The Penitent Thief, also known as the Good Thief, Wise Thief, Grateful Thief or the Thief on the Cross, is one of two unnamed thieves in Luke's account of the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament. The Gospel of Luke describes him asking Jesus to "remember him" when Jesus arrives at His kingdom. (Penitent thief- Wikipedia)

Thief- A person who steals another person's property, especially by stealth and without using force or violence.

We know that there is an enemy in the world who is completely against God and His people, and He will try to destroy anything, or anyone who is connected to God. Now we are going to see who this enemy is according to Scripture.

Psalm 50:18-When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

Jeremiah 2:26-As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel shamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.

Joel 2:9-They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb upon the houses; they shall enter at the windows like a thief.

Luke 12:33-Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that falleth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

John 10:1- Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

1 Peter 4:15-But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

Proverbs 6:30-Men do not despise a thief, if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry.

Proverbs 29:24-Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.

Matthew 24:43-But know this, if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

Now we see what the Scripture says about the thief, but the thief I am talking about is Satan, the Devil. He comes but to steal, kill, and to destroy. He is the father of all lies. He has been a liar since the beginning in the Garden of Eden. He is the father of all deception, and deceit. There is no truth in him. He will take a lie and make it sound like the truth. He twists words by using the word" IF." This is why we must go to Ephesians 6:10-18, and it says this: Finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

We know that the Devil is evil, and he will do everything he can to get people to follow and worship him. Let us look in Matthew 4:1-11. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be *tempted of the *devil. (2.) Ane when he had fasted forty days and forth nights, he was afterward an hungred. (3.) And when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. (4.) But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (5.) Then the devil taketh him up to the*holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, (6.) And saith unto him, if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his *angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (7.) Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shalt not *tempt the Lord thy God. (8.) Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9.) And saith unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (10.) Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence, *Satan: for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (11.) Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Jesus fought Satan with the Word of God, and this is what we should do on a daily basis, because we go through things every day, and that is when the enemy attacks us, he waits until we are at our weakest. He tries to put doubt about God in our mind so we will blame God for what is happening in our life. He wants us to turn against God and not trust Him. We cannot listen to his lies, we cannot let him convince us that God does not care about us, or love us. We cannot let him feed us all of the things of the past to bring us down so we will not want to do anything except think about the past. When we let him convince us to think about what wasn't instead of what is, we give up on ourselves, and we give up on God. We do not have to think about what was, because it is over and done with. It is in the past where it belongs, don't bring it into the present and carry it into your future. We all have gone through things in our life that we know that God brought us through. We all have made bad choices that the enemy torments us about, but we know we have been forgiven for those things. We cannot continue to live in guilt and shame because of the mistakes we made in our past. God had given us the strength to help us move on from those things. We cannot let the enemy have free range us. God has given us His Word to fight the enemy with. He has given us His word to use all of our life until He calls us home, or until Jesus returns.

So, we know that the enemy is already defeated, he knows that he is defeated and this is why he is trying to deceive many people against God so that they will follow him and worship him, but there are those who does doesn't realize that they are on the road to destruction, and on a pathway to hell for all eternity. Think about your soul. Think about where you want your soul to reside for all eternity. Think about who you need to forgive and who needs to forgive you. Think about how God has brought you from where you were to where you are now. Think about how God has made a way for you where there seemed to be no way. Think about all of the blessings He gives to us every day. Think about how He gives you strength when you are weak, how He dries up your tears when they are streaming down your face. Think about how He watches over you at night when you are sleeping keeping harm from you. Think about how when you cannot find a word when praying, but He knows your heart, and what you want to say. Think about how He lets the sun shine even on rainy and cold days. Think about the times you were sick and couldn't afford to go the doctor, and He healed you of your infirmities. When you think about all of the things, He has done for us, and are still doing for us, it makes you want to praise Him! It brings you to repentance. No one wants to walk in darkness for the rest of their life. No one wants to be lost. No one wants to go to that place of darkness. No one wants to let the enemy ruin their eternal life.

Think about what Jesus did for us. He did not have to do it but He did. God did not have to send His One and Only Son into this world to die for our sins, but He did because He loved us just that much. He did not want us to die in our sins, and He did not want us to be separated from Him for all eternity. He sent Jesus that the world might be saved through Him. The only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ.

If Jesus were to come back right now, would you be ready to go with Him? Would you ask if you could go and right some wrongs? Would you tell Him that you are not saved? Would you ask if you could go and get baptized? What if He said NO, you had your chance for many years to do that, it is time to go, how would you feel? Would you beg Him for His forgiveness? This is why while it is called today, ask Jesus to come into your heart to be your LORD and Saviour before He returns. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. Look at the things we are going through right now. Look at what is happening in the world around us in other places where there is destruction and war on every side. Time is running out, and I say this because of the viruses that are here now. Life is too short to not want to get saved. This is a plague that there is no cure for. I thank God for the vaccines that He has provided for us.

I thank Him because in the beginning there wasn't anything at all, but He made a way for them to create the vaccines that we have now, and there are so many who still have not gotten vaccinated as of yet, but that is their choice. I just want you to know that Jesus loves you, and He wants to give you a brand -new life in Him, and to change your life for the better. It does not matter what you have done, or where you are from, or what color you are, or if you are rich or poor, He will accept you just the way you are. His love endures forever. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He said that He would be with us until the end of the age, and that is forever, for all eternity. Choose life and not death. Choose Jesus and not the Devil. With that being said, thank you all for joining me on my journey with Food for the Soul. God bless, and stay safe. c.2022