Exposing Ourselves to the Enemy

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. -- John 10: 10 (ESV)

The bad news is that there is an enemy to our souls. He does not sleep. He does not relent. As long as we are trying to serve God and do His will, the devil will always being trying to thwart our efforts. The good news is we serve a God who already defeated the enemy. If you read the end of the story, God wins! The truth is that we often lend too much power to the devil in our walks. The world tempts us and our flesh gives in and we think the devil made us do it. The deep theology for today is that the devil cannot make you do anything! If he could -- he would kill you. The key verse today makes that very clear. Let's go a little deeper today"

The devil comes to steal from us beloved but he can only steal what we are willing to leave out. He cannot steal what we hide away. David said that he hid the Word of God in his heart so that he might not sin against the Lord. Think about that for a minute. He hides it so the enemy cannot steal it. Realize that all the devil can do is get you to consider something that is direct opposition to what God has already said. He did it to Eve in the garden and she believed him and went against what God had already said. David hides the Word in his heart so that when the enemy whispers his lies, David knows the truth, the truth sets him free, and the lie is thwarted. Thus the devil cannot steal from David. Another example is if you leave your joy out, the devil will seek to steal it. What do you mean preacher? Well, if you base your joy upon anything temporal; anything in this world, then the devil will seek to steal it. If you base your joy upon the Lord and the promises of God -- there is nothing the enemy can do to steal it.

Likewise the devil is roaming to try and kill us as well but he can only kill what we leave unprotected. Would we leave our children unprotected in this world? Of course not but we leave ourselves so often unprotected. We base our peace upon the things of this world and let every little thing kill it. The Bible says that if we would just be anxious for nothing and present our requests to God with thanksgiving, that the peace that transcends all understanding would be upon us and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! When our hearts and minds are left unguarded -- that is when the enemy will attack us. He will seek to disrupt our peace. God is sovereign. God is in control. Yet we operate sometimes as if He is an absentee landlord. Present what might make you anxious or worry to Him -- and do it with thanksgiving! Not just because you want a specific outcome or answer but because you know His answer will be in your best interest regardless. The devil cannot kill what we do not leave exposed.

Lastly, the devil seeks to destroy us as well. But the good news is he cannot destroy what we have fortified. He cannot destroy what we strengthen. For example, the devil would like nothing more than to destroy our faith. He is constantly trying to get us to doubt God. Everyone can have faith on the mountaintop -- but it is in the valley that it is strengthened. It is also in the valley that the enemy seeks to destroy our faith. To get us to question God. The key here again is what we leave exposed for the enemy to attack. If our faith is based upon our circumstances then the enemy will find fertile ground for his attacks. Think of it this way -- our faith must be based upon what we already know God has done for us in the eternal, not what we have determined He should do for us in the temporal. The three Hebrew boys in the Book of Daniel understood this. Their faith was based on who God was eternally, not what He was doing for them temporally. Quite frankly, they did not have a great temporal situation! They were captives and servants in Babylon. They were being ordered to bow down to an idol or face death in the fiery furnace. I am sure a lot of us would have discarded our faith right about there! The enemy was trying his best to destroy it but they refused and said the God they served could save them from the furnace if He so chose to. He did.

These parts are all interchangeable. The devil can seek to destroy your peace, kill your joy or steal your faith. Which noun is matched up with which verb is not the point. The point is that the devil can only steal what we leave out for him to steal. He can only kill what we do not protect. He can only destroy what we have not fortified in our lives. There is a legend that says that one night Martin Luther was awoken to the sight of Satan himself standing at the end of his bed in all of his horrific anti-glory. Can you imagine the worst the horror movie industry has to offer standing over you as you are awakened out of a restful sleep? The legend says that Luther looked up and said, "Oh, it's just you" and went back to sleep. It is time for the children of God to develop such assurance within themselves about who God is in their lives. It is time for us to steal back the power we have given the enemy. It is time we kill the plans he has to continue to ruin our walk. It is time we destroy the schemes and strongholds he uses against us. Then we will see the abundant life Christ came to give us.

Rev. Anthony