"Unlocking Abundant Life: A Battle Against the Thief"

Title of my message this morning is this I

have come I have come And

I'm going to read this text to you this morning

And it's one of my favourite verses in the Bible And I'll tell you why

in a minute But John 10.10 says this It says 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 Now,

like I said, one of my favorite verses in the Bible for one very specific reason.

And why it's so important and special to me is because it makes a very clear

and positive distinction between the devil and Jesus.

Who's ever pondered or had the question asked to them, why does God cause wars

and death? And why does God?

That answers the question for you. That answer, and that's why I love it,

that the thief, the devil comes to steal and to kill and destroy.

Jesus comes that we may have life and have it more abundantly.

Okay. So it's very clear.

Here's a very clear statement for you.

God is good. The devil is bad.

Yeah. Okay. God is good. the devil is bad.

Jesus is life. The devil is death. Okay.

Jesus heals. The devil makes sick. So again, why does God let people get sick?

God heals. Jesus heals. The devil makes sick. Okay.

The devil binds with habits and addictions and so on where Jesus delivers it from every yoke.

The devil steals, Jesus restores, and the devil kills, but Jesus resurrects.

So John 10, 10, very short, but very straightforward.

God is good. The devil is bad. Okay.

It's the thief. It's the devil who comes to steal and to kill and destroy.

And of course, there's many ways for the devil to do that. There have been many

ways for him to accomplish this work, but the bottom line is this.

You can recognize the devil by his works.

Now, I'm not going to concentrate on the devil this morning.

I'm just going to talk a little bit about his works.

He's a liar. He's an accuser of the brethren, and he's a murderer, and he's a thief.

Jesus said that the thief comes for no other reason than chaos,

confusion, loss, and ultimately destruction. That's what the devil does.

The devil's goal is to strip us of our dignity, leave us in a state of hopelessness,

shame and guilt, under a heavy load of condemnation, feeling useless and unworthy.

This is how you identify the thief. The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy.

He wants to kill and kill off our self-esteem, our sense of worth and our value.

He wants to destroy relationships.

He wants to kill our destiny. And ultimately, he wants to kill us.

That's what the devil does. He will use things like sickness and disease.

He doesn't really care how it happens. he just wants to destroy us. That's the devil.

Your very existence is a threat to the devil. Okay.

Just the thought of him, just the thought that you might actually surrender

to Jesus and fulfill your destiny is actually a thorn in the side of the devil.

I want you to understand this. The thief, meaning the devil, comes.

He comes, okay? He's coming to every one of us.

Sorry. If the devil came for Jesus, and we know that the devil came for Jesus,

he's going to come for you and I as well.

That's his purpose for coming. But you know what the good news is?

We can devil-proof our life.

We can devil-proof our life. Yes, the devil goes about like a roaring lion,

seeking those who he may devour, but we don't have to be one of those victims.

We don't have to be. Tell your neighbor, he won't devour me. He won't devour me.

The Bible says that when the children of Israel came out of Egypt,

those who fell behind on that journey and became stragglers.

That Amalek came up from behind them and killed them all, Okay. The stragglers.

How did he do that? Because they slacked off, because they struggled and they staggered behind.

To make it relevant today, you might say they stopped reading their Bibles.

Okay. They stopped praying. They fell out of fellowship with church.

They stopped praising and worshiping God. They stopped pursuing and chasing after God.

Their hearts became cold and indifferent, and they lost their love for the presence of Jesus.

This is how the thief got the better of them and destroyed them.

Not because they were destined to be destroyed, and not because the enemy was

so much more powerful than them.

It's because they fell behind, okay? Okay.

And that's why I'm telling you, yes, the devil, yes, the thief will come.

And yes, the devil comes, but you can devil-proof your life.

You can decide in your heart, you can decide to not give him any access to your life.

You can build a fortress around yourself, around your heart and your mind and

your soul, and the devil or the thief cannot penetrate that. Amen?

You can have the abundant life. I spoke about it the last week and I'm speaking about it this week.

You can have the abundant life that Jesus gives, or you can be destroyed by the thief.

There's two options and there's only two options that you have in your life.

So the point here is you can stand in the middle.

Okay. You can stand in the middle and you can decide, you stand in the middle and you have to decide.

You stand in the middle and you have to decide who are you going to choose?

The good shepherd Jesus or the thief, the devil.

And no one can make that choice for you. It's our choice who we follow.

And it's not a one-time choice either. It's not a one-time.

The thief is always coming by to see if he can get in, okay?

He's always looking for a break in that wall, that place where you let down

your guard, that place where you become apathetic and indifferent.

He's looking. Never take for granted that everything's fine,

okay? Never assume that everything is covered.

We need to work for this. We need to make decisions.

Raise your hand. Who checks their doors at nighttime before they go to bed,

making sure they're locked? Yeah, yeah.

Two or three times maybe? Anyone?

Oh, no. You know, is the deadlock turned fully? Is the chain on the door?

Is the door locked? Is the door locked? knob locked.

Okay, now I can rest. Now I can rest. I've done my due diligence.

I've done my due diligence. Due diligence means I've done everything that is

in my power to do. I've done all that I can.

How often do you do that? Every night you should do that. Check your locks before you go to bed.

Why? Because I don't want to give any thief access to my house, my wife, my belongings.

I have the responsibility in my house in keeping the windows closed and the doors locked, okay?

The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.

But then there's a shift in that passage. Then there's a shift.

I have come, Jesus has come, that I might have life and have it more abundantly,

okay? Just to recap a little bit in case you haven't got it clear,

we can identify the thief by his works, okay?

The thief steals, the thief kills, and the thief destroys.

But praise God. But praise God, Jesus comes to give abundant life,

a life that overflows, abundant peace. Who needs abundant peace in their life? Come on.

Abundant joy in your life.

Exciting dreams and vision and purpose. That's why Jesus comes.

As I meditated on this verse, this John 10, 10 verse, I thought about how Jesus

describes the thief first.

Okay. Same as I've described the thief to you first this morning.

He tells us what the thief is capable of doing. He tells us that he's capable

of stealing and killing and destroying.

In other words, Jesus puts in a nutshell every dark, evil, perverse,

murderous thing that the devil is capable of doing.

And then he says, but I have come, but I have come that they may have life and

have it more abundantly.

But God, but God, it's like Jesus is saying,

add it all up, have a think about it, add it all up and anything and everything

that the thief has ever done in your life, I can actually undo in your life.

That's good news, isn't it?

No matter what the devil's done, no matter what the thief has done to your life, Jesus can undo it.

Jesus can undo it. And that's what you need to know that Jesus just didn't say it. He did it.

He did it. Acts 10, 38. Here's our second scripture.

Acts 10, 38. And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy

Spirit. and with power. Then it talks about what Jesus did.

Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the

devil for God was with him.

Jesus just didn't say it. He did it. He did it.

In other words, Jesus went around everywhere undoing the damage that the devil had done.

And the good news about that, we read that Jesus went about undoing the bad

things that the devil has done.

We read about it happening back then. Okay?

But the good news is, what does Hebrews 13 verse 8 say? It says that Jesus Christ

Hebrews 13:8

is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

So he's still walking around. He's still moving around Jesus,

undoing the work of the devil. Amen.

Jesus is the source of abundant life. He's not just the one who gives abundant life.

He himself is the life.

John 14 verse 6 says, I am the way, I am the truth. And what is he?

John 14:6

I am the life. I am the life.

He gives us life by not giving us things, but by giving us himself.

He is the life that he gives us. We must not seek the stream.

We don't just seek the stream, but rather seek the fountain that feeds the stream.

Because Jesus is the fountain.

Jesus is the fountain. And that fountain becomes a well on us.

It becomes a well, and it becomes rivers of living water flowing out from our innermost beings.

He offers it to us abundantly, but we must come to the fountain and drink. We must drink.

His intention for us, as I said last week, is not just to get by.

His intention for us is not just to survive.

But it needs to be overflow. It needs to be beyond limits. More than enough, rivers of living water.

Not just a well, but rivers of living water.

It's not about survival. It's about overflow and abundance.

Livers of living water. Rivers of living water.

Yeah, the liver does it too. Yeah, yeah, of living water. Cleans the living water.

We're not just called to go to heaven when we die, okay?

We're not called just to go to heaven when we die.

We're called to carry the atmosphere and the power of heaven everywhere we go.

And that's abundance. That's abundance.

The apostle Paul said, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency

of power may be of God and not of us, okay?

What power is he talking about? He's talking about the abundance,

the abundant life that heals their Christ, Christ's life heals the sick,

delivers the bound and oppress and he sets the captives free.

That's what we need to carry with us. The normal life of the Christian is the

abiding life and the abundant life.

That is a normal Christian life. If you're not experiencing the abundant life,

then we have to find the blockage that's stopping that.

We have to find it. We have to find the blockage and remove it.

If you're not experiencing the abundant life, then somewhere the thief has made

some inroads in your life and he's built a dam that's hindering the flow of

God's presence and power and abundance in your life.

We need to unblock that logjam. We need to do that.

If your peace is gone, if your mind is cluttered with fear and doubt,

anxiety, worry, feelings of hopelessness, and feelings of low self-worth,

and thoughts that you're not going to make it,

all of these things are evidence that the devil has got in and got a foothold,

and we need to get them out. We need to get it out.

Jesus said, give no place to the devil. Give no place to the devil.

I'm going to get you to come up now, Josh, for me if you can.

Who's ready to do some declaring with me? Who's ready to declare some stuff?

Because we have to decide in our lives, we have to decide that I want the abundant

life and I'm ready to fight for it.

I'm ready to locate and destroy any blockages.

I'm serving an eviction notice on the devil this morning. And I want to do that

by declaring some stuff, okay?

Who wants to declare some stuff? Who wants to get their lives right?

Who wants to clear away log jams?

Okay, say this after me then. Come on, let's repeat this and let's mean it. It's from our hearts.

I'm not giving the devil any place.

In my mind, in my emotions, in my body, my family, my heart.

Today, I'm repossessing my vessel.

Today, I'm eliminating a blockage. Today, I'm plugging back into the source.

Today, I'm taking out the rubbish. Today, I'm opening the flow in and through.

I will be a fruit producing branch.

I will be a channel of supernatural power.

God's supernatural power who flows to me and who flows through me.

I receive to release.

I receive to redirect.

What does that mean? It means we receive and we go out into the world and we

redirect what we have received.

Now say this with me.

I am not the source, but I have a connection.

He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit, it says in the Bible.

Abundant life is not found in possessions or achievements, but in a person, Jesus Christ.

That is the abundance. He came to redeem and to restore.

He didn't come to give us a life of crumbs and mere survival and just barely getting by.

He came to put rivers of living water in our bellies.

He came He came to put rivers of living water In our bellies and to make us a blessing to the world.

Did you hear that? I know you heard the liver of riving waters,

but did you hear that he wants to make us a blessing to the world? That's what he wants.

Where are you today? Where are you today? Are you at a cup of water level?

Or are you at a well level? Or are you at a, have you reached the fountain level?

Or maybe you've reached the rivers and the rivers are overflowing and rushing

out of your innermost being.

That's where we need to be. That's where we need to be.

The most important thing is whatever level you're at, you don't get stuck there.

That's the most important thing. Whatever level you're at, don't get stuck there.

Today, you can move from mere existence to the abundant, overflowing life,

and he's just waiting for us to ask for it.

He's waiting. You can trade in your cup for a well or your well for a fountain

or your fountain for rivers and even your rivers for an ocean.

There's no limit except what you put on it.

Let's not put any limits on God. That was my essence of the message last week.

Don't put any limits on God.

He wants to provide so much more than what we limit him with.

Okay? So we need to, and that's why I love holding my hands up because I'm not gonna limit God.

I just wanna receive what God wants for me. And I want us to all be like that.

So let's trade all that stuff in. Let's trade all those lies in.

Let's trade in all that's been stolen from us.

And let's not limit God because he wants not just to give that back to us.

He wants to give us so much more in our lives.

He's a God of abundance. I have come, Jesus said, I have come.

That you might have life and have it more abundant. So let's receive the abundant

life that Jesus wants for us.

Let's put the devil to one side. Let's put the thief to one side.

Let's put him where he belongs, under our feet behind us. Get behind me,

because Jesus has come that we might have life and more abundant.

Come on, let's stand together and let's pray this through. We've done some declaring.

Let's pray for it. Let's pray for it. Lord, we thank You, Father.

Holy Spirit, we thank You for Your presence this morning.

Jesus, we thank You for Your presence here. And we thank You that Your Word says that You have come.

You've come, Lord, to give us life and to give us abundance.

Abundance life. So, Lord, we seek that this morning, Lord.

We seek the abundance that You give to us, Lord. Lord, we seek not to limit

you, but we seek just to receive what you want for us, Lord God.

Life and life to the abundance.

Life, more life from God, more life, more rest, more peace, more abundance, more joy, more dreams.

Lord, all of those things that come from you, Lord, we declare in your precious

son's name that that is what we want.

Lord, we surrender to you, Lord God, We hold out our hands, Lord God,

and we receive the abundance that you would have for us.

Lord, the thief comes, we know, to kill and steal and destroy.

You come, Lord God, to overcome that, to undo that, Lord God,

and provide abundance in our lives, Lord. And that's what we received this morning, Lord.

We worship your name. We worship your word.

We worship your actions, Lord.

We thank you for them. We thank you for them.

We receive the promises. We receive the truth. We give away the burdens.

We give away the heaviness of the yoke that the thief leaves on us, Lord.

But we take your joy and your presence in our lives this morning.

We thank you for your presence, Lord.

We thank you that you are the way, you are the truth, and you are the life.

And you seek to give us yourself, the life. And we receive that in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Praise your name. And freely you gave it. So freely you gave it.

And we receive it. Hallelujah.

Praise your name. Hallelujah. Everyone said and declared amen.

So be it. So be it that we receive.