Gentrification: A Clean House
The answer to every internal battle is gentrification…
Funny story, just the other day I was talking to this man and he asked me if there had been a lot of gentrification in the area where I lived. To be honest, I had no idea what he was talking about, so I swallowed my pride and said, “I have no idea what that means”, then he explained it to me. A little later, I was out with my cousin and she started talking about the process of gentrification beginning in another area. At this point, something clicked within.
I wondered why I had heard this “new” word not once, but twice in one day in a matter of a few hours. I told you all before, the closer I get to God the more I’m aware of His voice in the midst of the most random moments, these two conversations served as two of those moments. I did a little research on my newest vocabulary word, and just in case I’m not the only one who needs a little vocab lesson here are two definitions:
“Gentrification”
“The process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.”
“The process of making someone or something more refined, polite, or respectable.”
(Oxford English Dictionary)
Basically, as the saying goes, “out with the old, in with the new”, or more like in with the new, out with the old, in that order. The word that stood out to me within the second definition was, “refined”.
Zechariah 13:9 states,
“I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are My people, and they will say: The Lord is our God.”
Hebrews 12:29 states,
“…for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Many of us have made the mistake of believing that we must be white as snow before coming to the Lord, but Zechariah 13:9 & Hebrew 12:29 shows us Who God is, as well as highlights His intentions to shape us into who He’s created us to be, brides of Christ (yes men, you too are a bride of Christ).
See, it is not our job to cleanse ourselves before submitting our lives to Christ, our only job is to surrender, and let the Lord do the refining. God wants everyone in any condition to come as they are, He plans on doing a good work within that quite literally resembles a gentrification process. What God allowed me to understand is that the more of Him we allow within us, the less unrighteousness will occupy us.
Allowing the Holy Spirit to not only enter in, but dwell in our midst, leaves little to no room for unrighteousness to remain. Will you still sin and fall short of the glory of the Lord? Absolutely, “…for we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), but you will no longer be a slave to sin, for you have been justified by grace through faith in the redemption of Christ Jesus (See Romans 3:24), you are free!
Let’s look into the first definition of Gentrification a little bit…
“The process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.”
I’m sure you’re picking up what I’m putting down right about now. When we surrender our lives to Christ, in turn we invite the Holy Spirit to live on the inside of us, which leads to the inevitable displacement of the dark powers that used to drive us.
To go a little deeper, it’s important that we remain in the will of God for our lives, which is to be connected to Christ, allowing Him full control over our lives. I say this because a full house clean, swept, put in order, and occupied cannot be reinhabited by what’s previously been displaced, but a full house that is clean, swept, put in order, yet is unoccupied can be reinhabited by what’s been previously displaced, and will leave the house worse off than before it’s cleaning.
You are the home, that should always be inhabited by the Holy Spirit. You are the home, of which former inhabitants cannot reenter, and make things worse off than before.
Mathew 12:43-45:
“43) “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44) Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45) Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.’”
I know this was a lot, but this is what I want you all to take from this. Come to the Lord as you are, and allow Him to shape you into who He’s called you to be. Don’t try to figure out how He will do it, or how long it will take Him to do it, just let Him work, He’s the master physician.
Luke 5:31-32 states, “31) Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32) I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”. God wants you, just as you are, though He will not keep you that way, trust Him. Lastly, stick beside Him, through the good, bad, and the ugly. And when you find yourself delivered from past strongholds, allow the Holy Spirit to remain within, by choosing to walk with Christ forever.
I love you guys, and God loves you more!
If you’ve haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord in savior and would like to in this very moment, select “Confession of Salvation” below, say the simple prayer within, and watch as God transforms you in to who you’re meant to be <3
