God--the all-powerful and all-knowing Spirit Who created the Heavens and the earth--is very patient and gentle with us, His children (His children are all those who have accepted Christ Jesus as their Savior and LORD by asking forgiveness of their sins, and who have received Christ into their hearts--not just anyone who calls themselves "Christian"!).

Praise Him!

However, He is also a God Who is holy.

For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.--I Peter 1:16, AMPC

The LORD tells us to be holy for He is holy. We can only ultimately do that by being covered by the Blood of the Lamb Jesus, when we are born again. However, He also expects us to continually grow in the santification--holiness--of our souls (minds, wills, emotions).

From the moment Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden--where He had made everything (including them!) perfectly--He had to create a covering so that His holiness did not destroy mankind, because sin and God's holiness can never mix.

He helps us practice displacement--replacing the wicked with the righteous.

Where sin did abound, grace does much more abound. Praise God!

But God’s free gift is not at all to be compared to the trespass [His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man]. For if many died through one man’s falling away (his lapse, his offense), much more profusely did God’s grace and the free gift [that comes] through the undeserved favor of the one Man Jesus Christ abound and overflow to and for [the benefit of] many.--Romans 5:15, AMPC

Only the LORD can truly deliver and heal us from the negatives of the past. As we work with Him to let Him reveal to us things that offend us, and make the choice to get them out of our lives--whether it's wrong relationships; media; possessions; activities; goals and dreams; or anything else--He frees us and always has something better!

He has done that for me many times, and although I may have had a slight emotional tie to something, or even someone, I can tell you that Jesus is more than enough, and I have never regretted letting go of the lesser (especially people and things that were harming me, including rock 'n' roll music, which is usually angry and sexual, or both!) to receive the much better that my Daddy God Who loves me so much He sent Jesus to die for me gives me! Glory!

The LORD has led me--literally--to sometimes burn papers that had junk of the past; whether negative things I'd written in journals, or ugly letters from others, or debts, etc.

He's also led me to literally destroy things like pictures, movies, books (not to put them in Goodwill, but to literally tear them up and put them in the trash, for He and I did not want others to be oppressed by something that had demonic forces attached to it!), a real sword, video games, and more. This includes a crystal goblet from which I had once wrongly drunk wine, that was used later for a good purpose--but which was still stained somehow with the past.

God hates sin, and anything that harms us His kids.  There are literal demonic forces attached to some things. Not everything, and we don't walk in fear about that. But once, I had nightmares for a week and finally prayed in the Spirit long enough to discover the root and get it out of my house.  One was a sword that a "friend" had given me, that defintely had something attached to it.  Another was a picture behind a picture. A close family member had drawn it--of me dancing with fairies (demons that looked cute).  I had forgotten I'd put it behiind another picture, but the Holy Spirit revealed it, after 30 minutes of intense prayer in the Spirit and worship!

I tore it up immediately and took authority over the demon in the Name of Jesus, and I felt the thing leave! Hallelujah!

This is not just my flesh, but Biblical, as we see in these verses:

Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.--Deut. 12:3, NIV

"All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.” --Micah 1:7, NIV

The bottom line is, just like us as good parents (or aunts, uncles, teachers, leaders, etc.) wants to protect our loved ones from harm and give them the best, how much more does the LORD Who created and sustains us and loves us perfectly want only the best for us? His Plan is The Blessing--SHALOM--nothing missing, nothing broken. His Plan is Zoe Life, that Jesus talks of in John 10:10--the Abundant Life as God has it, amen!

He wants us to have Heaven on earth--and His Presence is the ultimate experience of that.  Our holy God cannot bear sin, but through Jesus and His blood that covers us whehn we receive Him, we can approach the LORD. The more junk of the past we forsake, the more room there is for God's holiness (and I do NOT mean legalism! God is the free Spirit, although His boundaries and precepts for us are good!), and thus more room for Him.

Jesus is The Renovator, the Deliverer, and The Restorer. He is the Master at taking wrecked lives and making something beautiful!

Ask me how I know!

So, my friend, we are on the planet to love and please God, and help others see Him, the living Christ. The less junk in our lives, the more room for His purity, His holiness, His love and strength and grace---and the more others see Christ in us, the Hope of Glory! If He asks you to burn or break something, it's a good thing. He will replace it with so much good that you may be delightfully overwhelmed!

Check out Ephesians 3:20, and you'll begin to understand what I mean!

Hallelujah!

Through books, courses, presentations, service, prayer, worship, and more, Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. Her series for girls, P.O.W.E.R. GIRL ADVENTURES, is now out (books I-V), along with LEGACY; YOUR HOLY HEALTH: VISIONS OF THE KING, and more. See the "River Rain Creative" YT channel.