John 10:10

10 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.

Genesis 15:8-11

"8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away."

If you are in the ministry for very long, you will learn quickly that Satan will do everything he can to steal your ministry away from you. As we read the Book of Revelation we find that our crowns can be stolen (3:11). The only way to stop the thief is to hold fast to what you have.

Anytime you hide the word of God in your heart, the enemy will automatically attack you. He will paint a target on your shield and start shooting. The bible describes this attack as a sower sowing his seed and the birds of the air trying to take it away. These birds represent evil spirits that do not want the word of God to have free course in your life. So they do everything they can to pluck it out of your spirit before it takes root and prospers.

There is no amount of Bible memorization that you can do that will exempt you from this attack. The thief comes to everyone. And He will try to steal your promise. What many people don’t understand is that the prize you win is worth the battle. Your knowledge of the word of God makes you armed and dangerous because you know what God wants to give you. In a word, you know his promises. You can awaken people to what they possess and teach them to release their faith. This makes you very dangerous.

The devil does have a real cool strategy. He loves to put you through times of internal wrenching. He will make you doubt yourself because you are not perfect. You don’t deserve to experience these times of battle but you will.

Each one of you is going to go through times of being berated by shouting doubts and whispered suggestions of failure. He reminds you of your limitations and gets you looking at what you can’t do, and then turns around and begins to beat you over the head with it. These battles are real, but they are the paradox of the life of a believer. You can’t have the victory without the fight. If you want a ministry you have to endure the war.

If you are successful in securing the word of promise in your spirit and you give the word of God time to take root, get ready – the thief is going to do everything he can to steal your ministry.

We all come to situations in which the agony of our own sense of weakness and ineffectiveness, or the struggle with people or circumstances, begins to erode our confidence in God’s promise to us. Worst of all, when these times of discouragement gain momentum, we inevitably begin to move toward self blame, and self-defeating condemnation that will argue with our inner man, trying to get us to quit, saying, "There is no way out, just give up, you can’t continue." The enemy will say, "You are the problem anyway. You have tried to get yourself together but you can’t. It’s a hopeless cause so just give up."

I want to shatter that illusion. You need an anointed word from God to cast down that stronghold. God does have a way out. Nightmares, or anxiety, are not precursors of truth. This can be a trap, a dreamworld that the devil wants to use against you to decimate your faith and destroy your soul. Mark Twain said it best, "I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened."

Make no mistake, Satan is totally ruthless; a merciless adversary. There is not one day in your life that he is not perched in a vulture like pose, awaiting your collapse. I feel that God has sent me to warn you and to expose the thief. I deeply feel that this truth is vital to your victory.

You need the power to detect the thief. It is the only way to true deliverance. In Proverbs 6:30-31, I made a startling discovery, "30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; 31 But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house."

God wants to restore sevenfold to you everything you have lost. As we have said, anointed ministry is expensive and it is messy. But if we expose the thief we regain sevenfold anything he attempts to steal. A thief gains his power from going undetected. As long as you don’t know he’s there, he can steal everything that is valuable to you. When he is detected and the search light is turned on, his activities are revealed. Once the thief is exposed he loses his power and must restore and give up all his house.

Remember this – your imagination can be used against you. The enemy can create a haunting specter that will be relentless as it sits in judgment over your life. It will produce an idol which your soul will bow down to in defeat.

Satan has been defeated, but not eliminated. He will lie, cheat, intimidate, scare and roar to try and steal your promise. What I thought was intellectual honesty about my own limitations had actually turned into a self-defeating surrender to "reason" instead of "revelation."

Reason says, "Five loaves and two fishes can’t feed five thousand people." But revelation says, "Put it in the hands of Jesus, because He can." Walking on water, raising Lazarus, healing the man who was born blind.

God’s word can be spoken and give you power to cast down that lying image. I am giving you that word right now. You now can destroy the destroyer. Once you receive this word you will be instantly released. Identifying your true adversary will change everything. Don’t ever forget, even when your promise is being stolen from you, perhaps a day or circumstance at a time — there is a mighty refuge in the cross of Christ.

Remember that this deadly thief has a tripartite mission: To steal — to deprive you of peace, drain off your joy and undercut your confidence. He doesn’t want you to taste one good morsel of God’s promise. To kill — to smother hope, suffocate expectation and abort faith in God’s promise to you. If Satan can get you to accept your imagination to be the truth rather than God’s word, you will abort the birth of promise. To destroy — to render inoperative the might and majesty of God that works in your life.

The bible talks about a time when we will learn war no more. That time has not yet come. Therefore, we must study war. In the United States, particularly in the states of Virginia, Connecticut & Massachusetts, the government employs what we call "think tanks." This is where they create all of their military strategies. They anticipate the move of the enemy and develop strategies to counter any offensive. With the new satellite surveillance employed in space through the space shuttle program, they know more about the military might of opposing nations and have created scenarios that will guide their response in case of an enemy attack.

There is a term used to describe this. It is called "military preparedness." As Christians, we have something better. We have the Word of God, the Holy Bible. It is a heavenly think tank. God has already anticipated every single move of the enemy and has given us power to counter any offensive. You can find hidden in the pages of God’s word the exact response needed to defeat the enemy.

The thief detector you need to install in your spirit is a revelation of the love of God.

God is committed to saving you, no matter what it costs him to do it. "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ . . ." 2 Corinthians 2:14). GOD IS COMMITTED.

God will never let you down. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" Philippians 1:6). Once these truths are firmly planted in your mind, every time the enemy tries to sneak in and steal your promise, the alarm will sound, the search light will beam brightly, and the enemy will be discovered.

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). GOD LOVES US. If you are more than a conqueror that means you know how to do more than just fight all the time. You know how to enjoy the victory. Some people are always in a battle. They are not satisfied with peace and quiet but are always in a ruckus. They go from one battle to another and if they do happen to reach a place of safety they stir up trouble just so they can say they are in a mess.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). We need to learn how to live beyond the battle as more than a conqueror. "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen" (Romans 16:20)

GOD USES US. Listen to me – God will work in your life. If you will study his strategies in the scripture, Satan will be bruised by your own feet. "Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:24). God will fulfill His promises in your life and give you all that he has intended. God has his hand on your life and you are better than you think you are. "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). I want you to remember three basic truths about spiritual warfare with the thief:

First, hell has no kind thoughts about you — ever! Never minimize the enemy’s efforts at undercutting your sense of significance. He wants you out of the way! Your existence is a redemptive presence. Even at your weakest, you are still an annoyance to his councils. In your weakness Jesus is made strong. His strength is perfected in your weakness. This is the true paradox in the life of a believer. You must learn to turn your back on the bad-breath whispers of hell: they have never argued for truth, and they won’t start with you. So, fellow-warrior, take your place under the authority of Jesus’ cross and denounce the devil. As heaven’s choice, refuse to become hell’s chump.

Second, hell hears what heaven says about you and will challenge every word of God’s promise to you. The first thing Satan did after Jesus received a voice from heaven declaring his son-ship was to challenge the very word of God by saying, "If thou be the son of God."

Jesus did not quote the voice from heaven that spoke at his baptism. Jesus did not point Lucifer to the Rhema word – he pointed Lucifer to the written word. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy and referred him back to the written text to gain power over him. "It is written," will defeat Satan every single time.

Third, and perhaps more importantly, heaven has no "second thoughts" about choosing you. You belong in this church by divine selection. Your placement has come from the hand of the Highest. We have the distinct privilege of knowing the source of our appointment. God’s own word has declared you a member of his family. Therefore, you have access to every resource, every promise. Each one of us has been given by Jesus Christ a gift of placement that cannot be taken away.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, What is different about today? Why we don’t seem to have the same impact on people that our pioneer ministers did? We preach the same message, we have access to better equipment and have more talent than you can imagine. What’s the difference? I believe it can be summed up in one word, "SACRIFICE."

Notice in Genesis 15:8 that Abraham had just received a promise from God that he and his seed after him would inherit the land of Canaan. But before God visited him to insure the promise, Abraham is asked to offer a sacrifice. Every promise begins with a sacrifice. The New Testament refers to five kinds of sacrifices.

1. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for sin. Nothing is going to steal my forgiveness. I am forgiven. Don’t ever allow the devil to steal the hope of forgiveness from your ministry. Don’t ever let the enemy embitter your soul to the point where you hunger for vengeance more than redemption. It is easy at times to have your viewpoint distorted towards people, especially those who have hurt you. Always preach forgiveness.
2. Our bodies are a living sacrifice. Don’t ever let the enemy steal your holiness standard. Preach it and live it. Holiness is a very reasonable service. God wants us to do good things.
3. The sacrifice of our service of faith. Faith is a sacrifice that God is very pleased with. Keep believing.
4. The sacrifice of our giving, in finances and communication. Keep giving from your reservoir of time, of love and of money.
5. The sacrifice of praise. Don’t ever stop praising God.

It was when he divided the sacrifice and stood in the middle that the birds of the air tried to consume it. Abraham literally beat these birds of prey away from his sacrifice. The thief tried to steal the sacrifice. Sometimes it seems like you are being pulled apart, torn in two and you are left right in the middle or in the thick of things. It seems unfair. I don’t know whether Abraham used a staff, a torch or his cloak to protect the sacrifice, but he did protect it. Protecting the sacrifice preserves the promise and woos God into a relationship with us that makes the promise happen.

There are five dimensions of the will of God: We must learn not only to do His will. We must also climb to the fifth dimension and learn to delight in it.

1. Seek
2. Know
3. Accept
4. Do
5. Delight

Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Jesus responded by quoting three verses from Deuteronomy in reverse order.

Deuteronomy 8:3

3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Deuteronomy 6:16

16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

Deuteronomy 6:13

13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Notice the order of Satan’s attack. Notice that Jesus reversed the order in which it was written in Deuteronomy. The Deuteronomy progression started with worship, right attitude toward the use of God’s power, and receiving the awesome word from God.

He first strikes at your last dedication. Jesus was asked by Satan to end his fast by turning stones into bread. Jesus answered him by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. The devil is always after your last dedication.

His second strike attempted to change Jesus’ opinion of the word. He pointed Jesus to the written word, trying to corrupt its meaning and get him to buy into a corrupt word. Jesus said, "It is written again." Jesus then quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 to stop the thief.

His true purpose was revealed by his third strike – to steal Christ’s original faith. Jesus then quoted Deuteronomy 6:13. Jesus reversed the order of the Deuteronomy progression simply to preserve his faith. Notice that if Satan can’t steal your service, he’ll try and steal your worship. If he can steal your worship, he can decimate your faith. "Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all" (Philippians 2:17).

Pray and claim these following statements in your prayer time!

1. I am called by God my Creator, to minister with promise in declaring the gospel of my Lord Jesus Christ.
2. I am given my Father’s promise of unshakable faithfulness, and my Savior’s promise of fruitfulness.
3. I am a bearer of the promise that His grace shall reproduce "sons" through me.
4. As a husband of one wife, I am a keeper of my promise to love her as Christ loves the church.
5. I am promised growth in Christ’s character as I guard my heart with integrity.
6. I am promised spiritual authority as I joyfully choose to live a life of submission.
7. I welcome the Holy Spirit’s promised power, flowing daily from my personal communion with Jesus.
8. I hold the promise of an increasing stewardship as I live accountable to God and man.
9. As a warrior of the King, His promised victory assures my conquest over the adversary’s lies and tactics.
10. As a man of promise I live in the hope of God’s fulfilled purpose in me, the ones I lead and influence.

Amen and Amen!