January 26, 2010

Protecting Your Turf Everybody has "turf." Our "turf" is "our personal territory." Most folks are very protective of their "turf." Whether it be the personalterritory of our inner thoughts and emotions, relationships or workresponsibilities, hackles tend to rise quickly when other people stepinto areas of our lives when they are not invited, and where they arenot welcome. While these kind of turf battles are usually petty and juvenile, thereis a certain kind of turf battle that should be taken seriously. Wemust be prepared to protect and defend the spiritual turf of our hearts.Whether we realize it or not, there is a real spiritual enemy that notonly wants to invade our personal territory, he wants to claim it forhimself. He wants to set up his own command center in our hearts. The Apostle Paul warned us about this kind of "turf attack:" " ... do not give the devil a foothold." - Ephesians 4:27 Here Paul reminded us of our spiritual enemy and his agenda. Ouradversary is the devil, and he wants turf! He is looking for ways to gain access to our hearts and establish a beachhead of influence andcontrol. Interestingly, the word Paul used for "foothold" is sometimes translated"place." The Greek term is "topos." Sound familiar? It's the root ofour English word "topography." Topography refers to "the lay of theland." It speaks of ground - of territory. When we entertain certain attitudes and engage in certain behaviors, werun the risk of giving internal ground - spiritual topography to thedevil. And whatever ground he takes, he exploits and seeks to expand,to our destruction. What thoughts and behaviors in your life may be compromising theterritory of your heart? Where have you given ground to the devil? Ask Jesus to help you demolish the devil's footholds in your life andretake the ground that rightfully belongs to Him. Determine that youwill do everything possible to protect the turf of your heart! Pastor Dale