Get Out of the Basement!
Let me share a story with you from my favorite preacher, Rev. James Kilgore. He was a powerhouse of prayer and man after God’s own heart. If I can be half the man he was, I will have reached a pinnacle in this life.
As a young man, Bro. Kilgore was so short he had to shop in the boy’s department. The clothing store where he bought suits was in the basement. The other three members of the quartet he was part of all shopped up stairs. He began to get a “basement mentality.”
He was not yet over 5’ tall and had not grown in several years. He weighed under 100 pounds. Of course there were jokes about his size. Then he found out it was because of his heart. A deformity in his heart was keeping him from growing properly.
People began to pray for him. His heart was miraculously healed. He grew 6 inches that year. One day, he realized he could no longer shop for his clothes in the basement.
Too many people have a complex about themselves. They have forgotten that God has healed them, changed them, and made them what He is. They live with a basement mentality.
Financially, some think they have no way up. They expect to stay on the bottom always.
In spiritual gifts, many hold themselves in the basement because of guilt. They assume because of past mistakes that they will never be useful to God. They need to understand the value of His name on their lives and the power of His Spirit within them.
In leadership, too many believers think they do not have what it takes to lead. They want to see great things happen in the Kingdom, but they do not trust themselves. Instead, they should look to Jesus and His command to lead other followers—to go make disciples. Every believer is a leader.
In conquering temptation, it is time to come out of the basement. You must accept by faith who Jesus us. Your faith then accepts His work in your place. Therefore, in the eyes of God you are free from your past. You are now Child of God through Christ. Just as Christ has defeated sin so you have victory over every temptation because He beat it for you!
You will get rid of your basement mentality once you have a change of heart. “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (I John 3:20). There is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who do not live according to the basement mentality but after the Spirit from above (Romans 8).
Have a heart change. Start believing in His ability rather than in your spiritual or emotional “disabilities.” “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.” (I John 3:21)
Video: Rev. James Kilgore
What are some other ways you have overcome a basement mentality? I would love to hear from you.
2 Comments
Wonderful!! This post caused me to study 1 John 3:18-21. Wow!! Amazing!! Perfect time for me to read this. Basement monsters have been messing with me and this brought Truth to my soul. I’ve been sharing your post with others and sending different biblical versions of these scriptures to add illumination.
Thanks for all you do!!
Blessings,
Stephanie Seniour
Awesome post. Thanks for sharing. In respinse to your question, one way that I have escaped the basement mentality is through the the following passage of Scripture which makes it evident that it is easier to push a locomotive uphill on an icy day than it is to sin; provided that I receive it from day to day. It helped me to understand how Jesus could say “Go and sin no more”.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 1 John 3:2-10