2006-07-07
Good Morning Treasured Ones,
As you already know, we are working through the index sentences of the Lord's Prayer [MT 6: 9-13]. Here are the ones we've already examined along with what each represents: "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name..." [worship], "Thy Kingdom come..." [allegiance], "Thy will be done..." [submission], "Give us our daily bread..." [petition], "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us..." [confession], and "Do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil" [deliverance]. The Holy Spirit leads me to write more about the sixth index sentence today.
In previous devotions I have cited RO 1: 18-32, which is an excellent description of how foolish people give into the temptation to do evil. I've said that it all begins with some kind of visual or auditory stimulus, becomes an idea, which is then carried out by evil, poorly conceived actions. However, there is another passage, JAS 1: 12-15, in which God, through James, describes this mechanism of evildoing. " Happy is the person who remains faithful under trials, because when he succeeds in passing such a test, he will receive as his reward the life which God has promised to those who love Him. If a person is tempted by such trials, he must not say, 'This temptation comes from God.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, and He himself tempts no one. But a person is tempted when he is drawn away and trapped by his own evil desire. Then his evil desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and sin, which it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Once again, we must be reminded of 1 COR 10: 13, only in connection with this James citation. "Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps His promise, and He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out." And what does it mean, "Sin gives birth to death?" It is clear that when one makes a lifestyle out of sin and continuously rejects God, he will die spiritually, i.e. will experience conscious torment eternally in what is referred to in the Bible as the lake of fire and brimstone [sulfur].
In looking at this issue of from where does evil come, we must understand clearly that God is never the genesis of evil of any kind. However, He allows a certain amount of evil to happen, an amount he carefully controls, so that it is not so much that it breaks the spirit of the believer and keeps him from remaining firm in his faith. In a real way, He uses Satan and his followers to create the evil temptations, but keeps them clearly under His control as to how much. Only our omniscient God knows exactly how much evil to allow in each situation, and He never makes that decision with unrighteous wrath or poorly conceived motives. We must be careful in interpreting verses like PS 71: 20-21, "You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but You will restore my strength; You will keep me from the grave. You will make me greater than ever; You will comfort me once again." This means God has allowed troubles and a measured amount of suffering, not He has created the trouble and suffering. The latter is the work of the devil. We should not question if God is in control either. Remember JOB 1: 12, in which God and Satan enter into an agreement that God will allow Satan to tempt Job to see if Job will lose his faith in God? God says, "All right, but you must not hurt Job Himself." That's God saying you can do what you want short of killing Job, and He is clearly limiting the evil Satan is allowed to create and commit. The consistency of the truth that God limits evil can be seen in REV 12: 12 clearly. "And so be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left." Thus we can see God placing limits on the devil's activity.
One question that this discussion begs to be asked: Why does God allow this evil at all? The answer comes clearly in His method of sanctifying [perfecting] us. We must have our faith tested, so that it will be strengthened as we work though our trials. God wants us to know and love Him more than anything else. He wants us to come back to His side in the life He offers us after our physical deaths. He wants us to have a blissful eternal fellowship with Him. Yes, Dear Ones, this is His greatest desire of all [JN 3: 16; JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. That is why He gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross and be the One to take on the sins of the world-so that we who repent, have faith in the Son, and believe in the truth can be saved. And Christ Himself, modeled the greatest act of obedience to the Father- solely for us! As believers in Him, we should never forget that. We should never forget the great compassion and love that our Father has for each and every one of us.
PRAYER: O Lord, there are some messages that You have chosen to repeat in many ways throughout both the OT and the NT. Three of them are Your desire for us to believe in the truth, accept the Son as our personal Savior, and spend our lives on earth serving You in faithful obedience. Behind this is Your greatest desire, which is to perfect us through the process of sanctification, so that we can answer Your call to come home to You in Your own perfect time and way. You want to deliver us from the suffering, loss, and trials that Satan and his followers bring us. As PS 68: 19-20 reminds us, You are willing to bear our daily burdens and bring about for us escape from spiritual death. You want us to know that "You are our Hiding Place, will protect us from trouble, and will surround us with songs of deliverance" [PS 32: 7]. When we are deeply troubled, Dearest Abba, You remind us in PS 91: 1-2, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.'" While Jabez, a relatively unknown figure in the OT prayed, he understood how You are the Source of real deliverance and prayed for that. 1 CH 4: 10b, "...'And Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!' And God granted him that which he requested." When we cling to You in holiness, we can please You. You are eager to bless those who please You out of Your propensity for righteousness and justice. How can we ever say the Lord's Prayer again in rote fashion without our hearts being deeply touched by the lessons Your Son has for us in it? I don't think we can. If You didn't love us the way You do, You wouldn't have commanded Him to give us this precious lesson in how to pray. We owe it to You to show You by our thoughts and actions that we submit to Your will gladly, trust You implicitly, and believe in the truth You teach us. You have done so much for us by breaking the bonds that sin used to have over us, by Christ's victory on the cross. We willingly worship, praise, adore, and thank You for all that You are in our lives, Your wonderful presence in them, and all that You do for us every day of our lives. In Christ, we pray. Amen.
At last, Dear Ones, that Holy Spirit brings us to the seventh index sentence next week. It's the one which says, "For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen," and it's another expression of worship. There are some interesting points to note. The Lord's Prayer opens and closes with worship, like "worship bookends." There are seven index sentences, God's perfect number. No accident is this! If you are like me and are feeling the warmth of God's blessing embrace right now, then you will know that this wonderful feeling is always available to those who love and honor Him-even during times of trial. We are washed in the blood of the cross, washed of our past sin, washed of the misery of hopelessness. If it strikes you odd that a person who in her past was on her way to a life of crime and jail can write these things to you, then you are missing the extent of God's power "to transform us inwardly by the renewal of our mind" [RO 12: 2]. This supernatural power is so vast that we can't measure it. IS 55: 8-9, "'My thoughts,' says the Lord, 'are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.'" We, as believers, must willingly submit to that power and our beloved Deity, even at times when we don't fully understand His commands. We can do this, knowing full well that He never asks us to do anything that isn't righteous, and that He always equips to do His bidding. I look at people whose pasts were even more colorful and shameful than mine, who are now believers and full-fledged members of the family of God, and must realize that God has not only forgiven them, but He has forgotten their sins as well [HE 8: 12]. I know of people who committed adultery and even prostitution, for example, who are now serving God as leaders in His Body with distinction, fully forgiven. Of course these people owned up to their sins before God and followed up by stopping their offensive behavior. God can forgive anyone whose love and submission to Him are genuine [PS 34: 8-9]. We must keep this in mind when we witness to our faith to those willing to listen. Praise be to God for His love and compassion!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn