Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you - the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust. - Joel 2:23-25.

Carolyn Risher says, "We are taking everything back that the devil ever stole from us.” Last year in Inglis, Florida the mayor of Inglis, Carolyn Risher issued a proclamation banning satan from the town. She declared the small city (pop. 1,400) to be a satan-free zone and embedded copies of the proclamation in posts at four entrances to the city. The mayor said she was concerned about the kids dressing "Goth,” DUI drivers and child molesters.

Once you have banned the devil from your life, what do you do then? Take it back! Take back what the devil has stolen from you. Take back what the locusts have eaten up.

When we are involved in sin the devil eats up our time and lives just like devouring locusts eat up crops. Time and resources that could have been used to bring glory to God are redirected to bring pain and shame to our own lives and families. Years may go by while the demons romp and play destroying all that they can that is good in your life. When we finally turn back to God, and He kicks the devil and sin out of our lives we may be tempted to think that it is too late to live the way we should. We may think that it is too late to do anything productive with our lives to bring glory to God.

When the prophet Joel spoke those words so long ago God’s people had experienced firsthand the devouring locusts. God’s promise to them, and I believe to us as well, is that God can restore the years to us that have been wasted. How can He do that? He will do it through quality of life and blessing. As we take back what the devil has stolen by living our lives to bring glory to the Lord the years will be restored. Joy and blessing will pour from the Lord to our lives, and from our lives to the lives of countless others.

Take it back!!