Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn made this quote:
You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power – he’s free again.
Manipulating a person is easy once you find out what it is that they treasure. When a person fears loss, they can be coerced into doing almost anything.
What an insight into the spiritual realm —
As long as we have things that we hold on to tighter than our love for Jesus, we will always live in fear, and we’ll always be subject to manipulation from the devil.
Jesus tells us in His word…
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ~ Matthew 16:25
If we lay everything we hold sacred at the feet of Jesus, we will find that nothing can compare to knowing Him…
And that is the one thing no one can ever take away.
The Heart of Abba - Ron Phillips 