The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10
Simply stated, the devil is a thief and lurks in the shadows of our life attempting to draw our attention away from our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came that we might a life filled with faith, hope and the love of God. If he can hinder our faith, our hope and cause our love for God and our neighbors to become weak, he has succeeded in his atrocious, wicked mission.
The first desire of the devil is his attempt to steal from our relationship with the Lord and to cause us to become preoccupied with the people and possessions of this world. He will use everything he possibly can to distract us, dishearten us and defeat us. He is the brutal enemy of our soul and spirit.
We must keep our eyes keenly focused on the Lord as He guides us day by day in our journey through this life. I love what King David stated in Psalm 141:
But my eyes are upon You, O God the Lord; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute. Psalm 141:8
If the devil can draw our attention away from Jesus and the many promises found in the word of God, he will cause us to stumble. Not only will we suffer, but our family, friends and future generations will be impacted negatively. Do not allow the devil to invade your life. You are playing with fire if you don’t think the devil is evil and mean.
The second desire of the devil is to divide by any means he can to separate us from healthy, godly relationships with our spouse, children, grandchildren, other family members and friends. He will poison the water of life in our spirit if he can. Instead of drinking fresh, living water from the fountain of life, we will find ourselves fighting discouragement, despair and depression. He is a master at manipulating people to achieve his goal in life which is to destroy the lives of as many people as he can.
Third, the devil desires to steal the quantity and quality from our life. He starts the warfare by attacking our mind and body. If he can get us to believe a lie as he did to Adam and Eve, he will be gleeful and continue firing fiery darts into our mind that affects our emotional and physical health. He is not unskilled in his method of attack – he has been waging war against humanity since the day God created Adam. His war is against God and his only target is the souls of men and women. His destiny has already been determined and his plan is to take as many as he can with him to hell. One day in the future, Almighty God is going to bind him in chains and cast him into hell forever.
If you are bound in your mind with thoughts that God does not care about you and believe you are all alone in the battle, take courage because God is on your side. He is our shield and our strength as we wage war against the devil. Here is what King David declared:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation,my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. II Samuel 22:2-4
The ultimate goal of the devil is to steal our hope. Hope has to do with expectation. Our victory is lost or won in the arena of expectation. If our hope grows dim, we need to adjust our thinking. The Apostle Paul admonishes us:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is yourreasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is thatgood and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
We are to have great hope and trust in God at all times. Our expectations determine our faith in God and our faith determines our transformation. We are not to be conformed to this world; we are to be transformed by the power of the word of God through the Holy Spirit.
Hope involves the future. We can doubt in our mind, just not in our heart. Down deep within our heart God has already deposited the measure of faith we need to persevere in the fiery trials of life. Just because doubt may cross our mind doesn’t mean God has placed a roadblock on our prayer. We may doubt sometimes and for some things, but our heart, if focused upon Christ, will keep us right on believing while our mind may be screaming that the circumstances of life seem impossible with God. See Mark 11:22-24
Hope is always in the future tense. Hope is the conviction that something will happen and that it will come to past. Never give up hope.
