Reflection  ·  October 18, 2026

Sunday Service  ·  10:00 AM

Citizens of HEAVEN · Living on Earth

“The enemy wants you to give back what GOD restored. It’s up to you whether you want to give it back to him or not.”

Pastor Hector Boucet opened this Sunday’s message where last week’s ended. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy — that is his job description, straight from John 10:10. But the story does not end with the thief. JESUS restores. And the moment HE restores something in your life — your peace, your joy, your family, your health — the enemy starts working on a new strategy to take it right back.

Here is the tension Pastor Boucet pressed on all morning: getting it back is one thing, and keeping it is another. GOD can break every bondage and bring you back to where you wanted to be — but the enemy does not simply accept defeat. He gets angry, he studies you, and he looks for the crack. Your actions, Pastor Boucet said, talk louder than your words. It is not what you say from the altar; it is what you do on Monday.

John 10:10 (KJV)

The enemy steals, but JESUS restores. The enemy destroys, but JESUS gives life. The enemy wants to take, but JESUS wants to give. Pastor Boucet made the contrast unmistakable: stop rehearsing what the enemy is doing and start celebrating what the LORD is doing in your life. And then he named the quiet tragedy — sometimes GOD restores something in our lives, and then we voluntarily hand it back to the enemy. We pray “LORD, give me peace,” and then we worry. We pray “LORD, restore my peace,” and then we keep consuming everything that produces anxiety.

GOD gives us a new identity, but we keep believing the old label. GOD gives us a purpose, and we surrender it because we are afraid of what people will think. And here is the part most of us miss: the enemy does not always have to steal it. Sometimes all he has to do is convince you to surrender it. That is it. Be careful what you say, be careful how you act, and be careful who you trust — because what GOD gave you, the enemy is coming back for.

Nehemiah 4:14 (KJV)

— Pastor Hector Boucet

There are things in life you must fight for: your faith, your family, your purity, your prayer life, your peace, your purpose, your relationship with GOD. The fact that GOD gave you something does not mean the enemy will not try to take it again. Resistance is part of restoration. Before CHRIST you may have surrendered — now you resist. Before CHRIST you may have believed every lie — now you know the truth. But hear Pastor Boucet clearly: you do not fight in your own strength. Ephesians 6:10 does not say “be strong in yourself” — it says be strong in the LORD and in the power of HIS might. Your strength is not “I will never fall.” Your strength is “if I fall, JESUS will lift me back up.”

And stop believing the enemy’s lies. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be sober and vigilant, because the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is looking for the crack — the moment the door is not fully closed. Pastor Boucet used the picture of a car trunk: if something is in the way, it bounces back open. You have to make sure it closes all the way. When the full armor of GOD is in place, he cannot get in. We do not live terrified of satan; we live aware — and armored.

Ephesians 6:10 (KJV)

The enemy says “give up” — GOD says do not grow weary in doing good. The enemy says “you’re alone” — GOD says I will never leave you nor forsake you. When you open the Book, the LORD will talk to you in the present tense — not as history, but as today. Be honest with HIM. HE knows you better than you know yourself, and JESUS will meet you wherever you are today.

Point five on the screen said it plainly: CLOSE THE DOOR. You cannot keep opening the door and then blame the enemy for walking through it. We pray “GOD, take this temptation away,” and then we walk right back toward it — like taking the skin off the banana and then acting surprised at the slip. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can say is simply “no.” No, I’m not going back. No, I’m not returning to that bondage. No, I’m not believing those lies. No, I’m not compromising my relationship with JESUS. It is the simplest thing you can say — and the most powerful, because you are refusing to go back to where you came from.

Romans 12:2 calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds — not once, but every single day, no matter what we go through. And for everyone who thinks they have wasted too much time, Pastor Boucet closed with this promise: Joel 2:25 — “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.” You have not wasted too much time. HE restores — the years, the joy, the peace. Your part is to close the door and not give it back.

Pastor Hector Boucet

JESUS is coming — that is certain. The question is not whether HE is coming, but whether you are prepared. Do not wait until tomorrow to close the door; tomorrow is not guaranteed. Tell HIM how much you love HIM — HE already knows, but HE wants to hear your voice. And then walk it out in obedience, because love without obedience is just words, and your actions are preaching louder than your mouth.

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