Steal, Kill, and Destroy

Your belief system is the most important thing that you will ever hold on to.  It is your faith in things.  God, yourself, your family and friends, your job, your car starting in the morning are all things you can believe or can have “faith” in.  When you get up each morning, you have “faith” that when you walk out of your bedroom the rest of the house will be there.  You know you won’t open the door and suddenly be looking outside, why because you have “faith” that while you were sleeping nothing happened to the rest of your house, you believe it.

It is the same way when you go to work, when you come home you have “faith” that your home will be there when you get there, you believe it.  Yes, sometimes things do happen outside of our belief systems, like a fire, which require us to have a paradigm shift.  They cause us to change what we believe, that sometimes the seemingly unexplainable, improbable, or even impossible can happen to us.

This “faith” or belief system is what we use when we trust in God.  He gave us the ability to trust Him, to believe in Him, to have “faith” in His goodness and love for us, and in His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that comes to live in us when we accept Him and invite Him in.  As Christians we know that all of this is a part of our new faithful life in Christ.  We also know that we must say goodbye to the old life, and kill our old ways.

In Colossians 3:6, Paul instructs us to “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”  He is telling us to kill that old part of ourselves, yet although he gives us this sage advice he admits that he struggles with his own sinful nature in Romans 7:15-20, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

What he is essentially saying is even though we “kill” or “put to death” the old sinful nature it is still within us.  What do you do with something that is dead?  You bury it, naturally.  Unfortunately, this part of us has a propensity to want to resurrect itself.  Occasionally, with a bit of encouragement from Satan and/or one of his companions.  It is called…temptation.

Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. This is what Jesus warned us about in John 10:10.  Not so much our possessions, our health, our family, he just distracts us with those things, but our faith in God and Jesus Christ.  He wants to steal it, kill it, and destroy it so that we no longer have it to use against him.  When we succumb to temptation and allow the old man to resurrect it gives the enemy a foothold, he slips in and starts whispering in our psychological ears about doing things according to our will and not God, about just doing it and not consulting God first, and/or other rebellious actions.  He encourages us to rebel and subsequently steals our connection with God.

He then starts killing our faith in Him.  We start relying on ourselves, much like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. (See Genesis 3:1-5)  Once we do this, we let go of the thing that we see as dead, our faith in Him and Satan is standing by right there to steal it, and then destroy it.  Once this happens we are left in a worst state then when we started.  2 Peter 2:20, speaks to Satan’s goal in this, “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.” (emphasis mine)  That’s exactly what he wants, as the thief he will steal, kill, and destroy your faith and bring you to a place of being worst off than before you were saved.

The way to avoid this is to stay connected to the Father, by reading His word daily, meditating on His word day and night, praying without ceasing, fellowshipping with other believers, worshipping Him in all you do (not just singing, worship is how you work, talk to people, etc…), and waiting on Him.  When you do this you are drawing near to God.  According to James 4:7-8, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Your faith will stand any storm with God at your side, and the closer you are to God the farther Satan will be from you.  There will be times of suffering and trials on your path, but as James tells us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I don’t know about you, but I want everything that God has promised me while I am here so I can fight the good fight of faith and help release more captives from the enemies P.O.W. camp.  He’s not going to steal, kill, or destroy my faith because my spiritual doors are locked against him, because I am staying focused on Christ and my Father in heaven and His will for my life not my own.  God made sure that we were forearmed by being forewarned throughout the bible.  So, with that in mind I’m staying geared up, how about you?

From Light for My Path – Prayers & Promises

I can’t imagine keeping Your law perfectly, Lord,.  But even if I could, it would not do me the ultimate good: It would not gain me heaven.  How thankful I am that You don’t require perfect obedience – just faith.

But I can’t even live by faith under my own steam.  Temptations come, and I quickly give in, despite my love for You.  Only Your Spirit makes the heart change that keeps me faithful to You in thought and deed.  Fill my heart with Your Spirit, Lord. Make me true to You, despite the temptations.  I want to live in faith, not doubt or fear.

In Jesus name,

Amen.