The Lord Jesus said in John 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. It amazes me how blind people can be when it comes to things they have lost through the years.  MANY say that they have experienced loss in their lives of material goods, health, money, and about everything else you can think of, yet they don’t have a clue why, or what they can do about it.  Well, there’s a thief out there, and his name is Satan, and of course he has many helpers, who are the fallen angels.  How many are there?  We don’t know, only that their number is a THIRD of the angelic host.  Whatever that number is, they are on the earth, and they are here to make trouble for YOU.  So what do you intend to do about it?

Most people just bear the loss and do nothing.  We will say you’ve lost your retirement fund to the recession, and now you’re old, yet you still have to keep working just to eat, and retirement is out of the question. Now after you’ve spent all your life being diligent to save and invest, and now it’s GONE?  Who stole it, and who has it now? And how can you get it back?  Those are questions we need answers to.  Well, at least we know WHO.  That’s a start.  You can’t hope to get back your goods if you don’t know who stole them in the first place.

Can you believe that some people actually blame God for their losses?  “Well, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.” No, the LORD gives and the DEVIL takes away, and we need to get that straight!  That’s why the Lord Jesus made it clear to us who the thief really is.  The thief ISN’T God.  In fact, the Lord Jesus declared that He is come that we might have life, AND THAT WE MIGHT HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY!   Friend, is it life more abundantly if the thief has stolen everything you value? Of course not.  Is it life more abundantly if you can’t pay your bills?  Is it life more abundantly if you’re sick and broke?  Is it life more abundantly if you’re broken hearted and discouraged?  Absolutely NOT!   Point made. So now what?

It is written in Proverbs 6:30-31, Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;  But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house. God says he must restore what has been stolen SEVENFOLD, even if it bankrupts him.  Now that’s just if he steals because he is in severe lack, and he’s hungry.  What about a thief who steals just because he enjoys stealing from people?  Would God require any less of him?  No.  He still has to repay.  Ah, but the thief we are talking about here is Satan, and he’s a spirit.  How can we make him pay?  We can’t haul him to the judge and make him pay us back.  OR CAN WE??

Spirit speaks to spirit, and flesh speaks to flesh, and that’s just the way it is, right? Consider this: YOU are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a fleshly body. Now, God is a Spirit, and His Spirit is in you, IF you are born again.  Notice my emphasis on the IF.  That means IF you are not born again, you can change that right now by receiving Christ Jesus (Y’shua Messiah) as your LORD and Savior.  That means if you are a follower of Christ Jesus you have a voice in two worlds, the Spirit world, and the natural fleshly world.  Now pay attention here, you need to know this.

Just as you would speak to a person who you’ve just caught stealing from you, GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF, you can get it back, and if they don’t hand it back to you, then you can expect law enforcement to get it back for you, by force if necessary. But how do you deal with a spirit being who has been stealing you blind?  The same way!  You demand he give it back to you, and if he refuses, you go to the Law Enforcement, namely the King of Kings, and the LORD of Lords.

You see, many people just lay down and let the devil steal from them, and then they boo-hoo about it to everyone who will listen, instead of going to the JUDGE and making their case.  God doesn’t want you suffering loss, but He isn’t going to do anything about it if YOU aren’t going to do anything about it.  He has the power to make the devil repay, even though you don’t.  Yet, if you’re going to just suffer loss and let the devil keep stealing from you, God will allow that, though it isn’t His best for you.  God’s best for you is LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY.  That’s when you have no lack, no sickness, no loss, nothing missing, nothing broken.  God calls it SHALOM.  But if you’re willing to be sick and broke and broken hearted, that’s your business, however, if the Lord Jesus is YOUR LORD and Savior, you have an advocate on your side, so why not make use of Him?

Grab a pen and paper and make you a list.  Write down EVERYTHING the devil has stolen from you during your lifetime.  Be thorough about it, take the time to remember it all, everything you’ve had stolen, like money spent on vehicle breakdowns, things stolen, things you gave up through deception (like your money you spent on doctor bills because you haven’t believed you’re healed by the stripes of Jesus), home repairs for things that shouldn’t have broken, you name it, a wallet lost and never recovered, things lost in a divorce, attorney fees, the list should include EVERYTHING you’ve ever had wrongfully taken from you.  Again, BE THOROUGH, you want restoration, right?  Then act like it, don’t just roll over and say, OH WELL….

I did it years ago, and what happened?  I took that list to the Lord Jesus and read it to Him aloud; outlining everything I could remember that was stolen from me.  And through the years, the Lord has brought me restoration, and is STILL doing so.  When I was sixteen, my Dad died, and my Mom, who was mentally unbalanced, sold everything we had, including my Mickey Mouse watch that was given to me for my first birthday.  It may sound corny to you, but I loved that watch, and so it went on my “stolen from me” list, near the top.  Not long after asking the LORD to make restoration to me, I was in an antique shop in Missouri looking at watches. There was a Mickey Mouse watch just like the one I had. On closer examination I was sure it was MY watch, and I asked if I could see it and open the back of it. Inside was MY NAME!  God brought my Mickey Mouse watch back to me, and I have it back.  Now, if God cared enough for me to return a watch from my childhood, which was not even essential to my salvation, what ELSE might He do for me?  Remember, God is good, and His mercy endures forever.

Make that list today, and read it to the LORD.  What do you have to lose by doing that? Well, nothing, for you’ve already lost it.  But if you want it back, you will stop being passive and letting the devil steal from you.  Recover what the thief has stolen from you, and don’t let up until you have restoration.  Remember, the devil is a spirit, and he’s a thief, so you have to deal with him by the Spirit of God.  The LORD GOD is righteous and Holy, and He is on YOUR SIDE, and HE will make the devil pay.  Praise and thank the LORD, for He is good, and His mercy for you endures forever!  He will recover for you what the devil has stolen.  Starting NOW!