The Thief

John 10:10 (Amplified) The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Have you ever wondered what do I have that the devil could possibly want from me?  The devil and demons are fallen angels.  Which means they never get hungry, and they will never die. They don’t need a car or wealth because they can travel faster than the speed of light, and practically anything they want they can make it themselves.  They never get tired, so they don’t need sleep to rest their bodies.  Angels are extremely strong.  One angel killed 185,000 Assyrian men (See 2 Kings 19:35).   What I’m saying is that there isn’t anything that I can think of that the devil or demons would want from a human person.  So, asking the question again, “what do we have that is so valuable that they would have to steal it from us, they want to kill us for it, and literally destroy everything about us?”

Jesus told us very clearly that the purpose of the devil and demons is to steal, kill, and destroy.  The question is what are they stealing, what are they killing, and what are they destroying?  More importantly why?  The answers can be found in two scriptures: Mark 4:14-20 and John 10:10.

Jesus was telling his disciples about the parable of the Sower.  But this parable explains how the enemy works.

Mark 4:15 (NLT) “The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.”

Satan is after the Word of God that gets planted in your life.  God’s Word is so powerful, nothing in this universe can match it.  Satan knows if God’s Word gets planted in your spirit, and you become aware of what you can do with His Word, then the enemy is powerless.  When God’s Word is spoken at church, or around anyone who is talking about God’s Word, Satan’s demons are right there ready to steal it from you.  Satan does not want you to “speak” God’s Word because once it is spoken, action takes place, and it does not return empty or void. (Isaiah 55:11) Satan wants you to only speak things that is contrary to what God’s Word says.  When you say things that is not in agreement with God’s Word, then you are giving demons permission to influence and take over your life.  There are things we say that we don’t realize the consequences on our lives. Things such as, “You make me sick. You are getting on my last nerve.  I hate when they do this, it just gives me a headache!”

So how does Satan steal God’s Word from you?  Very easily if you allow him.  Through disbelief and distractions.  When you are in church and your mind is thinking about the things you need to get done after church, or you’re planning where you are going to go eat, etc.  He is distracting you from receiving God’s Word.  Or when you hear something from a scripture and a thought comes to mind, “There ain’t no way that is possible.  I just don’t see how that can happen.  I’ve never seen anything happen like that; I just can’t believe that.” When you fall for that trap, he has stolen the seed (God’s Word) from you.  Satan steals through Distractions and Unbelief; basically, getting you to think about something else so that you don’t hear the Word of God, and getting you to question and doubt God’s Word.  You are trying to logically reason what you hear from God’s Word to try and make sense relative to what you know and have seen.  Whatever you don’t understand or can’t reason you reject, which is what Satan wants you to do.  Satan doesn’t want you to belief God’s Word and that is how he steals from you.  Jesus said, “If you can believe, ALL things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) And if your mind is distracted and you never hear God’s Word, then you will never believe because you didn’t hear it.  The Bible states that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Remember this, Hell is going to be filled by people who didn’t believe.  Don’t believe me? Revelation 21:8 gives a list of the folks who will be in Hell.  The second category listed is The Unbelieving.

The second area that Satan and demons try to do is Kill you.  If they failed at stealing God’s Word from you, then will try to stop you from using it or spreading it to others.  Here is a little secret that most Christians forget; God’s Word only works when it is spoken!

• Matthew 10:20 (NLT) “For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
• Psalm 37:30 (ESV) “The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.”
• Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,…”
• Isaiah 51: 16 (NKJV) “And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand
• Mark 11: 22,23 (NKJV) “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

Deep huh? So, Satan and demons attack your mind to distract you and kill your believe so that you won’t speak God’s Word.  If you are not speaking God’s Word, then God’s plan isn’t getting spread around:

John 10:10 (Amplified) “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

Matthew 6:10 (NKJV) “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

I know what you are thinking, “Well, I don’t see the abundant life going on in this world.  In fact, I just see crime, murder, hunger, and suffering everywhere.  On top of that, I’m barely making it myself.  I may not have the things of a multi-millionaire, but let’s just say that I don’t see the abundant life for my life.”  Let me ask you a question: Are you speaking God’s Word over your life?  Are you believing and trusting God? Do you have some unforgiveness in your heart; meaning, is there someone you need to forgive?  Are you living a double life? (Saying that you are a Christian, but clinging onto the things that is clearly not of God?)  Remember, Matthew 6:10 comes from Jesus teaching us how to pray.  Our prayers should desire that God’s Kingdom to be done on earth more than our desires to be done on earth.  The trouble with man’s desires is that it is rooted in selfishness.  God hates selfishness.  Now I’m not saying that you can’t have desires.  God knows your desires, but He wants you to put Him first.

Matthew 6:33 (NLT) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Psalm 37:4 (Amplified) “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.”

Finally, Satan and demons are trying to destroy you.  They are trying to get you to faulter and make a mistake so traumatic that it destroys your witness and testimony towards others.  He wants you to make a mistake then he taunts and reminds you of your unworthiness of being in God’s child.  It is like he tempts you to do a sin (making it look so good), but as soon as you give in, then he goes all out attacking your mind making you feel guilty and unworthy. Remember, a drug dealer always has this saying, “the first one is free, after that, you will pay me!”  (A drug dealer is not your friend.  They just want you to sample the product, get hooked, then you belong to them.)  Don’t ever think that Satan and demons are your friend. They hate you because God created you in His image.  When they see you, they see God’s image so they will do anything to counteract anything God is trying to do “through” you.

Remember the story of Job?  Satan took Job’s health, Job’s children, Job’s friends, Job’s home, Job’s status, and Job’s wealth.  Satan took everything from Job to destroy him, and technically he did destroy him in the natural.  But the goal was to get Job to curse God and turn his back on God.

So how does the enemy destroy you?  By attacking your mind through temptations.  Satan and demons study you to look for weaknesses.  They know exactly how to attack and entice you to do something that is completely against God’s Will.  Sorry to tell you this, but even when they leave you alone, they wait for a while then return to attack you.  Their goal is to get you to make a mistake, then they will bring it out to the public so that others will see your mistake to cause shame against you.  Others are listening to demons to literally bury you.   God tells us to love everyone including the ones who makes mistakes.  We should love others who make a mistake (1 Peter 4:8).  Keep in mind this is not saying that you agree with their mistakes nor condone or enable them to continue in their sin.  There is a process in dealing with and helping a person who makes a mistake.  Christianity is not about trying to make another person a public example.  Remember the story of the woman who was caught in adultery, and the scribes and Pharisees told Jesus, “According to the law, she should be stoned to death.”  When Jesus said, “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”, everyone dropped their stones and left.  After everyone left, the most power thing that Jesus said to the woman is that I don’t condemn you.  God doesn’t want to condemn you or anyone.  He has already taken out His anger and punished sin while Jesus was hanging on the cross.  No matter what mistakes you have made, God is wanting and ready to forgive you.  Satan doesn’t want you to know that God wants to forgive you.

• Satan steals from you so that you will curse God and turn your back on God.
• Satan is trying to kill you so that you can’t spread God’s Word to others. He is trying to kill your belief in God so that you will turn your back on God.
• Satan is trying to destroy your life by causing you to focus on your shame so that others will see your mistakes, then you enter into the mindset of guilt and shame, then they stop believing in God, and eventually turning their backs on God.

Jesus did not leave us helpless without weapons to fight against Satan and his demons.  Here are a few scriptures that are very powerful:

• 2 Corinthians 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
• 1 John 4:4 “Greater is He who is in me than He who is in the world.”
• Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
• Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things who strengthens me.”
• Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons. “

Fight the thief by speaking God’s Word out loud!

Be blessed! 😊

Ron Cobbs Ministries © Copyright April 6^th, 2024, All Rights Reserved