In John 10:10, God has revealed the devil's will for your life. No matter when he shows up, or where, or how, this verse rips off his mask and exposes him for who he really is, and trumpets to the world exactly what he wants.
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.
The only reason "the thief" ever shows up is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. You never have to guess, you never have to wonder why he's there; God's taken all the guesswork out of dealing with the devil!
The word "steal" suggests that he's trying to take something from you, and that's true. But the context of this verse deals with a shepherd and his sheep. Most thieves don't waste their time trying to break into sheepfolds -- unless they're after wool or lambchops. If the thief has come to steal and to kill, that suggests that he's after sheep! He's looking for an easy meal.
I Peter 5:8.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour...
Now, if the devil were honest, he'd come right up to us and say, "Hi, I'm the devil. I'm here to steal you from Christ's protection, to kill you, and to destroy you." Then we'd know to run from him.
But the devil is not honest. He's a liar. He doesn't come to you looking like a thief or a hungry lion. Instead, he comes to you disguised as an alternate source of supply for your needs and wants. God is supposed to be our source of supply, but sometimes we get impatient with God; sometimes our needs and desires seem more real to us than God does; sometimes we want things that God just doesn't approve of. At times like these, a second source of supply may seem like a welcome sight indeed.
But don't be deceived: the devil is never there to benefit you! Just as a fisherman is willing to supply a fish with free food, as long as the fish bites his hook along with the goodies, so also the devil is willing to provide you with "blessings" free from the restrictions imposed by a loving God -- so long as you take his hook into your mouth.
Jesus taught that we have to choose whom we are going to serve; serving God means not giving priority to anything else in God's place.
Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
This verse is pretty easy to understand, except for the last word. Jesus said that you cannot serve as a slave to two masters at the same time. You can try, but you will be forced to choose either one or the other.
"Mammon" is the hard word. Mammon is usually defined as "riches." This makes choosing your master a very easy choice indeed for most people -- since few of us have a realistic chance to serve riches!
But this is not what this particular verse is talking about. In the verses that follow, Jesus is not talking about luxuries. Instead, he's talking about, "Where is your next meal coming from?" and "How are you going to find clothes to wear?" These are basic, everyday needs.
What Jesus was saying is that you have to choose between serving God and serving your needs. If you choose to serve your needs, you'll do whatever is required -- whether it meets with God's approval or not -- to get your needs met. If, however, you choose to serve God, He will see to it that your needs always get met.
Serving God, though, means doing what God says do even when that means doing without the things you need! It means learning to trust God rather than taking care of things in your own way. It means learning that being obedient to God is more important than "being effective" by the world's standards.
But you cannot be loyal to both. You cannot serve God loyally and at the same time go after the things you need -- let alone the things you want! -- without subjecting your every step, your every move, to God's Word.
This is where the devil comes in. There is no alternative to doing the will of God as revealed in His Word that doesn't require obedience to, and ultimately allegiance to, the devil. That's his hook. His bait is, "You can have what you need, what you want, right now. All you have to do is take a temporary short cut." It all sounds so reasonable, so logical, so simple. Except the devil isn't there to meet your need or grant your desire at all. Instead, he's fishing for you, trying to get you to go for the bait, so he can snare you with his hook.
God has made it so easy for us to see through his lies. We don't ever have to worry about determining when the adversary is trying to steal us from God's protection, to kill us, and -- if possible -- to guarantee our destruction in the second death. That's always his purpose -- each and every time he shows up. Any thought or idea you have, any opportunity that opens up that requires disobeying or compromising God's Word in order to get what you need or want, is a trap from hell, whose ultimate purpose is to see you dead. This makes every decision about whether or not to obey God a decision, ultimately, between life and death.