Clearly, the Bible teaches the Devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. From the early chapters of Genesis to the final chapters of Revelation, the Devil aspired to take good things created by God and either steal them (e.g., snatching people from God), kill them (e.g., enticing humans toward self-harm), or destroy them (e.g., destroying churches through persecution). False spiritual teaching is dangerous because it follows the same nefarious game plan.

The phrase “steal, kill, and destroy” comes from John 10, where Jesus gives a couple of His “I am” statements: “I am the gate” (i.e., the way to salvation; John 10:9) and “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). He contrasts Himself with the “thief” who wants to steal the sheep, and the “hired hand” who runs away at the first sign of a wolf. It is in this context that Jesus explains, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

The obvious way in Scripture that the Devil tries to steal is stealing people away from God. By planting mistrust about God, the serpent was able to steal Eve’s trust away from God. The result of Eve and Adam’s sin was humanity’s defection from living under God’s authority to being resentful residents of “the dominion of darkness” (Col. 1:13). Like a kidnapper luring a child away from his parents, the Devil continues to “leads the whole world astray” (Rev. 12:9).

I could belabor this point, but let’s jump to the good news and I am happy to say that in the end, Jesus wins! Literally, we know the end of the story and if you don’t, I invite you to read the entire book of Revelation.

Now then, before you jump into the book know on the front-end there are a lot of challenges, with understanding the different symbols, different imagery, different descriptions, and there’s a lot of debate in the church about what this or that means, however Revelation 11:15 does a great job summarizing the book and it reads, “Then the seventh angel then blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.’”

If this non-exhaustive message speaks to you and the enemy is hot on your trail or your going through some trials, I encourage you to remember these words written in 2 Timothy 4:8,”The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen!”

Pray with me:

Father God, hasten the coming of that day, and we collectively pray this with confidence today amidst all kinds of turmoil and uncertainty around us. We praise You because we know, that in the end you will reign forever and ever. And so we put all of our trust, our hope in You today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

#BeStrong

#TGBTG

#NAP

#JesusWins