"What does, 'Take back what the devil stole from," you really mean?"

What does take back what the devil stole from you really really mean?

Welcome to the broadcast of the program Preach the Gospel Trouble is Coming To The Earth.

The program designed to give you biblical solutions for surviving difficult times. The program is brought to you by Jeshurun Ministry GB in the Bahamas. Yes, friend. What does take back what the devil stole from you really really mean?

Well, this is a subject, a topic that evokes a great deal of excitement in every believer in Christ because we have all lost so much and many preachers have used this message to excite or to pump up their audience and it never fails to light up the entire room and set the entire church on fire. And it is only natural for us to want it back. All of it and more. And truly sometimes the Lord restores everything that was stolen from us. But in reality, does this mean that we will always get it all back in this life? Of course not. Let us delve into this.

David recovered all that was lost at Ziklag. This is one of the biblical stories used to prop up messages like this. It was the time when the Amalekites had attacked David's camp at Ziklag and burned the entire camp down and carried away the wives, the sons, and the daughters of David and his entire band of soldiers. At this time, David was not the king of Israel as yet. In fact, he was fighting on the side of the Philistines, believe it or not, because jealous King Saul had been after him to take his life. He and his men and their families were outlaws living among the Philistines, Israel's greatest enemy. And he had found favor with their prince. But the lords of the Philistines did not trust him. And they rejected him and sent him away when they were going into battle.

But when David and his men came to their camp, they found that it was burnt out and empty. Their families had been kidnapped. And David, after he and his men had wept bitterly, consulted the Lord to see whether they should pursue them. And the Lord told him to pursue and promised him that he would indeed recover all.

1st Samuel 38 says it this way. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He, the Lord, answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them, and without fail recover all." And David and his men who were 600 in number, caught up with the Amalekites, attacked them in a 24-hour vicious battle.

And then verses 18 and 19 tell us that David recovered all that the enemy, the Amalekites, had taken away from him. And David rescued his two wives, and nothing of theirs was lacking, the scripture tells us, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them. In other words, David truly recovered all. Yes, friend, in this instance, David and his men were victorious and everything that was stolen from them was recovered.

Let us pray. Father, we bless Your holy and precious name today, giving You thanks and praise for blessing the listener with the awareness that You should desire that we should have on this topic. I pray that You would increase their faith and help them to bring their expectations in line with Your holy Word. Bless them, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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There may be as many as a million sermons out there on this topic. Believe it or not, take back what the devil stole from you. But is this the way that it really will happen for you? Will you get your husband or wife back? Will you get your children back? And what about the money they stole from you and the automobile? What about your savings, your home, and let's not forget your health? Will you get it all back in this life? And does this mean that we will get all of these things back just by asking for them? And is there spiritual proof that promises us that we will always get these things back when we lose? Let's examine more of the Word of God to see if this is really what God is saying to us.

Proverbs 6:31 says that the thief must restore sevenfold. This is another scripture used in these kinds of messages. And this text says, "People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he's starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house in order to do this.

In other words, according to Jewish law, the thief will have to return seven times the amount that he's stolen from you. In the case of the people of God, the thief is the devil. So many of us have been told that Satan will return what he has stolen from us. Unfortunately for many, their goods have not been returned, and some go down to their graves discouraged, not having received back what Satan had stolen from them. And Satan laughs all the way to the bank. But will he have the last laugh? Certainly not.

David consulted God before going after the Amalekites. And so, should these not have commanded the devil to return their goods? Many overlook a very important portion of the First Samuel text. After weeping over their losses at Ziklag, David consulted God first and asked Him whether or not he should pursue the enemy. And the Lord answered David, instructing him to pursue, promising that all would be retrieved.

Therefore, each of us must consult God first before we run off in an attempt to retrieve what has been stolen from us. First, see what God says to us about how to deal with our particular situation. And do not be afraid to ask Him. He will answer you. I assure you. But let's make sure that the one who answers is indeed the Lord. And we must test the spirit so that we can tell if it is really God speaking to us.

The Word of God also says the Lord gives and He takes away. Well friend, sometimes the Lord removes some of our goods and even some people because they are stumbling blocks to our soul salvation. There are some people and material possessions that have become idols in our lives perhaps and these are a danger to our very souls. And if we truly love God, He may remove some of these things in order to save us.

And someone coined the phrase that says happiness equals reality minus expectations. And I've learned that in order to keep our joy, we must always line our expectations up with God's Word carefully. And then we shall have good success and joy in the Lord. Because when we expect things to turn out for us in a certain way and they do not unfold in this manner, we are sometimes crushed. Our spirit is crushed. Overwhelmed with disappointment and some even give up on God and go into a depression and God forbid that that should happen to the listeners to this message. Please know that God did not fail us. We were deceived into thinking that the righteous is never afflicted.

But the Word of God says many are the afflictions of the righteous. Here's another thing, friend. Never put on hold and never put off what God has asked you to do.

I saw a man that I knew well who was waiting for the government in his country to change. It is a sad story of a very successful businessman who put his entire life on hold while he waited for a new government to be put in place. Angry at government leaders, he bitterly refused to venture out into the business world again until change happened. And by the time the change came, he was an old man with failing eyesight, not a dollar left of his wealth, and now living on a small government pension.

Perhaps you feel God calling you to do something. For instance, we meet many on the street who say that they're waiting for the right moment to give their heart to the Lord. Friend, now is the right moment. Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the only day that you are sure that you have. Tomorrow is not certain. And there are many sad stories about people who failed to seize the moment and they never had another chance. The road to hell, friend, is paved with good intentions is a famous saying. And so by putting these things off, we enable the devil to steal from us.

Every day, faithful believers are dying without recovering their losses. You and I are both witnesses to this quite frequently. Good and faithful believers in Christ are dying every day. And there's no indication that before they died, they all received again the things that was stolen from them by the devil. And does this mean that the Bible is a lie or that they lacked faith? Does this mean that the scripture about the years stolen or eaten by the locust are simply dead years un-recoverable? Certainly not.

It simply means that sometimes our expectations are off and we expect to receive it all in this life. But God has something greater planned for us. All of Christ's apostles except one were martyred. Did they not know that they were supposed to take back what the devil stole from them? And was it because their faith was weak? And why should you and I expect better for ourselves than that which the apostles received in this life when they actually walked with Christ.

Make sure you do not fire that second arrow. Friend, this is a concept that I want to explore with you for a moment. It's a philosophical view of our tendency to develop faulty expectations. The philosophy says that very often when we encounter a painful situation, it turns out to be double trouble. To use a military term, it becomes a double tap attack, which means two shots or two missiles being fired in rapid succession. One disaster after another, giving no time for recovery in between. Let me explain. The first shot or the first arrow, the first missile that pierces us may be an unavoidable or unexpected injury. This may be a physical injury, an emotional injury, a harsh word from someone, a cancer diagnosis, or some painful loss. However, the second shot is often totally avoidable. I will tell you why, it is avoidable because it is an arrow. It is a shot that we fire at ourselves.

Let us say someone while waiting for the results from their cancer test prays and fast while petitioning God day and night believing that the only end result that can come for them is a miraculous report of no cancer. Finally the results come and the report says there is cancer. In fact stage four cancer.

The individual is now devastated and gives up on God, saying that God is not real, that He doesn't answer prayers. It appears some of us only love God and only believe His Word if He heals us immediately, if He does exactly what we want Him and expect Him to do. Secretly, we may have been harboring doubts about who God really is. And whether God heals us or not, He is still God, my friend. And His Word is true. And to die in Christ is the best healing miracle that anyone can receive.

So the theory is that we cannot avoid the first arrow, the first injury which is the painful test results. But we can certainly avoid shooting the second arrow which is the decision to give up on God and to allow discouragement to set in. And this will be even more devastating. This self-inflicted wound is the most dangerous of all wounds.

And Satan continually works to deceive the people of God by causing us to hold on to a false reality because He knows the nature of man. If He can deceive us into chasing after something that is never going to come, something that is unreal, something that is not in accordance with the Word of God, He knows that we will be ripe for discouragement even to the point of becoming depressed and giving up on life and giving up on God. And some unfortunately even contemplate suicide. And God forbid that that should be the fate of anyone who listens to this message.

So let us examine what God is able to do and what He has done keeping in mind that it is not always that He delivers us in the manner that we expect to be delivered.

Here are four examples where goods were stolen and never restored in this life. And these examples are taken from scripture.

First, we see Adam and Eve being removed, expelled from the Garden of Eden, never again returning. They were exiled to a harsh and brutal life for all of their days. And just to make sure that they did not return, there was an angel with flaming sword at the entrance to paradise.

The best example, however, that we see is Jesus Christ on the road to Calvary, badly beaten, scourged numerous times, bruised, and made to carry a wooden cross that became too heavy for Him. And we see the final nail in the coffin, so to speak, which were the nails that pierced His hands, His feet, and the spear that pierced His side. And then we see Him expire. And the apostles, disciples, and many others were blessed to see the gloriously resurrected Christ on resurrection morning. Then in the book of Revelation, God allows us to see into heaven through the eyes of John to see the glorious image of the ascended Christ in heaven. And John saw the glorified Son of God sitting at the right hand of the Father. And so in the case of Jesus Christ, it was not all returned to Him until He had gone into heaven with His Father and with all the holy angels.

Thirdly, we do know that Lazarus lost everything and became a beggar. Then later we see him reclining luxuriously in paradise in Abraham's bosom.

And fourthly we see what some may call a contradiction as we witness the thief on the cross. He was one who stole possessions from people and was sentenced to death. And yet he ends up going into paradise along with Jesus Christ at the very last moment of his life. And so I asked the question, what did this thief lose since he was the perpetrator? And why was he afforded this privilege, this wonderful privilege? Was he not a thief and yet he was able to enter the glory of God? And this speaks of the mercy of God.

And then we have the patriarchs who did not receive the promises of God in this life. As believers in Christ, we are to take up our cross daily and follow Christ. But if instead we grieve excessively over our losses, if we allow our failures, our hurts, our losses, our disappointments to bring us down, and then we may take on what is called a spirit of heaviness which can paralyze us. If we doubt God, we will never see the light of His glorious day. We'll never see the day of the Lord. In fact, it will be our darkest day ever.

In speaking of the patriarchs, the Word of God tells us in Hebrews 11:13, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises of God, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland, they seek a city. They are looking for a country. Glory to God.

Understanding this, the Psalmist asked the Lord to make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us. I ask now on our behalf, on behalf of the listener, Father, make them glad for as many days as you have afflicted them. For as many years as we have seen evil, return joy unto us, Father, we pray in Jesus' name, according to Your promises in Psalm 90 and 15. Yes, friend. In the day of the Lord, He will make us glad. He will restore all that has been stolen away from us. He will establish us in His love and in His great mercy. And the Word of God says, "Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, and neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for us." Be encouraged. May God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Friend, you've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Or perhaps you've wandered away from Him.

Well, I want to give you an opportunity to renew that commitment. Give you an opportunity to make that commitment. Please engage your heart carefully and say this prayer after me:

• Father, I am a sinner and I'm sorry for all my sins.

• I crave Your forgiveness.

• Please forgive me, Father.

• Thank You, Lord.

• I have decided to make Jesus Christ the Lord of my life.

• Dear Lord Jesus, welcome to my heart.

• I give You the key to my heart.

• Because I now belong to You forever.

• You have my permission to keep the key.

• Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth, to give me peace, to give me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and to help me run this race.

• Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Amen.

• Thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are many of us here anxiously awaiting the risen and ascended Savior when He returns to receive the church unto Himself. In the meantime, we want to encourage you to let your pastor know that you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized.

Begin reading the Word of God every day. Begin in the book of John. Then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, reading audibly because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Pray daily. Attend at your local church. And one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself. And we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.