John Avanzini - Gods Theft Protection Policy

God's Theft-Protection Policy

Let's talk about the most successful thief and liar in the history of the universe, and how you can combat him. He is a deceptive, calculating plunderer who has moved too freely in and out of our lives. Every individual on the face of this planet has been in some way defrauded or robbed by him.

You Have Been Ripped Off

You may think I choose the term ripped off because I'm trying to use modern language to describe a theft. My choice of words has nothing to do with modern language!

When someone walks into your house, sticks a loaded gun in your face, ties you up with a rough cord, begins to load his van with your goods, and then smugly walks out your front door, that is not mere robbery. I am sorry, but robbery is too polite a term! You have been ripped off!

Theft is a painful, ripping sensation that hurts down to the core of your being. It is a personal violation of your private life. When you are deprived by any means of something of value that is lawfully yours, then make no mistake about it, you have been ripped off!

By now, you might be saying, "Brother John, what does all of this talk about robbery and being ripped off have to do with me? I've never been robbed."

Well, I've never met a Christian who hasn't been victimized by this thief. He has performed his destructive deeds, taking from the saints of God what is rightfully theirs, in virtually every Christian life I have ever known.

I will not hold you in suspense any longer. No doubt you have already guessed who that master criminal is. He is the devil. He has taken more loot in his reign of terror than ever imagined. He has stolen billions of dollars from the children of God during the last two thousand years .

These robberies occur everywhere you look. How many Christians have made what looked to be a good investment, only to watch it go bad? How many have gone off on their own to form some sort of new company or business, only to see it fail?

Hundreds of times I have heard confused wives confess to me, "I don't know what happened. When my husband started his own business, we were sure it would be a success. He had a good working knowledge of his product, and there seemed to be strong demand, but the minute he hung out the company sign, things started going wrong."

In counseling, my wife and I have many times had to help piece back together families shattered by this type of trauma. Time and time again we hear, "We had a beautiful home in a lovely community, and Bill had a good job, but we felt the Lord was leading us to go to another place. So we sold our house, Bill quit his job, and we went, in faith."

You know the rest of the story, because you have heard it before. You may have even lived it. "Well, Brother John, we just don't know what happened. One thing after another went wrong. Bill could not find work. We used up our house money. Our ministry never got off the ground. Now we are broke. We are 32 (or 42, 52, 62, or 72 years old), and we are broke. What happened?"

We have sat for many long hours counseling dear, precious, Christian families who have lost all of their physical possessionshomes, boats, carsin the name of the Lord! Step by step, Pat and I have had to take them through their painful experiences and begin to show them where in their lives they accepted some deception or lie from the enemy.

God is Not a Robber

So often, we hear from these dedicated Christians something like, "Maybe God wanted us to lose all of our physical possessions so that we could learn to trust totally in Him. That is a lie of Satan!

God would never rip off the possessions of one of his beloved children just to make a point! A careful study of these situations always reveals some sin, or some lie of Satan that is allowed to sneak into the family, opening the door for him to rip off what God had in store for them.

I believe it is time to serve notice on Satan. He has robbed Christians long enough! For too long and in too many situations, he has ripped off our possessions, indiscriminately raped and plundered the saints of God, diminished their quality of life, and taken the lion's share of our assets and possessions from us.

However, if you can believe it, you can cast Satan out of your life right now, and be rid of his interference in your affairs today.

He's a defeated foe! He's destroyed. The Word of God tells us he's broken into pieces (John 16:11). He is so weak that one angel, using only one hand, can cast him into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3).

How in the world can we be so deceived as to think that this poor, pathetic, defeated enemy of God can rise up in any power?

If we really understood the devil's power, we would understand that it was taken from him on Calvary, and that he is powerless. Yes, if we really understood the powers of darkness, we would know that they must bow to the powers of Light, and we would immediately storm the strongholds of hell and take the world for Jesus!

The devil roams the planet "As a roaring lion... seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). You see, he must be granted permission before he has the power to devour you. Yes, you must first let him!

The devil does not have any other power except in lying signs and wonders operating through deception in your mind, as you let him. The devil can give you the idea that he has strength and power. However, you have the power to cast down that idea.

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; )

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:4 ,5

Now look at this verse:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

Hebrews 2:14

Look at that carefully. It is past tense. He had the power of death.

The word destroy is translated several ways in the New Testament. It is translated '"without effect, made void, made of no effect, and abolish . It is time to stop running in fear from the devil. He is destroyed. The power of death he once had is destroyed. The power of the devil has been wiped out!

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:8

The Greek word for destroy is luo , and Strong's Concordance says it means "to loosen, break up, unloose, melt, or put off."

Know Who You Are

Many folks cannot give up the idea of a strong devil. The problem is that they are more comfortable with a strong devil than a defeated devil, because if the devil is really strong, and they are really weak, when they goof up, they can blame him.

No wonder there is no Kingdom of God on earth. No wonder we are no farther than we are. We have gone all across the world and preached the gospel of salvation, and a good number have been saved. However, we have not yet begun to teach Christians who they are. We are preaching the gospel about the King (Jesus), but we are not preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.

Church, it is time to lay hold of this truth. The primary thrust of the Church's outreach can no longer be only getting people saved. We need to enter into the new dimension of our heritage as sons and daughters of the King.

It is a time of helping those who have been saved, to grow up into "the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). The saints of God must come into the truth of who they are.

We have created an army of babes. We now need to raise them up into an army that can go forth in the power of God.