Yesterday as I was participating in a webcast for Destiny Gateway, the host, Jess Bielby, referenced the above verse. When he did, I immediately heard the following in my spirit:The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10, NASB)
Satan comes to steal your purpose, kill your vision, and destroy your destiny.
Though the point that was being made and the teaching for the session went a different direction, this revelation had my attention. Last night, I began delving into understanding what this statement really meant.
First, I looked up the key words in the verse in their original language, per information in a Strong’s Concordance. Then I turned to “Merriam-Webster Unabridged” online dictionary for meanings of the English words. All definitions here are from those sources.
The word “steal” comes from the Greek word “kelpto” which means “to filch.” “Filch” is not a word that most of us use on a regular basis. It means “to steal furtively” or “to pilfer.” These are more words we don’t use every day. “Furtive” means “done by stealth.” “Pilfer” means “to steal in small quantities.” So, the phrase “the thief comes only to steal” really means that the ultimate thief, Satan, comes to pilfer from us, to steal from us a little bit at a time.
Adding the nugget that was dropped into my spirit today, it is our purpose that he seeks to pilfer. “Purpose” means “something that one sets before himself as an object to be attained : an end or aim to be kept in view in any plan, measure, exertion, or operation.”
Putting the two together, the demonic forces come by stealth to steal, a little at a time, gradually, so that we do not notice, that thing that we set before ourselves as the object we are to attain. Solomon warned us that it was “the little foxes that spoil the vines.” (Song of Solomon 2:15) It’s usually not the one, big blow that gets us; it’s the constant wearing away, little by little. The enemy whittles away at our purpose, until we lose sight of it; it is no longer “kept in view.”
As enemy forces whittle away on our purpose, they begin to move in to kill our vision. The word translated as “kill” is the Greek word “thuo” which means “to immolate [slaughter for any purpose].” “Immolate” means “to offer in sacrifice (as to a deity); especially to kill as a sacrificial victim.” It also means “to sacrifice or abnegate (as oneself) usually in the interests of some cause or objective.” To “abnegate” means “to surrender or relinquish (as a right, belief, or idea).”
What I had heard in my spirit was that the enemy comes to kill our vision. “Vision” is “something seen otherwise than by the ordinary sight : an imaginary, supernatural, or prophetic sight … especially: one that conveys a revelation.” It also means, “unusual discernment or foresight.”
What we have then is that the enemy forces come to take our vision, the imagine we hold through “unusual discernment or foresight” of what is to be, and offer it as a sacrifice to Satan – and we surrender our beliefs and ideas and allow them to be killed.
Having stolen our purpose and killed our vision, the result is the destruction of our destiny. The word used for destroy is “apollumi” and means “to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.” Satan is not out to simply thwart the fullness of our destiny; he wants “to destroy [it] fully.” Since Satan, formerly known as Lucifer, failed to fulfill his destiny, he wants to destroy the destiny of as many others as possible. As the old saying goes, “misery loves company.”
The term “destiny” has become a very common one in Christian circles that walk in present truth. The webcast I mentioned as the beginning is called Destiny Gateway. I attended a church for a couple of years which is part of a ministry called Destiny Ministries. This has become a common term. But what are we really saying when we talk about our destiny?
Strictly speaking, it is “that to which any person or thing is destined.” It speaks of our final destination. One meaning offered for “destination” is the “predetermined end, object, or use.” When we allow our purpose to be stolen and our vision to be killed, we will not reach our “predetermined end.”
If you are a strict Calvinist and believe that the end of all our lives is predetermined and that we have no control over the outcome, then you will not believe what I am saying. If, however, you believe that God has given us the ability to make decisions along the way that effect the course our life takes and its eventual outcome, then ponder this new way of viewing a very familiar verse. Satan is out to steal our purpose, little by little, until he can cause us to relinquish our vision, ultimately destroying our destiny – causing us to never fulfill that which we were created to be and do.
Fortunately, the verse does not end there.
The first portion of the verse is a warning of what can happen; the second half of the verse is a promise of a better end. Let’s look at this verse again.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
After stating the enemy’s plan for our life, Jesus states part of His own purpose. Jesus came – was born as a human being, lived a sinless life, was brutally killed as a sacrifice for all of our sins, died, spent three nights in the heart of the earth, was resurrected, and now makes intercession for us at the right hand of the Father, God – that we may “have life, and have it abundantly.”
The word used here is “perissos” and it comes from a word meaning “superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality)” The Greek word carries the implication of being excessive. Jesus’ plan for us is that we live a quality life, one that is superabundant to the point of seeming excessive.
All too often within Christian circles we have heard people chided or spoken of in less than flattering terms if they were prosperous and seemed to be “living in excess.” Yet, Jesus said that He came to provide us with a life that was overflowing in both quantity and quality, to the point of being excessive.
All of that is available to us, if we will heed His warning and remain vigilant to guard that which is of value to us – so that the thief cannot come and steal it all away from us, little by little, killing our vision and destroying our desire to attain that which we set out to do.
Peter exhorts us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because [our] adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV)
But, Praise God, we know that “… in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Let us guard against the thief, so that we can live in the second portion of the verse: that we may “have life, and have it abundantly.”
Live life excessively!
Selah.
