...the devil comes and steals the word..Luke 8:12
I began writing a journal while I was inside a Texas prison (2009-10), and I continue to document occurrences in my life to this day.
I was reading in a 2014 journal about losing my house in a public auction. I wrote about while exercising on my treadmill, I was thinking that in less than two weeks I would be in another location......"I lost my beautiful home, I have to move out!" I would be leaving behind years of memories inside this house, as well as having to get rid of a 14 year collection of things. Ugh!
Fear began trying to gain entrance into my heart. Fear wanted me to forget all that God had done in my life. Fear wanted to make me forget who my Creator is. Fear wanted to replace God's promises of who He is, with doubt, unbelief, and discouragement.
I was looking out the window as I thought about all this, and I noticed a bird fly by with something in its mouth. It was springtime, and so I assumed it was a twig to add to its nest. All of the sudden the bird disappeared. I got off the treadmill and went outside to see what happened to it. In horror I saw that my cat, Fe', had the bird in her mouth.
I got Fe' to let go of the bird, but the bird panicked in fear and dropped the twig from its beak. The twig laid useless on the ground, never to be a part of building this bird's nest.
This got me to thinking about the devil's tactics of stealing God's Word from people. I saw how satan likes to sneak up and cause fear so that we let go of God's promises from our hearts.
Quick to pounce on his prey, the devil would like to steal all promises given to us by our Creator. Satan would like for us to foolishly try to accomplish everything in our own strength.
What a liar!
God has given us His promise that He will care for us. Our Creator made an eternal covenant with us, and it was signed by the blood of Jesus. This is how much He loves us.
Salvation is offered through Jesus, and this includes His provision, His healing, His peace. These are the primary things people are striving for, and yet....God has already given them to us through Jesus.
These promises are for now, while we are on Planet Earth.
Our enemy, the devil, would like for us to let those promises drop to the ground and lie dormant. He would like for us to go about life on Earth in despondency, with hearts that are frustrated by the failure of trying to meet our own needs.
Do not let the enemy steal what Jesus came to Earth to give you. Hold on to the promises inside the Bible. Be assured that as you allow Jesus to be Lord, He will direct you. His guidance will provide everything you need for an abundant life on Earth.
The following are words of Jesus:
The thief enters only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that you could have life--indeed, so that you can live life to the fullest. John 10:10.