THE WANTED (NKJV)
1 Timothy 2:4
“God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the TRUTH.”
Luke 22:31
[a] And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
There is no doubt about it; you are wanted. You have God the Father who wants you to live for Him.
He has a mansion built for you in heaven. You are His desire and His heart. He paid the price through His son on a Cross so that we could live freely forever.
We wouldn’t have to worry about death, suffering, pain, or troubles. Just the Father and heaven forever. It’s an unexplainable, incomprehensible paradise that we are promised.
Now, did God say that here on earth you would have total peace, comfort, and never face a problem in your life?
No, as nice as that sounds, He didn’t promise that, and that’s okay because what He did promise is that He would give you a mansion, a crown, and an abundant life.
All for loving Him, serving Him with your whole heart, even though you may fail, even though you go through temptations and trials.
He promises that if you would just hold on to Him, trust Him through the hard times, and have a relationship with Jesus because Jesus is the door; He’s the key, you will have eternal life.
John 10:9
“9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and we’ll go in and out and find pasture.”
So, you have the Father, and then you have another person that wants you. His name is Satan.
He promises that you can have whatever you want, whatever time, whatever hour, and that you will face no punishment for your actions.
You can drink as much as you want, have all the sex you want, and have the power to do anything. But there’s one thing that he doesn’t tell you – that he is the father of all lies, and all the promises he offers are empty.
His goal is to kill you and sift you as wheat. He wants you to be asleep to him. And this is the thing – Satan is the off-brand of God. So tell me, why is the price more?
Everything that Satan offers is counterfeit; it’s fraud. It leads to heartbreak, frustration, anger, and ultimately, hatred.
What his promises lead to is unfaithfulness, untrustworthiness, and being undependable, but not in a good way. He leads to destruction and devastation, and ultimately, death.
He’s a thief of your soul, your time, your life. So many people say, “Well, I just want to live my life.” What I want to tell them is, what is your purpose for living? If your purpose for living is for God, then you want to live a righteous life.
So watch the next time you say, “I just want to live my life,” and most of us have been guilty of saying it at one point in our walk with God. Satan’s agenda is to lure you, kill you, and trap you.
John 10:10
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. But I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
You have to be careful that you don’t stumble into the trap of the enemy, Satan. This is what Paul states about the devious devil.
He emphasizes in Ephesians 6:11 that you should “11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
And I like verse 13 also because it states to put on the whole armor of God to be able to withstand the EVIL DAY.
THE ARMOR OF GOD
The armor consists of 6 ingredients:
- Belt of Truth
- Breastplate of Righteousness
- Shoes of the Gospel of Peace
- Shield of Faith
- Helmet of salvation
- Sword of the Spirit: The word of God
– How many know we live in an evil world and face an evil adversary?
– Put on the whole armor of God.
– Turn to your neighbor and say, “Put on the armor.”
– You consistently have to be ready for the attack.
– The best way to put on your armor is through your prayer and word life.
David
Now let me tell you, if you are a Christian, you are targeted by Satan.
We need to be careful not to be overtaken by the evil one (2 Corinthians 2:11) .
David:
– David was the king of Israel, chosen by God, anointed by Samuel; he was the ultimate underdog story.
– He killed Goliath, a 9-foot giant.
– David, who was victorious in some of the biggest battles in the Old Testament.
– He was a man after God’s own heart.
– He was what you would want to look up to.
But you see, one day he wasn’t where he was supposed to be because he was supposed to be at battle, but he stayed at home.
And on the balcony of his huge castle, he saw his best friend’s wife, bathing. That was a trap of the enemy.
See, whenever you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, when you’re at home when you should be fighting a battle that you’re promised to win, because your promise of victory in Jesus might not overcome the battle, but the war was won 2000 years ago, you will find yourself trapped like David.
You’ll be at a spot in your life where you have a decision to make, and your flesh, most of the time, will come over you and control you if you don’t have a prayer life.
David had his best friend killed, and then he got with his best friend’s wife. If you let Satan trap you, he will not just trap you; he will devour you.
The Greek word, Peirasmos, is translated to TEMPTATION/TEST/TRIAL.
My favorite definition I could find for temptation is the opportunity to be faithful or unfaithful to God.
Don’t worry, though, church, that’s another promise of God: He will not tempt us more than we are able to stand (1 Corinthians 10:13) .
The biblical definition for trial is a test of faith in which you experience trouble or adversity.
– David was tempted and became unfaithful, even though he had the opportunity to do the right thing; he killed for love.
– The sad thing is it wasn’t love; it was lust.
– Lust is a counterfeit for the love of God.
– David found himself in a deserted, lonely trial due to his actions.
– Satan’s out for blood, and he’s out for keeps.
Here David, the chosen king of Israel, by his God, turned to wicked ways because his prayer life wasn’t right, his word life wasn’t right, his worship life wasn’t right, and he didn’t have on the armor of God.
It’s time that we awaken, church. Jesus is about to come back, and we have a world full of lost people dying and going to hell.
We have nations that are turning on each other, and our nation is collapsing in its own sin.
America has forgotten about the armor of God, but God is still graceful, and He still wants America to be saved. I believe that America will be saved.
ALTAR CALL
You are wanted, church. Who are you choosing, heaven or hell, the straight and narrow path or the wide and curvy one? It’s time to wake up and join back in this spiritual war that is going on in a realm that you can only enter on your knees and your head in the best book the world has to offer.
Let’s have a prayer meeting, not a 5-minute deal. Let’s touch heaven, church.