When a Muslim accepts Christ, they often lose everything. They are kicked out of the family, the mosque, and their community. Everything they knew, especially their identity, has been stripped from them. Sometimes they’re imprisoned or killed. The same is true of the Amish. When an Amish person chooses the world over their Amish life, their family rejects them, they are shunned from the church, and they are stripped of all that they once knew. This is so sad. But our God doesn’t operate that way. Jesus said, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10).
Here’s the thing… Satan can and often takes a lot from us but there is something he CAN NEVER get… the life Jesus gave us. Hence, the things that are most valuable us as believers Satan can never have… our salvation, our inheritance, our place in the family of God, and our identity in Christ. Some churches teach that you can lose your salvation. I disagree wholeheartedly. Why is that? Because our salvation has been sealed by two things: the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
When an ancient decree went out with the king’s signature or his stamp, it was binding. There was no revoking it. With the king’s stamp on it, the decree would go forward no matter what. Jesus sealed His covenant to His people with the strongest seal of all… His blood. Speaking of the martyrs, Revelation 12:11 says: “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.” Hence, we too have defeated the enemy by the blood that flows in us. That alone would be enough, but Jesus gives us one more guarantee: the Holy Spirit. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:14: “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people.”
With that said, there are still many things that Satan does take from us. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy our peace, our joy, our confidence, our assurance, our power, our strength, relationships, and our courage, among so many more things. He plants doubts and lies in our minds, brings difficult circumstances, uses people and giants to intimidate us. He often makes us so busy that we choose other things over time with the Lord. And when we forsake time with Jesus through Bible study and prayer, then we get weak and become an easy target for Satan. He knows we get our strength from God but that strength turns to weakness when we are walking independently from Him.
Here’s what we need to always keep in mind… Satan is not stronger than God. In fact, he is under God’s authority. Therefore, he only has the power over us that we allow. Maybe right now we need to a thorough evaluation of what he may have stolen from us… is it peace? Is it a relationship? Is it confidence? Is it joy? Is it assurance? And then if you pinpoint something in your life that he has stripped from you… go to work to get it back. Pray like you’ve never prayed before. Let God’s Word pour over you, hiding His Word in your heart. Say out loud the Scriptural promises, writing down verses and clinging to them throughout the day. Tell God what the enemy has stolen from you and ask Him how you can get it back. Seek with a vengeance the things that are rightfully yours. Let this encourage you today.