Don’t Participate in Deeds of Darkness
Ephesians 5:11 NASB Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.
Okay, let’s expose them!
John 10:10 NASB – “The thief (Greek word kleptes) comes only to steal [Greek word klepto], and kill [Greek word thuo], and destroy [Greek word apollumi, which means to annihilate for eternity]; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
The word “thief” comes from the Greek word kleptes; the words to “rob” or “steal” come from the Greek word klepto. So the thief is one whose occupation is to steal. The word kleptes describes a person with a persistent, neurotic impulse to steal. Think of kleptomania, which is the condition of not being able to resist the urge to steal. This is Satan’s occupation, a thief, and his only reason for coming is to steal from you.
If we are to understand how Satan’s demonic activity of stealing from us works, we must also clearly understand what the phrase “comes to kill” means.
In this verse, the phrase “to kill” does not mean what we normally think it should. Normally it means to take someone’s life or to murder someone. To “kill” in John 10:10 comes from the Greek word thuo, which means to sacrifice something, to sacrifice the forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of something considered to have a greater value.
One example of thuo is found in Luke 22:7 NASB. “Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed (thuo).” Thuo was used particularly in a religious connotation to denote the sacrifice of animals, and it had nothing to do with killing in terms of murder.
I believe Jesus uses the word thuo because He is telling us that if the thief hasn’t already stolen from you everything that God holds precious for your life, the thief is going to (thuo) sacrifice so as to destroy that which is precious. This means that Satan is willing to give us something or is willing to trade something with us, which is to Satan, a sacrifice. He sacrifices in order to gain something that has more meaning to him than what he sacrifices. He wants to destroy the things that matter to God. Satan hates to have us enjoy anything, even for a moment, but he is willing to exchange the feeling of short-term pleasure for the result of a hardened heart.
So when we combine the thoughts of “steal” and “sacrifice” with “to destroy,” it means this: Satan desires to steal directly, specifically, and continually from you; it is his nature. His desire is to rob anything good that you have. He does this by sacrificing, by giving temporarily through stimulating the pleasure that the flesh experiences while sinning.
Sin is pleasurable and Satan hates it when you feel any pleasure. Do not deceive yourself! Be aware that he only makes the trade because it costs you so much more than what you receive. His intentions are to trade with the purpose of destroying you.
We all have learned to lie, exaggerate, and manipulate in order to receive fleshly pleasures instead of trusting and allowing God to give the precious fruit of the Spirit, which comes as a harvest through time. Satan rewards lies, exaggeration, and manipulations through the law of sin and death, which he controls. What you sow is what you reap. He is willing to sacrifice temporarily, hating that you experience any pleasure at all knowing that the fleshly pleasure that lust, pride, power, and wealth produce will harden your heart, plug your ears and blind your eyes over time.
Satan’s sacrifice of momentary pleasure entices you down a path that soon requires more and more, darker and darker sin to receive any fleshly pleasure at all.
Matthew 4:1-11 NKJV – “. . . he [Satan] said to Him [Jesus], “all these things I will give You [Satan will sacrifice anything that gives us fleshly pleasure], if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
Satan comes only to steal, sacrifice, and destroy.
Training Your Brain Exercise – Examine Yourself
We suggest that you keep a journal. Take the time to create a word document that will be your confidential journal. Keep an account of your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Take the time to exam yourself and learn. This will increase the possibility that you will choose to enter into the truth of God’s Word and not automatically be deceived by the lies that infiltrate the world’s system.
Take a good look at your life.
- How does lust make you feel when you are finished?
- How does pornography make you feel when you are done?
- Begin a journal to record the things God brings into your awareness.
- Become aware of what words you say internally and what pictures you see internally.
- Notice what conditions are present as you move to the point of lust or pornography.
- Do you know what your threshold is?
- Do you know where your heart is hardened?
- Repent and start to take control of your thoughts through the power of God’s Word and His Spirit.
- We resist the Spirit, grieve the Spirit, and we can be in danger of quenching the Spirit. Lust and pornography rob you of life. Decide today to renew your commitment to live your life in the center of God’s will. Do not give up the precious jewels of life for garbage.
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MindD