“I feel so much guilt over all the time I’ve wasted.”
“I made a mistake years ago, and it cost me my dream.”
“It is too late for me. I am too old.”
A spirit of theft steals your time to steal your purpose.
Time belongs to God. Guilt over lost time belongs to the devil.
A Personal Reflection
I was thinking about time and how uniquely God used it the other day. I was saved at 14 and had a plan at 17, but I didn’t see it manifest until I was 57. Instead, I wandered for 40 years allowing sinful distractions to steal my time. I always knew one day I would be on National Television.
However, when we filmed “Fighting Satan” for Lisa Ling under High Definition cameras, my 50 somethings were almost gone, and so was my youthful glow. I remember my daughter saying as we watched the premiere, “Mom, now is not a good time to meltdown over your wrinkles.”Children have a way of bringing you quickly back to reality! There is a roomful of people watching you.
It was then that I thought, God is no respecter of time. The plan he had was still waiting for me even after 40 years. So in 2014, I wrote out my vision complete with a bucket list that seemed impossible. (If you need help writing your vision, I would suggest the book by Myles Monroe called “The Power of Vision”) Within seven years, from age 58 to 65, I saw all but one thing accomplished.
It’s a big thing, and I now see it forming. God does not care if you are 22 or 65! It is never too late! He will rapidly move on your behalf when you surrender in obedience.
A Spirit of Theft
A demon of theft resides under the stronghold of lying and works closely with the spirit of fear. Theft relies on insecurity, inadequacy, and inferiority to keep you bound under the lie that you are not worthy of God’s call on your life.
God even encouraged Joshua to be strong and courageous, not terrified and discouraged. Joshua knew the giants were waiting for him on the other side of the Jordan. The facts were the facts. Taking back the land was not going to be easy. The enemy had extended their stay in the wilderness from 11 days to 40 years by using fear.
How long has that spirit of theft kept you on the wrong side of the river? Does the enemy have you convinced you are not worthy enough to take back what was stolen from you? God’s truth was revealed when Rahab said to one of the spies:
I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. (Joshua 2:9 NLT)
The demons in the kingdom of darkness were melting in fear!
Once caught, the demon of theft must restore sevenfold all it has stolen (Prov. 6:31). When defeated, the weapons of their warfare were found, and those weapons were used for seven years of provision. (Ezekiel 39:9-10)
It is time to go retrieve the spoils of war!
My story aligns perfectly with this timing for plunder.
When I woke up with the Holy Spirit and recognized the spirit of theft, I immediately went through deliverance. Everything accelerated in my life. Deliverance can restore what was stolen and advance you to where you should be in time. Do not circle the mountain in the desert again this year. Cross over. The enemy is afraid of you! God is waiting for you. Together you can pursue, overtake and recover all!
