August
9, 2003
DELIVER
US FROM THE EVIL ONE
"And
forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted
to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us
from the evil one" (Luke 11:4, NKJV).
Jesus
returned to Nazareth where He had lived as a young man. On
the Sabbath He went to the synagogue as was His custom and
stood up to read from the book of the prophet Isaiah. "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and
recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that
are bruised"... He closed the book, gave it to
the minister, and sat down. "And the eyes of all them
that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And He began
to say to them, 'This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears' " (Luke 4:18-21).
Jesus
shared with His family and friends that day in Nazareth His
mission. Jesus has been anointed to share the goodnews of
God's salvation to everyone living on the planet. We are all
poor and needy and captives on this planet, and Jesus came
to heal the brokenhearted and deliver us from the evil one.
He came to enlighten us and give us true liberty, the liberty
that only the sons and daughters of God may enjoy.
Following
His last supper with His disciples, Jesus said to them, "I
shall not talk much longer with you, for the Prince of this
world approaches. He has no rights over me; but the world
must be shown that I love the Father, and do exactly as He
commands" (John 14:30, 31, NEB). Jesus became
our deliverer when He overcame the evil one on our behalf.
When
assailed by the tempter we may claim Christ's victory and
say, "He has no rights over me Father. I'm yours, I love
you and want to do what's right." Christ's victory is
our victory when that's truly what we want and claim it by
faith in our Redeemer and Deliverer. His strength and His
deliverance is ours when assailed by "the
evil one". "If anyone
loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him,
and We will come to him and make Our home with him"
(John 14:23).
Jesus
is our deliverer when we trust Him. He provides the obedience
because He loves us and lives in us. "If
you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father,
and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with
you forever-- the Spirit of truth. (John 14:15, 16).
And He will never abandon us!
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