Pearl Thief
Thieves only go after valuable things. They don’t waste time on things that aren’t costly. And with respect to the spirit realm (which is the ultimate reality of existence), the primary thing of value—incredible, priceless value—is the human heart. There is nothing anywhere near so precious. Whatever is second most valuable in the spirit, as far as all creation is involved, is so distant from the value of the human heart that it cannot even be found on the chart.
God made our hearts for Him first, and then to have beautiful harmony and oneness with others as well. Our hearts are made to be His sanctuary, His dwelling place. They are also made to harmonize with others’ hearts as well. And of all the types of relationships we may have with everyone, there was created one that is the most special, intimate of all…more than a friend, a colleague, a ministry partner, a sibling, or even a parent or child. The most intimate relationship in the world is that of marriage. In marriage, you are and have and share things that you can (or not supposed to) with no other person of any other kind in the world. And this was the very first relationship God ever made in human history.
Now, there is a thief who roams the earth. This thief’s inspiration to steal came after having been kicked out of Heaven for having led a rebellion to overthrow God and His authority. Well…it wasn’t even a fight or battle. He was instantly banished. But he did approach and make an attempt.
So, in his evil frustration, since he knew he couldn’t fight or defeat God directly, he began to go after what is most precious to God, the most valuable thing ever created: the human heart.
Thieves are selfish. They don’t care about anything unless it serves their interests or pleasures. And they will ultimately do whatever it takes to steal what they are after. Some may even disguise themselves or even get close to their victims. The devil is the most cunning of thieves. He is a master of disguise, posing even as an angel of light when needful. But he can be found out.
God likens the human heart as a pearl of great (immeasurable) price, where a merchant found it and sold all he had to buy the field he buried it in. When the enemy stole this through our sin, God has been ever seeking to reach us to allow Him to have it back.
For those of us who have opened our hearts to Him and allowed Him to have and occupy it, the enemy has been working tirelessly to steal it back. He will do anything to trick us into giving it up. He’ll even promise shortcuts to God’s promises and blessings, instead of doing things God’s way, just to get us away from being intimately one with God with obedience and passion for Him and His ways.
This is why the Bible says to be alert, and to be aware of the devil’s devices. And, we are…now more than ever! Glory to God!
The Bible describes the walk of the righteous (our walk with God) as a highway of holiness. When we allow the thief to lure us off that highway, God knows what it will take for us to finally come back to that highway with Him. For some, it takes a bad crash on the roadside. For others, it takes an exit off the ramp and a detour through a dry countryside or complex city before navigating back to the highway. Either way, for those that would ever come back to God, He knows how to help navigate us through our weaknesses and tendencies to sin until we truly come to our senses, and come home, back to the highway with Him.
Oh, He is such a good, good Father and loving God. So patient, merciful…and not willing to allow us to just go and perish, but to make our failures serve as the catalyst to save our lives…and take back the pearl that belong to Him!
So now, going forward, this is much of the motivation and understanding behind falling in love with Him, obeying Him, making decisions and doing things His way and with Him, especially the hard and most significant decisions, like a relationship, a job, a move. We are guardians of the pearl, keeping it for Him, not letting the thief trick us into giving it away, especially for shortcuts.
For instance, God provides marriage as a sanctuary of beautiful and the sweetest intimacy and love pleasure under Him in the world. He has put in us the desire for this sanctuary and all that God has filled it with, reserved only for married people. The thief wants to steal our hearts and also get at God another way by defiling the marriage sanctuary, by stealing things from it and offering shortcuts for people to have things from it without going through the proper entrance of healthy courtship and marital vow commitment. So, we guard, and we can have God’s promises when we do things His way…and without the guilt, shame and conviction! The devil is a liar! God’s way is always the best and most rewarding, and He is just so worthy anyway!
...
Eagles Point
A safe place of rest
God made our hearts for Him first, and then to have beautiful harmony and oneness with others as well. Our hearts are made to be His sanctuary, His dwelling place. They are also made to harmonize with others’ hearts as well. And of all the types of relationships we may have with everyone, there was created one that is the most special, intimate of all…more than a friend, a colleague, a ministry partner, a sibling, or even a parent or child. The most intimate relationship in the world is that of marriage. In marriage, you are and have and share things that you can (or not supposed to) with no other person of any other kind in the world. And this was the very first relationship God ever made in human history.
Now, there is a thief who roams the earth. This thief’s inspiration to steal came after having been kicked out of Heaven for having led a rebellion to overthrow God and His authority. Well…it wasn’t even a fight or battle. He was instantly banished. But he did approach and make an attempt.
So, in his evil frustration, since he knew he couldn’t fight or defeat God directly, he began to go after what is most precious to God, the most valuable thing ever created: the human heart.
Thieves are selfish. They don’t care about anything unless it serves their interests or pleasures. And they will ultimately do whatever it takes to steal what they are after. Some may even disguise themselves or even get close to their victims. The devil is the most cunning of thieves. He is a master of disguise, posing even as an angel of light when needful. But he can be found out.
God likens the human heart as a pearl of great (immeasurable) price, where a merchant found it and sold all he had to buy the field he buried it in. When the enemy stole this through our sin, God has been ever seeking to reach us to allow Him to have it back.
For those of us who have opened our hearts to Him and allowed Him to have and occupy it, the enemy has been working tirelessly to steal it back. He will do anything to trick us into giving it up. He’ll even promise shortcuts to God’s promises and blessings, instead of doing things God’s way, just to get us away from being intimately one with God with obedience and passion for Him and His ways.
This is why the Bible says to be alert, and to be aware of the devil’s devices. And, we are…now more than ever! Glory to God!
The Bible describes the walk of the righteous (our walk with God) as a highway of holiness. When we allow the thief to lure us off that highway, God knows what it will take for us to finally come back to that highway with Him. For some, it takes a bad crash on the roadside. For others, it takes an exit off the ramp and a detour through a dry countryside or complex city before navigating back to the highway. Either way, for those that would ever come back to God, He knows how to help navigate us through our weaknesses and tendencies to sin until we truly come to our senses, and come home, back to the highway with Him.
Oh, He is such a good, good Father and loving God. So patient, merciful…and not willing to allow us to just go and perish, but to make our failures serve as the catalyst to save our lives…and take back the pearl that belong to Him!
So now, going forward, this is much of the motivation and understanding behind falling in love with Him, obeying Him, making decisions and doing things His way and with Him, especially the hard and most significant decisions, like a relationship, a job, a move. We are guardians of the pearl, keeping it for Him, not letting the thief trick us into giving it away, especially for shortcuts.
For instance, God provides marriage as a sanctuary of beautiful and the sweetest intimacy and love pleasure under Him in the world. He has put in us the desire for this sanctuary and all that God has filled it with, reserved only for married people. The thief wants to steal our hearts and also get at God another way by defiling the marriage sanctuary, by stealing things from it and offering shortcuts for people to have things from it without going through the proper entrance of healthy courtship and marital vow commitment. So, we guard, and we can have God’s promises when we do things His way…and without the guilt, shame and conviction! The devil is a liar! God’s way is always the best and most rewarding, and He is just so worthy anyway!
...
Eagles Point
A safe place of rest
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