Latest / PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES / The House in the Middle of the Forest – Conversation 10 | Part I: The Sealed Windows

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The House in the Middle of the Forest – Conversation 10 | Part I: The Sealed Windows · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

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  Welcome to Pamoja Podcast, a ministry of Life
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  of Christ International Ministries. The place
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  where stronger lives are built, faith is strengthened,
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  hearts are encouraged, and Christ -centered homes
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  are shaped through ordinary conversations that
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  become extraordinary encounters with God's truth.
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  One conversation, one story, one revelation at
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  a time. As I look back at the story my father
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  told me many years ago, I realize something that
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  escaped my attention for a long time. He wasn't
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  simply describing a house. Every detail he mentioned
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  had a purpose. The house was in the middle of
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  a forest. It was warm. It had a strong foundation.
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  The door could only be opened from the outside.
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  And then, almost as if it were just another detail,
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  He told me that the windows were sealed. For
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  years I never questioned that statement. I simply
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  accepted it as part of the story. But after nearly
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  two decades of marriage, after storms, after
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  victories, after failures, after learning what
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  it truly means to protect a covenant, I found
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  myself returning to that one detail. Why did
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  my father insist that the windows were sealed?
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  Why mention the windows at all? Why not simply
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  say the house was secure? Why emphasize something
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  that, at first glance, seems so ordinary? Today,
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  I believe I understand. Because every house has
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  windows. Every marriage has windows. Every family
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  has windows. Every heart has windows. And whatever
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  enters through those windows, eventually changes
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  the atmosphere inside. There is something I've
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  learned over the years. Most people fear the
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  storms outside. Very few pay attention to the
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  openings inside. We spend so much energy trying
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  to stop what is happening around us. The difficult
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  economy, the pressure at work, the opinions of
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  people, the temptations of the world, the uncertainty
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  of tomorrow. But the greatest danger has rarely
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  been the forest surrounding the house. The greatest
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  danger has always been what finds its way inside.
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  Because once the battle enters the house, it
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  is no longer happening around you. It is happening
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  within you. Growing up, there was a house in
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  my neighborhood that everyone knew. It wasn't
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  abandoned. At least, not in the beginning. It
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  wasn't haunted. It wasn't mysterious. It was
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  simply broken. The first thing people noticed
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  wasn't the roof. It wasn't the walls. It wasn't
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  the foundation. It was the windows. One after
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  another. They had cracked. Some had shattered
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  completely. Others had been left partially open.
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  No one repaired them. At first, nothing dramatic
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  happened. Just a little breeze. A little dust.
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  A little rain. Nothing that seemed urgent. Nothing
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  that demanded immediate attention. Days became
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  weeks. Weeks became months. The wind continued
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  entering. Cold air settled inside. Moisture began
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  to damage the wood. Leaves gathered in the corners.
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  Insects found their way in. Then animals. Little
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  by little, the atmosphere changed. Eventually,
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  that house no longer looked like a home. It looked
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  like a warning, and everyone who walked by understood
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  something without anyone having to explain it.
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  That house had not been destroyed in one day.
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  It had slowly welcomed destruction. That image
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  has stayed with me for years, because marriages
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  rarely collapse overnight. Families rarely break
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  apart in a single moment. Faith rarely disappears
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  in one decision. Most destruction enters gradually.
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  Quietly, patiently, almost unnoticed. Until one
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  day our people ask, what happened? And the answer
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  is often much simpler than they imagined. The
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  windows were left unattended. One sentence has
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  settled deeply in my heart. I believe it captures
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  this entire revelation. A house rarely falls
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  because of what strikes it. It falls because
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  of what it allows inside. Think about that. Storms
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  hit every house. Jesus himself said that the
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  rain falls, the floods come, the winds blow,
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  against every house. The difference was never
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  the existence of storms. The difference was what
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  remained standing after the storm had passed.
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  Why? Because one house had been prepared, the
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  other had not. This is where I began seeing my
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  father's wisdom differently. The sealed windows
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  were never about keeping fresh air out. They
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  were about protecting the atmosphere within.
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  Because atmosphere is precious. Peace has an
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  atmosphere. Joy has an atmosphere. Trust has
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  an atmosphere. Prayer has an atmosphere. Love
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  has an atmosphere. Unity has an atmosphere. And
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  atmosphere changes. the moment something foreign
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  is allowed to enter. Have you ever walked into
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  a room where people had just argued? No one says
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  anything, yet you can feel it. The atmosphere
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  speaks. Have you ever entered a home filled with
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  peace? Children laugh, people smile, conversations
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  are gentle, there is rest. The atmosphere speaks.
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  Atmosphere is invisible. But it is powerful,
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  and it is shaped by what is permitted to remain
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  inside the house. My father understood something
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  I would only understand years later. The forest
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  was never the greatest threat. The house already
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  knew there would be storms. It had been built
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  for storms. The walls were strong. The foundation
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  was deep. The fire was burning. The threat was
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  never outside. The threat was anything that crossed
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  the boundary between outside and inside. That
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  boundary was the window. How many marriages have
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  been weakened? Not because the couple stopped
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  loving each other, but because something entered
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  the atmosphere. A disappointment that was never
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  discussed. A comparison that quietly grew. An
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  offense that remained unresolved. A voice that
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  should never have been entertained. Not dramatic.
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  Not obvious. Just enough to change the climate.
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  Peter writes these words, Be alert and of sober
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  mind. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around
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  like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
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  Notice what Peter does not say. He does not tell
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  us to fear. He tells us to stay alert. because
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  vigilance is part of love. We lock our doors
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  because we value what is inside. We protect our
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  children because they are precious. We guard
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  our hearts because they belong to God. Protection
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  is not fear. Protection is stewardship. Perhaps
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  that is why Proverbs tells us, Guard it, not
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  because God cannot protect you, but because He
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  has entrusted something valuable to your care.
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  Just as Adam was placed in the garden to work
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  it and to keep it, we have been entrusted with
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  our homes, our marriages, our families, our hearts.
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  God protects, but He also calls us to watch.
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  As I reflected on my father's story, Another
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  thought came to me. Maybe the reason the windows
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  were sealed wasn't because the people inside
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  feared the forest. Maybe it was because they
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  loved the atmosphere inside the house too much
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  to risk losing it. That changes everything. They
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  were not living in fear. They were living with
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  wisdom. There is a difference. In our next conversation,
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  I want to tell you another story. An old story
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  passed down by elders. It is the story of a husband
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  and wife who welcomed a traveler into their home.
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  He did not arrive carrying weapons. He arrived
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  carrying kindness. He did not force his way in.
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  He was invited. And by the time they realized
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  why he had come, the greatest damage had already
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  been done. Because sometimes, The enemy does
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  not enter through violence. Sometimes he enters
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  through permission. And that may be the most
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  dangerous window of all. Until next time, remember
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  this. You cannot control the forest, but you
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  can guard the windows of your house. And what
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  you protect today will shape the atmosphere your
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  family lives in tomorrow.