From Pity to Praise

Jesus made it crystal clear that satan (our enemy) is a thief in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Satan has stolen something from all of us. Maybe it’s your peace, your joy, your health, your marriage, your finances. But our calling is confidence in God’s promises.

Satan doesn’t have legal rights to what he’s taken from us. He’s an illegal occupier, a squatter, and it’s time to evict Him.

I’ve walked through enough spiritual wars to recognize satan’s tactics. He doesn’t just steal once and disappear. He keeps coming back to the same areas, hopefully you won’t notice the pattern.

Think about it. What keeps getting attacked in your life? What do you keep losing ground on, even when you pray? What area makes you want to give up and say, maybe this isn’t God’s will for me?

That’s not God’s voice. That’s the voice of a defeated enemy trying to convince you he’s won.

But the truth is Jesus already defeated Satan at Calvary, when He was crucified for us. Colossians 2:15 says, He disarmed the powers and authorities, “having striped the principalities and the powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” The war is won, but we still must enforce victory over our life.

Most believers know Satan stole something from them, but they don’t realize they have the authority to demand it back.

Jesus gave us authority. Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you.”

We don’t beg God to get it back, we don’t hope it magically reappears. We stand in our authority as believers and we take it back in Jesus’s name.

I am not talking about the name it and claim it response. I’m talking about biblical warfare. I’m talking about knowing who we are in Christ Jesus and operating in that identity.

I’ve have used three steps to reclaim what was stolen from me.

1. Identify what was stolen

You can’t fight for something if you don’t know what it is. Get specific. Don’t just say, “The enemy is attacking me.” Say, “The enemy has stolen my peace, my finances, my family unity.” Name it out loud.

2. Reject, the lie that you can’t get it back

The enemy’s biggest weapon isn’t what he takes is the lie that it’s gone forever. He wants you to accept that the loss is permanent. Don’t. God is a restoring God. Joel 2:25 promises, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locusts have eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.”

3. Declare God’s Word over what was stolen

Scriptures such as John 10:10, Colossians 2:15, and Luke 10:19.

Isaiah 61:7 also tells us, “Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion. Instead of dishonor, they will rejoice in their portion…”

The enemy doesn’t want us to know. This fight isn’t fair, and it’s tilted in our favor.

Satan is a defeated foe. He has no authority except what believers ignorantly give him. He’s like someone who got evicted, but keeps showing up hoping you forgot you own the property.

Don’t fight from a position of weakness. Fight from victory. Jesus already won. Our job is to enforce that victory through prayer, the Word, and refusing to back down.

I’ve seen God restore my marriage, my health after the doctor gave me a death sentence, work financially when there was no hope. Stop accepting the theft and start taking back what belongs to you.

The warfare is real, and it’s exhausting and Thete will be days when you will wonder if things are even worth fighting for. But what the enemy stole isn’t just about us. It’s about our families, our calling, this generation. God had trusted us with an assignment, and Satan is terrified of what happens when we walk in the fullness of what God has for each of us.

Satan comes to steal, to discourage, to make us think we will never get back what we’ve lost in our lives. He’s a liar.

The same God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us. The same power that parted the Red Sea is available to us. The same authority that casts our demons belongs to us. We see this in Luke 10:29, Colossians 2:15, and 1 John 4:4 tells us, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

We are not powerless, we are not defeated, and God has not forgotten us.

God’s Word tells us how to fight the enemy. We need to know what His Word says, and start fighting. Our breakthrough is found in obedience to God.

Our appetizers dictate the direction of our lives, whether it’s the cravings of our stomachs or the passionate desire for possessions or power, or the longing of our spirits for God.

When we fill ourselves with the world we will have no room for the things of God. It’s like having to eat two Thanksgiving meals close together the first one tastes wonderful because we are hungry and the second one isn’t appetizing because we are already full from the first one.

Those who follow Jesus hunger for anything besides God can be an enemy. We need to hunger for God and Him alone that’s the only thing that will bring victory.

John Piper put it this way, “If we don’t feel a strong desire for the manifestation of the glory of God, it’s not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It’s because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world that our souls are satisfied with small things, and there is no room for the great.

When God is the supreme hunger of our hearts, He will be supreme in everything else. It’s when we are more satisfied in Him, He will be more glorified in us.

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself. It reveals who God is, and it also serves to reveal who we are. The Bible teaches us how to believe and live in such a way that pleases God. It’s a wealth of wisdom, a treasury of knowledge, an abundance of instruction, and a trustworthy source of truth.

Sometimes we forget that. We listen to a sermon, and we read daily from it, while these things are centered on God’s Word, sometimes we can get so familiar with that word, or at least portions of it, that we neglect to appreciate what God is saying. Sometimes we read something and stop and reflect, and we look again not just because of what is being said, but the manner in which it’s being said. For example Hebrews 6:19 says,

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

What a huge promise He makes us there. We see this promise being made in Genesis, to Abraham which we inherited by choosing to believe in the same God Abraham did. God not only promised this, but went the extra step and guaranteed it with an oath. This verse tells us that all the descendants of Abraham would be blessed. Not with anything trivial and fleeting as health, wealth, and prosperity, but instead we are blessed with every spiritual blessing that Jesus has. There are three reasons we need to anchor our souls:

• Hardships will come

Lp,. -We should not only have to anchor our souls, but it is also what keeps us stable. We need this more than ever because:

An anchor to our souls it was written to a group of struggling believers who were undergoing persecution. Hope is an anchor that tells us to keep going, continue, and endure. To persevere. Do not give up the faith even through hardship is a present reality.

Hardship is a present reality just by living in a broken world, but there will be seasons in our lives when hardship becomes acute. We need the urgency to keep going. Along with that urgency comes the reminder that we are a firm anchor for our souls, in times of hardship.

• Our hearts tend to drift

No matter how long we’ve been walking with Jesus, we all have tendency to drift. If you left a ship in the middle of a body of water, no matter how calm or serene the water might seem on the surface, it will inevitably start to drift. That’s because even though the surface appeared calm, there are currents constantly operating below the surface, so it is with a human heart.

Everything might seem fine on the surface. Life might be put together. And our theology might be on point. Yet inside us all there is an undercurrent of sin. And because it’s there, we all have a tendency to drift. And no one drifts toward Jesus, only away from Him. This is why we need to stay anchored. Because if we are not, then we will slowly, but surely start to drift away.

• We are too easily pleased

There are many things that can caused us to drift. An enticing relationship, or the love of money, or even chasing some ambition. When we take our focus off God, we instead begin to meander our way towards other things. Things that promise us satisfaction and joy, but never truly deliver. We have a tendency to believe that promise because we are too easily pleased.

We settle. We become content to find temporal pleasure and satisfaction, and the things of the world instead of by faith, believing that the greatest, and only real lasting satisfaction can be found in God. We need to anchor our souls because we know ourselves, and we know that unless we are firmly anchored in the promise of what is and what is to come, then we will settle or something less.

“For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is One who restrains now, until he is taken out of the way” -2 Thessalonians 2:7

Jesus said, “take heed that no man deceive you” in Matthew 24:4. Deception is a scary thing.

If you look around you at the things going on in our societies you might ask yourself. “Why are people going crazy.” I think the answer is in the verse above. I do not claim to be a prophecy teacher. But to me it seems clear what is happening. Bible prophecy is coming to pass right before our eyes.

When people are deceived, they believe with all their heart that they are doing right, but in reality, they are wrong.

The spirit of lawlessness is rebellious. They reject God’s love and truth, preferring instead sin and rebellion. It’s a rebellion against God’s order and it’s already at work. It is not random. It has a source. It has a direction. And the spirit of lawlessness is rampant in our nation.

I believe what’s going on today embodies actions and ideologies that oppose divine law, leading to moral and spiritual chaos. I don’t know if this lawlessness can be fixed at this point. Maybe we’ve reached a point where the “restrainer” is the only one who can stop it. But I do know what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 tells us,

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by Word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”

Scripture identified Satan as a primary force behind this lawlessness. It manifests through deceptive practices, including false, teaching and misleading doctrines. 1 Timothy 4:1 warns of individuals following “deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,” illustrating the propagation of lawlessness through spiritual deception. Timothy warns:

“But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons”

Additionally, 2 Corinthians 11:14 cautions, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”

God sent the strong deluding influence when the Holy Spirit stopped restraining the spirit of lawlessness from inspiring “strong delusion” among those who perish.

On these premises, I believe this is what’s going on in the world today. To me, it seems the mystery of lawlessness can be understood as a divinely revealed truth about an ongoing, covert operation of rebellion against God‘s order, orchestrated by Satan. It operates through “deceiving spirits” putting into effect heresy and apostasy. Unrighteous deception and false teachings, subtly influencing humanity towards lawlessness, that will be completely unrestrained in its ultimate revelation in the end times.

Psalm 8 reminds us to entrust our lives to God’s care, calling on Him whenever we need. We are important to our great might Lord, so we need to ask Him to take charge over our lives. We can do this by submitting to Him, trusting Him and obeying His scriptures.

Applying Psalm 8 to our lives involves embracing a balanced perspective of humility and dignity. Recognizing the human insignificance against the moon and stars while embracing our high God-given value. Finding our self-worth in God rather than others.

You may have asked “why would the creator of the universe choose to rule the world through the cries of needy people? Psalm 8 says God the King of the creation made dependent people His royal partners. This may be unexpected news but it’s wonderful news to those who understand their need for God. It may feel offensive to those who want to rule their lives apart from God.

Throughout the Bible we see people who oppose violently this strategy for ruling the universe. And this opposition created a lot of chaos then and now. There are “religions” who will decapitate you for even saying the Name of Jesus.

But God established a stronghold of protection whenever one of His children humbly recognizes their need and calls out to Him.

As people, we have enemies that we can see and enemies that we cannot see. And we need protection from their hostile tactics. In Matthew 21, one of the enemies of the vulnerable was the greed of power-hungry religious leaders. They set themselves against Jesus and all His followers. The Bible talks about dark, unseen spiritual beings who wage war against God and His people.

Jesus became the firstborn of the new humanity of royal babies, who continued to overcome the enemy with humble cries to God. And because of what Jesus accomplished, we can partner with Jesus’s mission and overcome the enemy as we admit our weaknesses and rely on God to help us in every area of our lives. As vulnerable as it feels to be honest about our state of repentance, it is a powerful act that defeats the enemy.

We should be encouraged as we boldly cry out to God with all our needs and depend on the King of the universe.