SQUATTERS AND DWELLERS
When I hear the words, Squatters and Dwellers, it makes me think of housing, in particular abandoned houses. People who have laid claim to your property without permission. The actual definition of a Squatter is a person who lives in an unoccupied or abandoned building or piece of land that they do not have any lawful rights to be there. There is even a symbol that represents when a property is occupied by a Squatter.
Here is what that image looks like. A circle with a zig-zag line going through it with an arrowhead on the tip pointing upward as it leaves the circle.
The circle is said to represent the premises that the squatter has occupied, and the arrowhead line is the squatter. They will move as they please throughout the premises and then exit to find another property. Hmm.
A Dweller is a person who lives in a specific place or area for an extended period. I was surprised to learn that even though Squatters are in a property unlawfully, they still have rights protected by the law. If they stay in a property for an extended period, the law will protect their right to be there. I have found that Squatters and Dwellers can also apply to our thought life. We should be mindful of the thoughts that are Squatters and stay long enough to become Dwellers in our minds.
Squatter thoughts come in, even though we did not invite them in. If we do not evict them immediately, they set up shop and establish residency. The same way with the Dwelling thoughts, the things we allow to stay on our minds. They live there now. Squatter thoughts are like unforgiveness, low self-esteem, victimization, unfairness, and hurt. When these Squatter thoughts first came to us, we did not show them the door. We danced with the idea of them and thus allowed them to occupy a space in our thoughts.
Eventually, they set up residence and become Dwellers. Dwelling thoughts are when unforgiveness stays so long that it becomes vindictiveness (I’m going to pay them back for what they did), low self-esteem moved furniture in and became judgment (I blame them, it is their fault why I am like this), victimization remodeled some things and became aggressive retaliation (I’ll let everyone know who they really are), unfairness painted the walls with prejudice (all of them are pure evil), and hurt pulled up all the carpet in the house, and became hate (I should kill them).
In matters dealing with housing and property, the law states Squatters are not trespassing. They have a legal right to remain on that property until you decide to evict them. The process of eviction requires you to give them notice to vacate the premises by a certain time. After that time has passed, and they are still there, you can contact the authorities to remove them. Similar principles apply to our thought life.
My Faith manual states that when we resist impureness it must leave us. God is the authority who will help us remove them. In order NOT to bring the old year, into this new year, so that we can truly have a fresh new start, I have vowed to serve notice on the Squatter thoughts in my mind today. If you should decide to join me in this challenge, please let me know so that we can support one another and grow strong together. Let us arrest the Squatters and remove them from our premises immediately.
This is a Thompson Truth.
