The Devil Has A Plan For Your Life.

The Devil Has a Plan for Your Life!

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

- John 10:10

I realize that John 10:10 is a well-known verse to millions of believers around the world, but today I want to give you fresh insight into this powerful scripture. Rather than simply read it as you’ve read it a thousand times before, let’s dig a little deeper into the Greek words behind this verse to see what we can mine from the treasures of the Greek New Testament!

Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). According to these words of Jesus, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy everything good in your life. He wants to destroy your job, your joy, your happiness, your health, your finances, your marriage, and your kids.The thief just wants to ruin anything he can get his hands on!

The word “thief ” comes from the Greek word klepto, which means to steal.: It gives a picture of a bandit, pickpocket, or thief who is so artful in the way he steals that his exploits of thievery are nearly undetectable. This reminds me of the pickpockets who work the streets in certain areas of Moscow.They can slip their hands into a person’s pockets, take what they want, and be long gone before that person discovers they were even there!

Jesus uses this word to let us know the devil is very cunning in the way he steals from people. He knows that if he does it outright, his actions will be recognized; therefore, he steals from people in such a deceptive way that he often accomplishes his evil goal before they even know he has stolen from them!

Often the devil injects thoughts into a person’s mind to steal his peace, his joy, and even his beliefs. The word klepto describes a thief ’s uncontrollable urge to get his hands into someone’s pockets so he can take that which doesn’t rightfully belong to him. I find it very interesting that this is where we get the word kleptomaniac, which describes a person with a persistent, neurotic impulse to steal. Just as a kleptomaniac can’t help but steal, the devil can’t stop stealing because it is his impulse and his very nature to steal. This is precisely the nature and behavior of the thief Jesus told us about!

Not only does the thief come to steal, but Jesus said that he also comes “to kill.” At first glance, it appears that this means to kill, as to take someone’s life. But the Greek word is thuo, which means to sacrifice. It originally referred to the sacrificial giving of animals on the altar. It could mean to sacrifice; to surrender; or to give up something that is precious and dear. It was particularly used in a religious connotation to denote the sacrifice of animals, and it had nothing to do with killing in terms of murder.

Because Jesus uses this word to describe the work of the thief in John 10:10, He is telling us that if the thief hasn’t already walked away with everything we hold precious and dear, he will then try to convince us that we need to sacrifice or give up everything he hasn’t already taken from us.

The thief cannot bear the fact that you possess any kind of blessing. Therefore, if he is unsuccessful at stealing the good things from your life, he will try to cunningly convince you to give up everything you possess and love – simply because he doesn’t want you to have it. He may even try to create stressful situations that cause you to conclude that your only solution is to sacrifice the things you dearly love.

Then Jesus went on to say that the thief also comes “to destroy.” The word “destroy” is from the Greek word apollumi, meaning to destroy. It carries the idea of something that is ruined, wasted, trashed, devastated, and destroyed. By using this word, we discover that if the thief is unsuccessful in his attempts to steal from you or convince you to sacrifice what you hold dear, he will then try to ruin it!

An expanded interpretive translation of John 10:10 could read this way:
“The thief wants to get his hands into every good thing in your life. In fact, this pickpocket is looking for any opportunity to wiggle his way so deeply into your personal affairs that he can walk off with everything you hold precious and dear. And that’s not all – when he’s finished stealing all your goods and possessions, he’ll take his plan to rob you blind to the next level. He’ll create conditions and situations so horrible that you’ll see no way to solve the problem except to sacrifice everything that remains from his previous attacks. The goal of this thief is to totally waste and devastate your life. If nothing stops him, he’ll leave you insolvent, flat broke, and cleaned out in every area of your life. You’ll end up feeling as if you are finished and out of business! Make no mistake – the enemy’s ultimate aim is to obliterate you.”

But Jesus went on to say, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The words “they might have” are from the Greek tense that means to have and to continually possess. The “life” Jesus offers us is zoe, which suggests a
life that is filled with vitality. The word “abundantly” is from the Greek word periossos, and it means to be above, beyond what is regular, extraordinary, or even exceeding. This is not just abundance; it is super- abundance.
What a comparison! The devil comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but Jesus comes to give life as we have never known it!

An expanded interpretive translation of this second part of John 10:10 could be as follows:

“But I came that they might have, keep, and constantly retain a vitality, gusto, vigor, and zest for living that springs up from deep down inside. I came that they might embrace this unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded and overflowing life to the ultimate maximum!”
In your walk with the Lord, you will experience times when the devil pushes buttons in your emotions to keep you all bound up and depressed. Other times the enemy will disguise his voice to make you think God is talking to you in order to get you off track or cause you to cast off your deepest dreams as pure imagination. But whenever these attacks occur, just tell the devil to shut up and stop dropping those dimwitted thoughts of nonsense into your head. Tell him to hit the road! Let him know you’re not going to bite that bait any longer, so he might as well go fishing somewhere else. You’re not a sucker anymore! You know how he works now, and you’ve determined that he isn’t going to steal, kill, or destroy one more good thing in your life!
There’s no doubt about it!

” The devil wants you to be defeated.
” The devil wants you to struggle through your entire life.
” The devil wants you to be sick, depressed, down in the dumps, glum, and miserable.
” The devil wants you to feel like you will never hit the target with your life.
” But Jesus wants to give you a life that is unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded, and overflowing with life to the ultimate maximum!

So now that you know the devil wants to make your life a less-than-gratifying, unhappy, uneventful life – a life that no one will even notice is gone once it’s over – what are you going to do about it? I urge you to put on the brakes and stop Satan from wreaking havoc in your life. Jesus will give you the power to resist every attack and to overcome every strategy the devil ever tries to use against you!

This was from the Book Sparkling Gems By:Rick Renner! Great Book

Technorati Tags: heart, Holy Spirit, Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems

Discerning the Heart!

The heart is the most important aspect of our being. We should know more about our hearts than anything else right? But in fact we know very little about our hearts and that is why we reduce our relationship with God to a bunch of rules and regulations.

Law does not allow us to understand our own hearts. Many times we do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Let me explain his…for example if two people commit the same actions, one can be sincere and honest and the other can be manipulative and deceitful.

On the outside when we look at them they may look the same but on the inside they had different motivations!

The bible says we are not to judge lest we be judged! That is a very powerful statement! Why? Simple, only God can judge our hearts. He knows us better then we know ourselves! And it’s good to know he looks on the inside (the heart)!

Have you ever came across someone who says “He has such a good heart”

Think about that for a second…How does he really know if that person has a good heart? But then you could even ask “How do you really know and how can you past judgment?”

We can’t even judge our own hearts much less someone else’s! The bible says the Word of God will discern, judge, or sift our hearts! Many people serve God but not with a true heart…The condition of their hearts may be filled with good things or bad things!

Proverbs 14:14 says, “The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways.” All may look good on the outside, but what’s on the inside?

I can say for myself I got saved in June 1999 and when I started to learn about God I knew things of him but did not have a personal relationship with him. Why? I was afraid of him. Why? Well I had a childhood that was very dysfunctional and I was raised in a very legalistic church background.

I was taught that you had to do all these things and if you didn’t then God was going to toss you away. It was all about works and the do’s and dont’s instead of the love and grace of God.

I lived under fear, judgment, and condemnation. It was if I do good then God was proud of me but as soon as I did something bad I ran from God….and that is exactly what God does not want you to do! What opened my eyes was about a year ago I found out that it was not about me….it was about God working in and through me and it changed my life!

It was not about how good I was or all the good I could do. It was not about the clothing I wore or the food I ate, It was not about how much time I spent serving the church or the amount of money I gave….it was about the power of God living in and through me to produce fruit.

It was about God loving me and already knowing me, my heart, as damaged as I was and how my heart was crushed he knew why my heart was crushed and he simply wanted me to come to know him more intimately. Really I was just going through the motions instead of really having a loving meaningful relationship with God. I was scared of him.

To live in the peace of the gospel we need to have the right heart. Be real and transparent with each other but most of all with ourselves and God!

Our hearts are the seat of our emotions and will. Our emotions can be stimulated from our spirits or from our flesh. Our emotions can be very deceitful!

Many people live for God but they are robbed of confidence because of condemnation. Some people live for self and deceive themselves into believing they are right before God.

Bottom line, our emotions are not a stable indicator of the condition of our hearts! In 1st John 3:18 verse 21 it says: to assure or persuade our hearts before God. Verses 18-19 say that the only way to know we are in truth is by loving in both word and deed. Walking in love can settle the issue when our hearts condemn us!

Works do not earn us a position or favor with God. But the fruit that comes forth because of our relationship with God helps to assure our hearts!

It becomes a mirror to our inner man! When our hearts do not condemn us we have confidence and we receive whatever we ask! Having confidence is an important part of faith!

We must first have a confident expectation of God. We must have confidence of our own standing before God.

See 1st John 3:22 says: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are leasing in his sight.”

We could say: See you must keep the commandments to get your prayers answered. But remember, the context is walking in love! Keeping the commandments does not earn answered prayer, Instead keeping His commandments assures our hearts!

The way we live in regard to our beliefs on the Lord Jesus and walking in love, reveals the condition of our hearts! When we remove the threat of judgment we have the opportunity th see what is really in the heart of a person. Truth will reveal the condition of the heart. It will sort out the real motives and intentions.

In Hebrews 4:12 it says “For the word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Let us study the word of God so it can change our hearts! Remember it’s a heart issue and only Jesus can judge our hearts! Let others see you as transparent so that the light of God can shine through you to others.

Some material in this blog was used from the Book entitled “The gospel of Peace!” By: Dr. James Richards. I recommend this book it is a very thought provoking powerful book that gives you insight. For a 20% discount of the retail price you can go to Gospel of Peace

Be Blessed!!!!

Technorati Tags: discern, heart, judge, law