The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10(NLT)
John 10:10 is one of my favorite scriptures because in it, Jesus Christ tells us why he came to the earth. He also lets us know very firmly that we have an enemy in the earth as well. This enemy is the devil. There are a whole lot of folks out there that don’t believe the devil exists. They are deceived by him. He blinds them so they won’t hear or understand the good news about Jesus Christ. In John 10:10, our powerful Lord and Savior tells us that the devil is a thief who is in the earth to kill, steal, and destroy every meaningful thing in our lives. Understand that he’s not too interested in things that aren’t important to us but goes after the jugular. Those things that add value and a sense of worthiness to us, this is what he’s after. And if you think our relationships are exempt from his shenanigans, think again.
Jesus Christ said in John 10:10 (NLT), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Because of Christ, you and I have access to a more than abundant life. Most of us would be happy with just an abundant life, but he came to do infinitely more than we can ask or think. Because of Jesus, we can have a spiritual life of fulfillment, joy, and power. This is why he came, but the enemy doesn’t want us to know this. The enemy doesn’t want us to have anything, and his plan of attack is to rob us by getting us to think negative thoughts and feel negative emotions.
Marriage is God’s institution. The relationships that you and I have experienced in our lives are possible because God created Adam and Eve, the first husband and wife; all other human relationships began from there. God’s blessing is on marriage because it establishes unity, and unity is a staple in His Kingdom. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy in marriage should we desire it, but we must remember that we have an enemy who does not want us happy at all; he desires to squash the unity in any of the relationships we have. When we meet the person that God has ordained as our destiny partner, we will need to be spiritually strong to protect this relationship. So that it has a chance to grow and thrive, we must be able to stand in unity, back to back with our partners, ever prepared to guard our unity in Christ. This will require us to be wise and not succumb to the enemy’s tricks against us.
One of those tricks is to get us to feel unworthy of the blessing of a quality person. There’s a saying that if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. Many of us do this in relationships. We latch on to an individual that isn’t the person we’re destined to be with. We want to be partnered up so bad that we compromise our own souls and put up with stuff that betrays our highest self in Christ. We accept crumbs from someone’s table simply to have a warm body next to us. This is a trick of the enemy, and we shouldn’t fall for it.
Another piece of good wisdom tells us that if we’ll accept less, less is all we’ll get. It’s not about being egotistical and thinking we’re all that. God doesn’t like arrogance at all. He wants us to realize that Jesus Christ gave his life on the cross for us, so that we would know how much God loves us. It’s this same love that we are privileged to give others.
God has blessed us with His Best. The love of Christ dwells in the hearts of every born-again believer. If someone gives you the greatest, most extravagant and precious gift that could ever be given; and if you appreciate this gift, you will be thrilled! You understand the incredible value of what you’ve received, and you should want to be with someone who will appreciate this gift as much as you do. If they do, they’ll fall madly in love with the love of Christ you’re giving them, and they’ll do everything in their power to make sure you’re continuing to grow in it. Don’t fall for the enemy’s tricks, wait for what God has for you!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Don’t Be Tricked” written for Crazynlove.com ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!