Photo by Courtney Morris
Cracks In The Soul
Normally in counseling I look for doors where the enemy may
come into one's life and cause problems. However, on occasion I find
people who have tried their best to shut all the major openings but still
have severe attacks from the enemy. As I encountered such a case,
I prayed for discernment. After several days of prayer, God gave
me something of a vision and reminded me of a story that my dad had told
me.
When he was a young boy, during the days of the dust
bowl on the plains of Texas, he went with his dad to visit an Uncle and
Aunt that lived on the plains. They arrived at the house late in
the afternoon. He said that the house was a small house that was
not very well built, and it had cracks under the doors. Shortly after
Dad and his dad arrived, a sandstorm blew in. The sky became dark
early in the evening as the sand filled the air. There was little to do
but to go to bed. My dad said that he pulled the sheet up over his
head to keep the sand out of his eyes and nose. During the night,
toward morning, he awakened to discover that his body felt weighted down.
He could hardly move for the weight. When daylight came, he discovered
that the sand had blown in through the cracks in the house and settled
as a heavy weight upon the bedding.
The spiritual application is that if we have cracks
in our house during the storm of attack by the enemy, he can enter through
those cracks. The cracks may seem rather small on a sunny day, but
we see their significance when the storm comes. Some of these cracks
may not be as major as being raped or being involved directly in Satanism.
Remember these are cracks, not major doors opened. Some general areas of
cracks are: little sins, idle words, neglect of a clearing our conscience,
emotional hurts, the lust of the eyes, unrestrained thoughts, failure to
be filled with the Spirit, and a failure to act in faith. This list is
not meant to be comprehensive, but illustrative of little cracks.
The little cracks
Solomon, a wise man, stated, "Take
us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have
tender grapes" (Song of Solomon 2:15). It was not the elephant
that destroyed the grape vine, but the little foxes. It is the little sins
that we often overlook. We may excuse ourselves by saying, "Everyone does
it" or "It was just a mistake." However, the little sins are cracks.
Paul wrote to the Galatians, "A little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9). We need to clear our conscience
of little sins as well as the big ones.
The cracks allow the enemy to enter
We have a picture of this as God spoke to Cain. "And
the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his
desire, and thou shalt rule over him" (Genesis 4:6-7). The
picture is of a wild animal that is crouched at the door awaiting for an
opening to enter. Solomon said, "He loveth
transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh
destruction" (Proverbs 17:19). My mother at a very large dog
that she kept pinned up in the back yard. She lived in a rural community
at the time. If she allowed the dog to get out, he would chase cars
that passed the house on a highway. If you went to the gate in the
back yard, the dog would wait until you opened the gate ever so slightly,
then he would spring at the opening, forcing his way through it.
Picture Satan crouched at the gate of your soul looking for a crack to
spring through and enter.
The crack in our speech
Solomon declared, "A wholesome
tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit"
(Proverbs 15:4). We can open a crack to our souls through saying the wrong
words. In fact, Jesus said, "But I say unto you,
That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof
in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).
We are held accountable by God for even the jokes we tell. The jokes can
be an opening for the enemy to enter. You may even remember at this
moment a bad joke that you have told. Many years ago when I was in college,
I went out to a restaurant with some friends. One of the guys liked
to tell jokes. He was the center of attention, and I wanted to be
in that position. I had stored up some good jokes in my memory. When
my friend got started telling jokes, I started telling jokes also and out
did him. He was hurt, but I was haunted by guilt.
The crack of disobedience
Let us take a look at what God declared about His Law.
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken
unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments
and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall
come upon thee, and overtake thee" (Deuteronomy 28:15). We
should note that the people were to do
all that was in God commandments
and all that was in His statutes. If the people did not obey all,
then they would become subject to the curses. David said, "If
I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm
66:18). Even a little unconfessed disobedience will allow doubt into
our hearts and keep God from answering our prayers. Therefore, there
is a need to get a clear conscience. "Holding
faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith
have made shipwreck" (I Timothy 1:19). If we don't have a clear
conscience, we will open our lives to the enemy. Paul also wrote,
"And herein do I exercise myself, to have always
a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16).
Solomon, the wise man, wrote, "He that covereth his
sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have
mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).
The crack of hurts
We often forget that hurts are also cracks. We
may say that the hurt was so long ago that it doesn't matter any more.
Why then is it still so vivid in your memory? Others may try to intellectualize
the hurts away, trying to understand why the offender did what they did.
Another person may deny the hurt by saying, "Oh, that was nothing." However,
the truth is, "The words of a talebearer are as wounds,
and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly" (Proverbs
18:8). When God began to heal my hurts, He had me to ask the Holy
Spirit to show me where all the hurts were in my life (Psalm 139:23-24).
It took over a month and a half for God to work through my life.
Furthermore, my life has been good and without many hurts. Another factor
is that hurts usually open the door to anger and bitterness to enter into
our lives. "Be ye angry, and sin not: let
not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil"
(Ephesians 4:26-27). Whenever we are angry longer than one day, we
have opened our souls to the enemy to come in and take up squatting rights.
"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace
of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby
many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15). We become defiled when we
allow the enemy to enter into our lives.
The crack of lust of the eyes
The eyes can be another opening by which the enemy enters.
Solomon wrote,
"Hell and destruction are never full;
so the eyes of man are never satisfied" (Proverbs 27:20).
Have you ever noticed that when you begin to look at something that you
know that is wrong to look at, it is difficult to stop looking. Jesus also
said, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart" (Matthew 5:28). I have heard it said, "It is not
against the law to look." However, God looks at what is in the heart
and so does our enemy.
The crack of thoughts
Have you ever just allowed your imagination run wild?
I work often with people that have opened their lives up to the enemy through
fantastical thinking. The Word of God says of an evil person, "For
as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
but his heart is not with thee" (Proverbs 23:7). Paul wrote,
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ" (II Corinthians 10:5).
Please notice that we are to examine every thought. The problem
is that one thought always leads to another, then another, then another,
and then to another. Soon, we have traveled a long way down the wrong path
of thoughts.
The crack of emptiness
Some people think that it is enough to get saved and
get their ticket to heaven. They are deceived. "When
the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places,
seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into
my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty,
swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven
other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there:
and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it
be also unto this wicked generation" (Matthew 12:43-45). I
used to think that this passage only applied to those who did not have
Jesus living in their spirit-man. I have learned that these verses
may apply to born again, once "spirit filled" Believers as well. A vacuum
is an invitation for the enemy to enter. Therefore, we should heed
the words of Paul, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein
is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).
The crack of laziness
Everyone needs to rest at times; however, there is a
grave danger when we take liberty with that rest. The Word says, "Yet
a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed
man" (Proverbs 6:10-11). Even for Believer to sit still and
to do nothing when he knows what to do is dangerous. The Word says, "Therefore
to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin"
(James 4:17).
The crack of false doctrines
Many people think that it O.K. to have their own individual
opinion about certain things. Once, I spoke on the cracks that one
may have in their helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17) in a small group
meeting. The devil didn't like the topic, and "all hell" broke loose.
Christians began to yell and falsely accuse one another. However,
in the end, God had the victory. Paul wrote, "I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but they be
some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ" (Galatians
1:6-7). I continually work with people who have cracks through false
doctrines. The Word says, "Beware lest any
man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ"
(Colossians 2:8).
How does one close the cracks?
You will find many of the answers through reading the other articles
on this web site.
See also:
The
Open Door
Stronghold
of Lies
