{"id":28830,"date":"2021-05-06T23:52:31","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T23:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vnsalvation.net\/?p=28830"},"modified":"2021-05-09T04:33:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T04:33:11","slug":"identifying-and-getting-rid-of-spiritual-termites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/identifying-and-getting-rid-of-spiritual-termites\/","title":{"rendered":"Identifying and Getting Rid of Spiritual Termites"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"entry-title post-title\">Identifying and Getting Rid of Spiritual Termites<\/h1>\n<article>\n<div class=\"st-format-standard-holder\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"article\">\n<div id=\"shr_canvas1\" class=\"shareaholic-canvas shareaholic-resolved-canvas shareaholic-ui\" data-app=\"share_buttons\" data-title=\"Identifying and Getting Rid of Spiritual Termites\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.mannaexpressonline.com\/identifying-and-getting-rid-of-spiritual-termites\/\" data-summary=\"In our spiritual house, spiritual termites could be compared to those things that erode our relationship with the Lord.\u00a0 They won\u2019t cause you to lose your salvation because only a conscious decision to turn away from Christ can do that - but they can lead to such an attitude.\u00a0\" data-app-id-name=\"post_above_content\">\n<div translate=\"no\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-container shareaholic-ui shr-no-print shareaholic- shareaholic- shareaholic- shareaholic-badge-counter shareaholic- shareaholic- shareaholic-badge-counter\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-wrapper shareaholic-ui shareaholic-share-buttons-wrapper-with-headline\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-animation-wrapper \">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-button-container shr-outline\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share to More Options\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-button-sizing \"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_11121\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11121 size-full\" title=\"Spiritual termites\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mannaexpressonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Ants.jpg\" alt=\"Spiritual termites\" width=\"600\" height=\"547\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11121\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-11121\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spiritual termites<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>By\u00a0Jerry D. Ousley<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL TERMITES?<\/h1>\n<p>Do you know that there are 3106 known species of termites in the world?\u00a0 I didn\u2019t until I looked it up.\u00a0 From this number there are only 183 species that cause damage.\u00a0 Of these 183 species only 83 species cause damage to wooden structures and in North America only 9 of those live here.\u00a0 But let me tell you, those 9 species can ruin a structure. Termites live in colonies that range between a few hundred to millions.\u00a0 In the southern United States alone these pests cause around $1.5 Billion in damage each year.<\/p>\n<p>The pesky creatures build tunnels through the wood eating their way through leaving only thin walls to conceal themselves.\u00a0 Enough time and termites will so weaken a structure that it will collapse.<\/p>\n<p>I have never experienced the damage of termites (and hope I never do) but I did see a movie once during which two movers with a truck load of furniture were making a delivery deep in the country.\u00a0 The route they were given to take took them across an old covered bridge.\u00a0 I remember one of the movers telling the other one \u201cthat\u2019s no bridge.\u00a0 That\u2019s termites holding hands!\u201d\u00a0 They proceeded across the bridge and barely got across because it began collapsing as they were going across.<\/p>\n<p>In our spiritual house, termites could be compared to those things that erode our relationship with the Lord.\u00a0 They won\u2019t cause you to lose your salvation because only a conscious decision to turn away from Christ can do that \u2013 but they can lead to such an attitude.\u00a0 These things include negative emotions such as fear, worry, anger, wrath and hatred.<\/p>\n<h2>DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPIRITUAL TERMITES<\/h2>\n<p>Just as there are different species of termites so there are different things that can become \u201ctermites\u201d in our lives.\u00a0\u00a0Galatians 5:10-23\u00a0outlines the bad things that can become termites within us and also the Fruit of the Spirit which mentions good things to put into our lives.<\/p>\n<p>This list includes some physical things like pride, adultery, fornication, idolatry, sorcery, murders, drunkenness, and revelries.\u00a0 These are outward expressions of the termites within.\u00a0 Other things listed can\u2019t be easily seen until they are displayed and are often displayed in one or more of the outward things mentioned.\u00a0 They include uncleanness, lewdness, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, and envy.\u00a0 By the way, this isn\u2019t a complete list because I am certain there are other things that could be included but it is a good representation.\u00a0 These \u201ctermites\u201d come from negative emotions and feelings inside of us.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s specifically deal with pride now.\u00a0 In\u00a0<u>Luke 18:9-14 we\u00a0<\/u>read\u00a0<em>\u201cAlso He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:\u00a0 \u2018Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.\u00a0 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, \u2018God, I thank You that I am not like other men \u2013 extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.\u00a0 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.\u2019\u00a0 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, \u2018God, be merciful to me a sinner!\u2019\u00a0 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Jesus had a way of really bringing a point home.\u00a0 He was speaking expressly to a group who prided themselves in being righteous (more than likely a group of Pharisees).\u00a0 He used the example of a Pharisee who knew much about the scripture but knew little of its practice.\u00a0 He compared this \u201creligious man\u201d with a tax collector.\u00a0 Tax collectors were hated because their job was to gather the taxes for the local and Roman Governments which included a poll tax, land tax and an import\/export tax.\u00a0 He was allowed to set up anywhere he deemed it a good place and he was also allowed to collect extra which he kept for himself.\u00a0 Because of his job and his extortion ways of collecting he was hated by all.<\/p>\n<p>In Jesus\u2019 parable we see the pride of the Pharisee.\u00a0 He bragged to God about his practices and even spoke in a derogatory way about the tax collector near him.\u00a0 I am certain that the tax collector heard his words.\u00a0 He received his glory in his pride but did not go away justified.\u00a0 Because of his arrogant pride his prayer was nothing but a selfish self-elation.\u00a0 God hated it and rejected the Pharisee.<\/p>\n<p>But the tax collector stood afar off the Bible says, and in his shame and humble attitude before God could not even raise his eyes upward but beat himself on the chest and begged \u201cGod be merciful to me a sinner.\u201d\u00a0 His sin was not accepted in the eyes of God.\u00a0 But his repenting was.\u00a0 Of him Jesus said that he went down to his house justified rather than the other.\u00a0 His attitude made all the difference.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t lifted up with pride as the Pharisee.\u00a0 But he acknowledged his sin and God counted that act to him for righteousness.<\/p>\n<p>Pride can be an awfully destructive termite in our spiritual house.\u00a0 To avoid it we must examine our hearts daily to be sure we aren\u2019t comparing ourselves to others.\u00a0 We need to be humbled daily and recognize our need for repentance.\u00a0 We must come to God every day in this way and we won\u2019t be lifted up in pride.\u00a0 For as\u00a0Proverbs 11:2\u00a0says,\u00a0<em>\u201cWhen pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When talking about sin we often refer to and think of those outward displays.\u00a0 Certainly murder, adultery, fornication, drunkenness and just plain old meanness are very bad things.\u00a0 We want to think that these are sin (and they are).\u00a0 But most of the time these things are displays of what is really going on inside us.\u00a0 Jesus said in\u00a0Matthew 15:11\u00a0<em>\u201cNot what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 What He was saying that it isn\u2019t in what we eat or what necessarily we are exposed to that creates sin within us but what proceeds out of our heart.\u00a0 When the sin (those termites in our lives) gets strong enough and erodes us inside enough then we collapse and display what we are feeling on the outside.\u00a0 This is the sin that the world sees coming from us.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t see the evil inside until it is manifested out.<\/p>\n<p>Hatred may eventually cause us to do bodily harm to someone.\u00a0 Envy can eventually cause us to display outward outbursts of anger.\u00a0 Jealousy can lead to divorce, or theft.\u00a0 When we begin to exterminate those \u201ctermites\u201d within we will also extinguish the outward display that is coming from them.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know that negative emotions that originate from within can enhance the growth of cancer cells, and can cause us gastric and intestinal problems like ulcers and other things?\u00a0 Negative emotions are worry, anger, hatred, doubt, and fear, to name some of them.\u00a0 Now I am not saying that all sickness is brought on by these things but I am saying that if we have a physical problem it certainly can be enhanced negatively by those things.\u00a0 It can be made worse.\u00a0 If we worry about some physical ailment in our life that worry may cause it to get worse.<\/p>\n<p>When we begin to identify, pray about, and allow God by way of the Holy Spirit within us to bring to surface those inward sins, and then let Him heal them and cast them from us it is just like having a pest control service come in and spray to kill those termites.\u00a0 Once the termites are gone the physical damage will stop.\u00a0 Just so, when these hidden sins within us are eliminated then we will see a change in the quality of our lives.\u00a0 We can live happier, easier, and much more fruitful lives for our Lord, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<h3>GETTING RID OF SPIRITUAL TERMITES<\/h3>\n<p>We have compared these pesky critters with sin in our lives.\u00a0 With actual termites a call to your local exterminator is the first step to getting rid of them.\u00a0 He or she will come in, run some tests and spray in just the right areas to kill the bugs and in a matter of days, if the exterminator has done their job well, you will be rid of termites.\u00a0 But there are a couple of things we have to do to make this happen.\u00a0 We are responsible for the call.\u00a0 There are no termite police out there who routinely check the neighborhood for the pests.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t make the call then the exterminator will not come.\u00a0 Also, you have to be willing and able to pay the bill.\u00a0 Your good old neighborhood exterminator doesn\u2019t work for free.\u00a0 So you have to cough up whatever the cost is to get rid of them.\u00a0 If they have done considerable damage once they are gone then you are responsible to fix what the critters have torn up.\u00a0 And lastly you have to take measures to make sure they don\u2019t come back.\u00a0 So there is a lot you have to do to get rid of them.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to our salvation there is only one thing we have to do to be forgiven of sin in our lives and that is to believe.\u00a0 We must believe what the Lord has said.\u00a0 We must believe that Christ\u2019s death on Calvary was the one and only ultimate sacrifice to pay for our sin.\u00a0 We must believe that He will do what He said.\u00a0 We must believe that we aren\u2019t such a good guy after all and that we are hopelessly and helplessly lost without Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And we must believe these things to the point that we are willing to call out to Him, depend on Him for our forgiveness and believe to the point that we are willing to do something about it.<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t live good enough.\u00a0 No matter who we are, how pure our pedigree, what color our skin may be, how much money we have or don\u2019t have, we are all in the same boat.\u00a0 Our only escape is to believe in what Christ has done for us.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t believe then we can\u2019t receive.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t receive then we can\u2019t get rid of life\u2019s termites.\u00a0 There is no other way.\u00a0 Jesus is the only way because only He was pure and sinless and His death paid the final penalty for sin and His resurrection became the first fruits of claiming victory over death.\u00a0 Jesus is the reversal of the curse on our planet and upon mankind.\u00a0 He is the only way to rid ourselves of the termites of life.<\/p>\n<p>The great thing about being saved (saved from the inescapable and inevitable penalty for sin \u2013 death physically, spiritually and eternally in hell) is that our Lord just doesn\u2019t cleanse us of our sin and leave our lives empty.\u00a0 Remember the parable Jesus told about the fellow who was delivered from demonic spirits?\u00a0 (Read\u00a0Luke 11:24-26).\u00a0 Jesus said that after it left it would one day return and finding the hosts life swept and put in order.\u00a0 Then, the Bible says, that he brings seven other evil spirits with him and re-enters the man making him worse than he was before.\u00a0 The point of this parable is that if we are delivered and not filled up with something then the door has been left open for even worse consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Paul lists some anti-termites in\u00a0Galatians 5:22-23.\u00a0 We commonly call these the Fruit of the Spirit.\u00a0 You see when we accept Christ as our Savior He gives us the tools to resist temptation and rid our lives of those pesky termites that eat away and erode our lives.\u00a0 But He knows that if we are left empty that we could wind up in worse condition.\u00a0 So by way of the Holy Spirit we can replace those evil destructive things in our lives with those things listed in this passage:\u00a0 Namely, love, joy, peace, long-suffering (which is patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.\u00a0 These are positive things, positive emotions that will make our lives wholesome and good.\u00a0 Paul concluded that passage of scripture in verse 23 with these words\u00a0<em>\u201cagainst such there is no law.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 In other words, in the Jerry Ousley paraphrase, \u201cwho in their right mind would make these things illegal?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When we are filled up with these then there is no room for the demonic spirits to return.\u00a0 They come back to a full house to which they cannot withstand.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the way to get rid of life\u2019s termites!<\/p>\n<p><em>Jerry D. Ousley is the author of \u00efSoul Challenge\u00ef, \u00efSoul Journey\u00ef, \u00efOrdeal\u00ef, \u00efThe Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel \u00efThe Shoe Tree.\u00ef Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>https:\/\/www.mannaexpressonline.com\/identifying-and-getting-rid-of-spiritual-termites\/<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<p>I&#8217;m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about &#8220;Spiritual Termites.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Our word for today from the Word of God about spiritual termites is found in the book of\u00a0<a title=\"Read Joshua 7\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/index.php?search=Joshua+7;&amp;version=31;&amp;interface=print\" rel=\"nofollow\">Joshua 7<\/a>, where they had a problem with them, and I&#8217;m reading in verse 8. You need to know the context first. The Israelites have been winners at the battle of Jericho when the walls caved in. They have then gone on to the battle of Ai and have been defeated by a much smaller force, and a number of their people have been killed. What many of them don&#8217;t realize is that there is among them a family that has disobeyed God&#8217;s orders. God&#8217;s orders were to take no loot out of the city of Jericho, but Achan and his family did it and hid it. And that is ultimately the reason for Israel&#8217;s defeat.<\/p>\n<p>Joshua is now on his knees and saying, &#8220;Lord, what&#8217;s happened, how come we lost? I thought we were going to be given this Promised Land,&#8221; and here&#8217;s what he says. &#8220;O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies. The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this. They will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will You do for your own great name?&#8221; The Lord said to Joshua, &#8220;Stand up! What are you doing down on your face?&#8221; and then in three words He tells what the real problem is. It&#8217;s not the Canaanites; it&#8217;s not military defeat; that&#8217;s what Joshua thinks the problem is. Here&#8217;s the three word summary of the problem; God simply says, &#8220;Israel has sinned&#8221; (<a title=\"Read Joshua 7:8-11\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/index.php?search=Joshua+7%3A8-11;&amp;version=31;&amp;interface=print\" rel=\"nofollow\">Joshua 7:8-11<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>See, Joshua was doing what we do a lot of times; he was misinterpreting the setback in his life. He thought it was the situation, it was the pressure, it was the enemy that was the problem, but it&#8217;s not the enemy&#8217;s strength. It&#8217;s the not the problem without that defeats us, it&#8217;s the weakness within\u2014like that stair that collapses because of the termite damage. It&#8217;s a sin that we&#8217;ve been tolerating and it suddenly becomes noticeable when there&#8217;s a major setback or a defeat, and you have been weakened, eaten away, corroded by that sin. That&#8217;s the reason things are collapsing.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t blame the pressure. Don&#8217;t blame the problem. Don&#8217;t blame the people. It might be a mistake to be looking at the financial problem or the medical problem or the personnel problem or whatever the frustration is as being the issue. It&#8217;s the result not the cause. Maybe you have, without realizing it, become careless with the truth. Or you&#8217;ve been putting things ahead of people, neglecting some people. Or it could be that you&#8217;ve been slowly seduced by materialism, and your values are all inverted. There&#8217;s a sin maybe you just won&#8217;t repent of, or you&#8217;ve been flirting with immorality. Whatever it is, the termites of sin have weakened you.<\/p>\n<p>And the defeat you&#8217;re experiencing\u2014it&#8217;s not to bury you, it&#8217;s to draw your attention to the sin you&#8217;ve consistently ignored. So exterminate the sin; do a little rebuilding, and you&#8217;ll be stronger than ever. With the weakness inside corrected, you can be a winner again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Identifying and Getting Rid of Spiritual Termites Spiritual termites By\u00a0Jerry D. Ousley WHAT ARE SPIRITUAL TERMITES? Do you<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.homestratosphere.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Termite-chart-different-types-within-the-nest-mar13.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Identifying and Getting Rid of Spiritual Termites","footnotes":""},"categories":[104,129,308],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-28830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chua-binh-duoi-qui-healing-miracles","category-english-section","category-giai-cuu-deliverance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28830"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28833,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28830\/revisions\/28833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28830"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hahosa.com\/vnsalvation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=28830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}