Taking Back What the Enemy Has Stolen by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1351

Taking Back What the Enemy Has Stolen

TAKING BACK WHAT THE ENEMY HAS STOLEN

John 10:10-11 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

We live in a land where things get stolen all the time. Statistics suggest we are a nation in trouble!  Examples:

• More than $13 billion worth of goods are stolen from retailers each year. That’s more than $35 million per day.
• There are approximately 27 million shoplifters (or 1 in 11 people) in our nation today. More than 10 million people have been caught shoplifting in the last five years.
• There is no profile of a typical shoplifter. Men and women shoplift about equally as often.
• Shoplifters say they are caught an average of only once in every 48 times they steal. They are turned over to the police 50 percent of the time.
• Habitual shoplifters steal an average of 1.6 times per week.

There are a lot of thieves in our country but I don’t necessarily want to focus on the natural today. In the spiritual realm, a kind of stealing is going on in many lives.   Satan is in the business of ripping off things that are ours.

Jesus said in JOHN 10:10 that the thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. But Jesus said, “I came that you may have life, and life to the full”.

But you know, Satan doesn’t need your car, he doesn’t need your house, or your money, or your trinkets. But he is interested in stealing Spiritual treasures from you and me. Things that have real value to us and God; and are of a eternal significance.

For example. Our purpose for live. How many people are out there who see no purpose for their life? Too many, so they wind up turning to Drugs, alcohol meaningless relationships,  meaningless pleasure,  greed or something else…anything just to fill the void!

God made man to find fulfillment in Him. In our text this morning, Jesus said that He came that we have life, and life to the full.

The big question this morning is; how many of us can honestly say that you are experiencing this quality of life, this life to the full that Jesus is speaking of in this text?

What I am proposing this morning is that fact, that Satan, our enemy has been robbing us. Whether we recognize it or not, we are in war, where this enemy is attempting to destroy us by trying to:

1)    Rob and Undermine our relationship with God,                                   

2nd) Rob and Undermine our relationship with one another,                   

3rd)  Rob and Undermine our own peace of mind and God given fullness.         

Let’s consider these 3:
First: The Devil is attempting to Rob and undermine our relationship with God  

Yes we say we still love the Lord.  We still come to Church.
But some of us wonder what happened to all the energy and passion we had years ago?

I don’t think that zeal and our fire within just evaporated away. I think Satan finds a way to steals those hot embers, and our fire fades.  Some of us have just been ripped off!

Just like in the Parable of the Sower, Seed is sown on the path, and Jesus said that the Devil came and snatched them away.  Some might say, ‘well when I first became a Christian I was on fire, but I don’t know what happened.’

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 it says that all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.

There is no end to the power God wants to exhibit in our lives. But some of us have been robbed, or we’ve been duped. We need to wake up be honest and admit what has really happened.

Maybe 5 or 10 years ago you were excited about your Christianity and ready to do just about anything to serve Jesus

But now you are discouraged, maybe somebody let you down, or maybe put you down, or maybe something went wrong in your life, in your home, where you work or in your church. Or maybe things haven’t turned out like you think that they should have. You tried to be positive, but soon the fire was gone and now it’s hard even to open your Bible or even go to church. Maybe even your relationship with God isn’t what it was.

That’s just what the devil wants, to steal away from you.  

Second: The devil also wants to undermine and rob us of our relationships with one another to further destroy us. It’s like someone who  keeps knocking holes in our foundation. He knows that if our foundation crumbles so too will the house, and so too will our lives. 

He is tries to rob us of peace in our home, at work, and also in our churches. If we complain, argue, fight, gossip, say things we shouldn’t, feelings get hurt, and people leave. Jesus Himself said that a house divided can not stand (it won’t survive).

Its not that we’re not guilty of sinning sometimes, but who temps us in the first place… This is the reality of spiritual warfare!   Satan is patient and is slowly and tactfully trying to rob us of those we need and love the most.

Why is Satan so intent on breaking up families and churches? Because they offer us our greatest support and when we feel down, weak or discouraged.

And 3rd, Satan also tries to rob us of our own peace of mind, so we don’t experience the life to the full that Jesus came to give us.

Instead of growing stronger and more mature in Christ as the years go by, he would have us doubt our self, doubt what we know, doubt our ability.

He wants us to think that God is mad at us. And therefore make excuses when it comes to serving, or teaching or leading. We don’t ever feel that we are good enough, because Satan has come in and robbed us of the confidence we should have in Christ, and he has robbed us of the reality and of the knowledge that God own Spirit abides in us. And he has robbed us without us even knowing it.

There is a story in 1 Samuel of David in the area of ZIKLAG
David and his men were away from home and Amalekite raiders came down to their town of Ziklag and burned it and then stole and carried off their families and possessions. When David and his army got back home and found that it was burned and all was gone, his men were very angry and ready to turn on him You can read about it in 1 Samuel. 30
At that point David was in serious trouble because his men were very bitter about losing their wives and children, and they began to talk of stoning him.

But then we see a wonderful phrase in 1 Samuel 30:6,   “But David found strength in the LORD his God.”    In verse 8 it says, ‘David inquired of the LORD, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?”    And the LORD told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!”

And so they go after those thieves and in verse 18 and following it says that he recovered everything that was taken.

Why am I telling you this story?
Because a moment came when David and His men (with the Lord’s help) chose to get up and go after their stolen property!

And sometimes much in the same way we need to go on the offensive. We need to be mindful of what the devil is trying to take away from us and say, ‘wait a minute!  I’m am not going to let you rob me or undermine my relationship with my Lord, and my God. He still loves me. He still wants me to be his son/daughter. He still wants to give me a great inheritance.’

God is just as willing to work in our lives as He was David and his men and He will help us get back what was taken and reveal His own glory in our life. No one, Satan, nor any one else has any right to rob or undermine our  relationship with God!

God can help you get that relationship and fire back! God can even help you get back or restore the peace and good relationships you should have with your family, in your home or with your friends. David and his companion did not sit around waiting for their women and children and stuff to return, they went after it. And we have to get up and do our best with God’s help to get back what we lost

Like David and his men you need to trust God and then go after it, and even say, ‘I love and need my wife and my kids. I love and need these people in my church, they are my spiritual brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. I am not going to let Satan rob this from me. These relationships are too precious to loose, to be taken away. I am not going to let anyone rob me of my peace of mind and the life Jesus wants me to enjoy.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3  (Read 3:12-17) ”Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.  Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

If you strive to obey these verses, there is no way Satan will rob you of your family at home nor at church. Satan wants to rob you of those relationship. But now that you know what he’s up to, do your best to take back those relationships by doing your best to repair them. And don’t give the devil another foothold.

And what about our own peace of mind? Has he robbed that from you too?

Don’t let him!  Say to yourself, ‘God loves me so much,      He was willing to let His Son die on the cross for me.’

If you are that important to God, you are worth a whole lot.  So stop doubting, stop criticizing yourself, and your ability. The devil wants you to do that.  The devil wants you to doubt, to fear, to question who you are and what you can do, so that maybe you won’t be any good to yourself or anyone else. \

DON’T LET SATAN ROB YOU!  Jesus came that we may have life, a full life, where we can experience inner joy,  real peace and love, no matter what our circumstance.

Don’t let Satan rob that from you!   And if he has, just like David in I Samuel, go after what he has taken and find strength in the Lord, and go back and reclaim what is rightfully yours.

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com