The enemy of your promise does not have to completely destroy that promise. If he can’t get it all he’ll be satisfied with stealing a vital piece of it. That is the job of the detractor spirit. A detractor is something that takes away. It steals away pieces and takes away value from the whole making it incomplete, not fully functional, not fully serving its purpose. It is like a motor not running on all cylinders.

A detractor takes a spray can and paints smudges on a beautiful statue and vulgarities on a clean wall. A detractor draws a mustache on an exquisite painting. If someone notices a lady and says, “Isn’t she beautiful?” the detractor responds, “Yes, but her nose is too big.”

That spirit has a way of making things or people look and sound unattractive, unworthy or unuseful even though they may have legitimately been at one time. It devastates or, at the least, depreciates. It loves to make the promise of God appear difficult or unattainable. We just need to realize though, that if God promises, He is the One who brings it to pass. Beware all detractors that get in the way of God’s moving toward fulfillment. He performs that which He promises (Rom.4:21).

“and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” (Rom.4:21)

(This is the second excerpt in a series about “Don’t Settle For Anything Less” from Marty Gabler’s book “Why Sheep Have Short Legs.”)

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Would you buy a bird without a song or a dog without a bark? Then don’t “buy” anything from the devil or this world system that is less than what God has promised. If you went to a hospital to have a baby and they brought out a large doll and said, “This is your baby,” would you just simply accept it “because that’s the way things are, that’s just the way things worked out this time?” Would you accept just a picture of your paycheck because your boss talked you into believing that it is a reasonable facsimile thereof? No you wouldn’t because you know very well that it would not be the real thing and you could not spend it. Therefore, don’t settle for anything less than the full promise of God which you know full well (cf.Rom.4:18).

(This is the first excerpt in a series about “Don’t Settle For Anything Less” from Marty Gabler’s book “Why Sheep Have Short Legs,” Chapter Two.)

Where or how do you get the promise of God? All I know is that one day I suddenly came to the realization that, over time, God has given me certain promises. Knowing the desires of my heart in prayer and meditation on His Word, God has given promises at those times also. But most often it has been like little discoveries, one here and one there. It’s something like, “I have God’s assurance on ‘that.’ It’s already done!”

Some promises include the fact that He will work in and through me to bring about the promise. Others, He has worked in persons and situations in such a way that all I could do was just stand back and be amazed (cf.Rom.4:20-21). There is an overall promise and purpose and as I have walked in it I have received other promises, some of which have already been realized.

“He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” (Rom.4:20-21, NKJV)

(This is the second excerpt in a series about “Promise” from Marty Gabler’s book “Why Sheep Have Short Legs,” Chapter Two.)