Taking back what the enemy has stolen!
We live in a land where things get stolen all the time statistics suggest we are a nation in trouble!
But I don’t 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 don’t belong to him!
Jesus said in JOHN 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
Satan dosnt need your car or your house, or your money. But he is interested in stealing Spiritual treasures. Things that have value with God and are of eternal significance.
For example. Our purpose for living. Because there is no reason for life people turn to Drugs, alcohol meaningless relationships, career achievements, pleasure,
Something…anything to fill the void!
God made man to find fulfilment in Him…. And His awareness has been stolen from at least 3.6 millon New Zealanders.
Even for those who are Christians the devil has a strategy for theft
(A) The loss of our first love for Jesus.
Yes we still love the Lord
We still come to Church
But what happened to all the energy and passion?
Our zeal and our intensity don’t evaporate. Satan steals the hot embers, We get ripped off!
Some might say well when I got saved I was an energetic teenager!
But the bible says 2 Corinthians 3:1818 And 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 he wants to exhibit in our lives. The bible has no retirement plan
God can keep his people on fire for Him, can keep us sharp and intense. We need to be honest and admit what has really happened. We have been ripped off!
(B) What about that unique calling?
The gift to serve others
To sing
To preach
To be a missionary
Ten years ago there was a stirring inside of you
But then you got discouraged, somebody let you down, something went wrong in your church, you tried twice, but somebody criticised you soon the dream was gone and you thought the calling wasn’t real!
You got ripped off!
( C ) Home burglaries
Why do Christian couples and families have so much trouble?
Satan fully intends to destroy my marriage, my relationship with my family, This is a reality of spiritual warfare!
No honest man or woman of God will deney that the devil makes major assaults on their marriage and families.
Why is satan so intent on breaking up families and church’s because they reflect the nature of God!
The story in 1 Sam of David and ZIKLAG
Davids family is gone everything is lost and His men turn on him in natural anger!
Then comes a wonderful phrase! 1 Samuel 30:6 David was now in serious trouble because his men were very bitter about losing their wives and children, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
8 Then David asked the LORD, “Should I chase them? Will I catch them?”
And the LORD told him, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!” 9 So David and his six hundred men set out,
16 So the Egyptian led them to the Amalekite encampment. When David and his men arrived, the Amalekites were spread out across the fields, eating and drinking and dancing with joy because of the vast amount of plunder they had taken from the Philistines and the land of Judah. 17 David and his men rushed in among them and slaughtered them throughout that night and the entire next day until evening. None of the Amalekites escaped except four hundred young men who fled on camels. 18 David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. 20 His troops rounded up all the flocks and herds and drove them on ahead. “These all belong to David as his reward!” they said.
Why am I telling you this story?
Because the moment came when David and His men chose to get up and go after stolen property!
Today we need to say wait a minute!
Im not giving up on my calling
My son my daughter
My wife my husband
My friend my family
My potential in life
Satan has no feelings of sympathy for you
If you don’t resist him he’ll rip you off every week all year every year!
Jesus can revive your fire
Renew your relationships
Your call can bloom again
You can recover the faith that satan stole from you
God can revive faith in our souls if we ask him! He will bring faith back through His word!
Romans 10:17 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The only question is Do we believe God will recover stolen property? Or do we think our situation is impossible!
Ah Lord God -- Ah Lord God -- Behold thou hast made heaven and earth By thy great power and outstretched arms there is nothing too hard for thee there is nothing too hard for thee
