enemy comes to steal kill and destroy | Devotions by Chris Hendrix

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October 8, 2024 · 5:39 AM

Fighting Back

One of the things Jesus told us is that our enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to steal your joy, your time, your children, your spouse, your money and more. He wants to kill your momentum, your hope, your relationships, the seeds you’ve planted and anything life giving. He wants to destroy your confidence, your testimony, your harvest, your work, your hope and your connection to God. He’s always at work trying to do these things in your life. How do you respond when he succeeds? Do you wallow in self pity? Do you cry out to God for help? Do you take back what the enemy stole? You have unused authority that has been given to you from Jesus to fight back and take back what God has given you.

In 1 Samuel 30, we read the story of David and his men returning home from the battlefield. They were running from Saul and had agreed to fight along side Israel’s enemies against Saul, but the king’s didn’t trust David. After several days of traveling to return home, they saw smoke rising. Their homes had been burned down by an enemy. Their wives, kids and all their possessions were stolen. Verse 6 says, the men began to turn on David and were planning on stoning him, but David found strength in God. Then David called for the priest and communicated with God. He asked if he should go after the enemy and fight. The Lord said yes. They saddled up, even though they were exhausted, fought the enemy and reclaimed their wives, kids and possessions. Meanwhile, Saul was killed in the other battle and David was asked to be king.

Psalm 18 was written around this time. Verse 2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety” (NLT). While the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, Jesus came to give life. He is our rock in times of trouble, our fortress when the enemy attacks and our savior who gives us the victory. We must trust in Him as our protection. He is our shield, power and peace. Don’t just stand there when the enemy comes in. Run to Him, regather yourself and go fight the enemy. Take back what has been stolen. All is not lost. Chase him down, fight back and take back what God has given you. Now is not the time to give up. Now is the time to rise up, face the enemy fully equipped with the armor of God and take it all back.

Picture courtesy of Unsplash.

Assumptions

There’s an exercise I do with people to show how our minds jump to conclusions and we assume. We observe a conversation where a lot of things are left open, and then I ask them questions about it. The group doesn’t know that I’m exposing how their brain works. As I ask the questions, they typically make assumptions. I keep asking questions to get as much detail from them as I can to see how much they’ve made up.

I keep asking questions until someone inevitably says, “I don’t know.” I then go back to what was said and ask, “So what do we really know?” I sometimes have to go through it several times before they get it. Most of the answers they give are based on their assumptions and not on what they know. I then like to ask, “How much of your life is based on what you’re assuming versus what you know?” It’s a heavy question that I usually leave several seconds of silence after while they think.

Job was a righteous man in the Bible. He honored God in all he did and even fell down to worship God when he lost his kids and his wealth. As time went on and he was struck with boils, his friends began to question his integrity. In their conversations back and forth, it’s clear that they make many assumptions about his predicament and how God is doing it to Him. They don’t know that Satan is behind the whole thing and is the one tormenting Job.

In Job 19:25, Job makes a great statement. He says, “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives” (NLT). We may not know why we go through certain things or why things happen, but we can know that our redeemer lives. We can live with assurance that He is in control and our lives are in His hands. We need to stop our assumptions that God is behind everything bad that happens in our lives. We know that it’s the enemy who steals, kills and destroys. It’s God who brings life. So they next time things happen, don’t make decisions based on assumptions. Go with what you know.

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