If Satan Can't Steal Your Joy, He Can't Keep Your Goods
Late one night as I was meditating the Word, I started reading in Hebrews 10:34: “For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods….” Suddenly, one phrase captured my attention: “took joyfully the spoiling of your goods.” I thought, Lord, are You saying these people actually took joyfully the spoiling of their goods? That’s unheard of!You see, the word spoil means to seize, to snatch away, to capture, to take captive. Can you imagine anyone being joyful about losing his goods to the devil? As I studied this, the Spirit of God began to run Scriptures across my mind. I was so excited I couldn’t go to bed.
God began to teach me how to get back into my possession all the things Satan had stolen from me.
This is what the Lord told me: “Son, when you receive the Word, Satan comes immediately to steal that Word. Do you realize what the Word actually produces?”The Word produces many things. In the John 15:7 Jesus was talking about the power of prayer. He said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”Now that’s good news, isn’t it? If the Word of God abides in you and you abide in Christ, you can ask whatever you will and it will be done for you by the Father in heaven. Jesus goes on to talk about how God is glorified when we bear much fruit. (v. 8.) The last thing He says is this: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (v. 11).The Lord said to me: “When I speak, My words produce joy. My Word is good news, and good news always produces joy.” It is good news to know that you can ask the Father whatever you will and He will give it to you if you are abiding in Him and His Words are abiding in you.In the John 16:24, Jesus told His disciples: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” In other words, He is saying, “You’re not going to have to get things secondhand anymore. You’re going to have the same kind of standing with God that I do.” He was telling us, “My name carries weight with the Father; and whatever you ask Him in My name, He will give you so that your joy will be full.”Jesus said that the Word produces joy. When I found out I was healed by the stripes of Jesus, I got joyful. When I learned that I have a right to prosper, I got joyful. When I discovered that if I am a tither, God will open the windows of heaven and flood me with His blessings, I got joyful. God’s Word produces joy!Jesus said that when the devil comes to steal the Word, not only is he trying to get the Word, he is trying to steal your joy. If the Word is in you and the Word produces joy, then Satan can steal your joy by getting the Word out of you.As long as things are going well, it’s not hard to be joyful. In an atmosphere where there is the anointing of God, the peace of God, and the liberty of the Holy Spirit, it is no problem to worship the Lord. But then a crisis arises. Things get troubled and everything starts going contrary to what the Word says. When that happens, there is an opportunity for your joy to be stolen from you. This is when the test comes.
Faith is not tested in church; it’s tested in a crunch!
Here is what the Lord told me. Remember this phrase: “Son, if Satan can’t steal your joy, he can’t keep your goods.”
Satan Wants to Steal Our Joy
Notice again what Paul said about the Hebrew people: Even though Satan had stolen their goods, they had taken joyfully the spoiling of those goods. The important thing was not that Satan had stolen from them; it was their attitude about his thievery.
Give Voice to Joy
God has promised to do certain things for people who will not allow their joy to be stolen. Perhaps you believed God for a beautiful new car only to have it demolished a few weeks later by a drunken driver. Or you may have bought a new dress or suit for a vacation trip only to have it stolen from your hotel room.When these things happen, what is your reaction? Do you get discouraged? Do you ask yourself why God would give you something only to turn around and take it from you? He didn’t; the devil did! Satan doesn’t care what he has to create in order to steal from you.There have been several times that I had need of a certain amount of money, so I believed God for it. But as soon as I got that money, something went wrong. The refrigerator quit, the car broke down, or some other unexpected expense came up. Before I could use the money I had believed God for, some emergency expense would eat it up. I got so tired of needing money all the time!
The devil was stealing from us, trying to harass and torment us, and keep us on the run.
Many times such harassment will cause us to become discouraged and lose our joy. But, friend, I’m going to tell you again: If Satan can’t get your joy, he can’t defeat you. Not only that, you’re going to get back all that was stolen from you!Instead of getting discouraged and giving up, you should give voice to joy. Did you know that joy has a voice? Well, it does! Let’s look at Jeremiah 33:11: The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord. The New American Standard Bible says: “For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first.”Do you know what “the fortunes of the land” are? Your possessions-your goods. In other words, God is saying, “You took joyfully the spoiling of your goods. Now I will restore them to you in full!”Satan had stolen from these people something that was theirs—their land, their goods, their property—yet they remained joyful. They would not let him steal their joy. Here God is saying if they will give voice to that joy and not let Satan steal it from them, He will return the captivity of their land and possessions.
As long as joy is still going forth out of our mouths, God promises to get back our stolen goods for us!
That is good news!
Sevenfold Return
However, that is not the end of it. This is the part that really gets me going. God told me, “Son, if the devil can’t get your joy, he can’t hold on to your possessions. If he can’t get your joy, he can’t keep your goods. I will return them. I’ve even made provision in My Word to see that it comes back sevenfold.”You know, when the devil has to start paying back seven times over, he will quit stealing from you. Proverbs 6:30,31 says: 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 wants us in the flood stage. He wants blessings coming to us both ways—a hundredfold return on everything we give and a sevenfold return on everything the devil takes from us. I don’t know about you, but to me that is cause for joy!God says, “If a thief be found...." If you find him (catch him stealing from you), he shall restore to you sevenfold what he has stolen and give all the substance of his house. I want you to know:
I’ve found that rat called the devil! I know who and what he is!
I believe for the hundredfold return on my giving for the Gospel’s sake. I believe for the windows of heaven to be opened to me because I am a tither. I also believe I have coming to me a sevenfold return on every- thing the devil has stolen from me. I began to recall all the things Satan has stolen from me; then I told him, “Devil, you are a thief and you’ve stolen from me. Now give it back, all of it—sevenfold!” He started getting it back to me.If Satan can’t steal your joy, he can’t keep your goods. Do you believe that? If you do, it’s time to take your stand and get back your goods. The devil has tried his best to steal your finances, your material possessions, and your joy. But if you have the spiritual audacity to stand on the authority of God’s Word and not let him get your joy, he can’t rob you. No matter what he tries to steal, don’t let him get your joy. Even if he does get your finances or any of your material possessions, it’s only temporary; he can’t keep them if he can’t get your joy.With this bit of information there is no reason for a Christian to ever get down.
When Satan comes against a child of God, all he does is create more trouble for himself.
God has made provision for us both ways. We give—and there’s a return on it. Satan steals from us—and there’s a return on that, too!Think for a moment of all the things Satan has stolen from you since you have been a Christian. Start now to expose him and his thievery. Rebuke him in the name of Jesus Christ. On the authority of God’s Word, order him to return sevenfold everything he has unlawfully taken from you. You have that right!