covered by Him and we are forgiven but what comes from that sin can still effect us and others. It’s like being in a pool of water gently moving around making ripples on the water, you can stop the movement and prevent new ripples from forming but the ones you’ve already made continue their course unable to be undone. There is aways going to be a ripple effect from our sin, but with Christ dwelling in our “Inner Houses” that ripple effect will be dramatically reduced until it all but fades away. Where as if Christ doesn’t live with us but we clean our House, put things in order just for appearances or for Him to visit with the appropriate company, those same ripples will run into another object in the water, causing it to move about making more ripples that crash into the original ripples…..you get the picture! This is what I see when the evil spirit returns to a clean..unoccupied house in verse 43, and as he brings with him seven others more wicked then he…..it ripples, causing ripples, causing ripples, that cause waves, causing troubles waters and the boat of our life sinking!!!!
And the final condition of the man is worse than the first!!!!!!!
I had heard my old friend had gotten some bad news on some test results after a trip to the ER. The damage they had done to their body years ago with their addiction had reared its ugly head. Come to find out if they had ” not just cleaned their house but allowed it to be dwelt in” years ago after getting clean and involved in church, it would have made a dramatic difference in their health. What I mean by that is, there was unrepairable damage done… yes… but what put them in the boat they were in now, a sinking boat due to waves crashing and filling it with water, was not the initial use but the occasional dabbling/usage in those last few years before diagnosis. Through everything they never went back to using the drug that caused the addiction, but did find other ways to get the effect with out technically going back to it, so to always be able to say they never have touched that stuff again. In the end, once the damage ran its course the only medication left to help was the one that started it all, and the final condition was worse than the first.
Only God can stop the ripples from filling your boat, and only a house that is dwelt in by God Himself can not be reoccupied by unwanted tenants.
Who are you allowing to find rest in your house?
Don’t let your final condition be worse than the first!!
runningfromnineveh.com 
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