Luke 11:24-26 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than at first.”

People wish to reform themselves. They desire to stop bad habits or some sin that they are actively pursuing. Their life is just one mistake after another, and it is taking its toll on them and those around them. They seek change and set about doing the work of changing on their own. They may surround themselves with a different type of person than they usually associate with; often they desire to move away and to be set free from something or someone they feel bound to in the wrong way.
Whatever the reason, they need something different. Life needs to go in another direction.

Many times these people find themselves going to church. They become friends with the “right kind” of people, and the bad habits stop (for a while.) They have swept their house. It is clean. The change has been a superficial one. Often we can change a bad habit or even stop a known sin, but here is where the( rubber meets the road) if you have not fully repented of your sins, if the Holy Spirit is not now living in you, then you will eventually return to the life you knew before, and all too often even worse sin.

We need the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the purpose he has given us, and to help us have the strength to not go back. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us as we walk out this new life. God gives us new purpose when we commit ourselves to Him; He redirects our desires so that they come in line with His will and His way. When we leave the Holy Spirit out, and we have not truly been born-again then we are in danger of our swept house becoming even viler than before.

You may be thinking my sin is not as bad a so and so’s. Sin is sin, and without Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in us, we cannot live the life we are meant to. We cannot say no to those things that lure us away. The enemy of our souls knows those things that entice us. He knows just the right thing or person to put in our path to trip us up. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and helps us to say no to it. We have power in our efforts. Without the Holy Spirit’s help, we tend to follow the crowd and to justify the sin in our lives. Because when we reject Jesus, we have committed the very worst sin there is, and the sin of rejecting Jesus and His offer of forgiveness, and freedom, will send you straight to hell.

Life outside of Christ, even one seemingly well lived will result in the same end, your eternity will be in hell, eternal torment, and not in heaven with the one who created you and died for you, where there is no more sin, no tears, no illness, no anything bad, just eternal joy with your Savior.

You should ask yourself hard questions. Look deep inside and see if you truly know Jesus; is he the Lord of your life. If you have been born-again then the things of this world no longer hold you. There should be outward evidence of an inward change. When our hearts have been made new, we no longer desire the things that used to hold our minds, bodies, and hearts captive. We hate sin and desire to live our lives pleasing to Jesus.

We cannot go back to the sin we once lived in, the very thought makes you sick to your stomach. To think that you would offend this wonderful Savior who took your sin upon the cross so that you would not have to receive your due punishment. But if you reject the Lord, if you have dabbled in Christianity and then returned to who you were or worse, you need to be very concerned. We are not promised tomorrow, today is the day of salvation. Check your heart…Check your life and see if it lines up with what and who God tells us we should be. Make sure you can say: I am His, and He is mine.

The very thought that you could end up in worse condition should be enough to make you run to the foot of the cross and seek the Lord. But sadly many people’s eyes are blinded, their ears do not hear and they go back to the life they once knew or worse. Their hearts are hardened to the word of God.

I pray that you do a soul searching today, that you make sure of your salvation. Make sure the change inside is one happening under the direction and unction of the Holy Spirit. If it is not, it will be a superficial change, and it will not last.

I want you to know the wonderful life that you can have when you live surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ!