I am pondering the mystery as to why, sometimes, it seems like the devil is able to thwart God's plan for us. Answer: Because he can. I look back at my own life, and recall many promises made to me by the LORD. Not many have come to pass. Why not? God is able to do that which He speaks. God cannot lie. Nevertheless, I never see the fulfillment of the Word. The devil has stolen them. He is a "thief and a liar". This is what he does. Hello, saints, he does NOT want true religion to break out on planet Earth! He will tolerate, even encourage, the shallow mishmash that passes itself off as the Western Church, to be sure. But let a man try to come out of Babylon, and, well, "all Hell breaks loose".

So what? Can Satan actually stop God's Word from coming to pass? Of course not. Daniel's three friends calmly told the king, "No way we're going to bow down to your idol. Our God IS ABLE to deliver us from your plot, but even if He does not, we ain't bowing down". How could they say this? They knew that even in the midst of the fire, God would be there with them, for the one promise we always have is that He will never leave us or forsake us. We might NEVER enter that promised land, but we will ALWAYS have Him with us. When we learn to delight in God's Presence, everything else fades away. The devil can have all that stuff he stole; the greatest Treasure is ours forever.