TODAY’S WORD FOR MONDAY JUNE 24, 2013.
DELIVERANCE
DEFINITION:
To rescue or save from evil; salvation;
redemption.
SCRIPTURE:
And the Lord will deliver me from every
evil work and preserve me for His heavenly Kingdom. II Timothy 4:18.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
When Adam and Eve were driven from
paradise, the Garden of Eden, for their sin, they condemned all mankind to live
in a world subject to the evil devices of the evil one (Satan). Thankfully,
because of God's love for us, He had a plan of deliverance through His Son's
death on the cross to redeem us from death into eternal life. Although as
believers we are saved from paying the penalty for our sins, we must live in a
world subject to the evil that Satan brings into it.
We can't read or listen to the news
without being made aware of all the evil that exists in our world. When Jesus
gave us His example of how we should pray, He taught us to ask for deliverance
from evil (The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:9-13). There should be no doubt that
this is what we need to pray. We need deliverance everyday from the evil that
surrounds us.
Even God's most faithful servants will
not be shielded from dealing with the evil in this world. Paul went through
many trials and persecutions and in II Timothy 3:11 he said that the Lord
delivered him from all of them. It is from experience that Paul is able to
confidently say in the verse above that the Lord will deliver us from all evil
and bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom.
Paul also tells us that God delivers us
from death in II Corinthians 1:10 and in Colossians 1:13 He delivers us from
the power of darkness (Satan). In I Thessalonians 1:10 Paul tells us as
believers to look forward to the return of Christ and the deliverance He will
bring from the wrath of God to come. What a wonderful assurance we have as
believers of the deliverances from evil that we have through Jesus Christ each
day.
There are so many examples in the
scriptures that we have concerning the way that God delivered those that
honored His name and believed in Him. We will give you a short list, as
examples to encourage you, for you to consider. You may want to look up each
passage of scripture that we leave with each example. Here are just nine
examples:
•
Noah: Genesis 8:1-22. (Deliverance from the flood)
•
Lot: Genesis 19:29-30. (Deliverance from the destruction of Sodom)
•
Jacob: Genesis 33:1-16. (Deliverance from the fierce anger of Esau)
•
The Children of Israel: Exodus 12: 29-51. (Deliverance from slavery in
Egypt)
•
David: 1 Samuel 23:1-29. (Deliverance from King Saul who wanted to kill
him)
•
Jews: Esther 9:1-19. (Deliverance from execution)
•
Daniel: Daniel 6:13-27. (Deliverance from the lion's den)
•
Jesus: Matthew 2:13-23. (Deliverance from being killed by King Herod)
•
Paul: II Corinthians 1:8-10. (Deliverance from a deadly peril)
There is no evil of any kind that our
Lord cannot overcome. We are living in a sinful and cruel world but as
believers we have so much to thank our Lord for each day, including the
deliverance that He gives to us from our trials and temptations. Take the time
today to thank Him for the way he delivers you from evil and the trials you
face.
LEARNING:
Our memory verse for this week is found
in Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth.
PRAYER:
How grateful we are as a family today
for the continued deliverance that You give us from evil, trials and so many
other issues we face in life. Thank You for the examples You gave us in Your
Word of individuals that were continually delivered from the trials and evils
in life that they faced in their day. Make today a special day of victory for
my family as we do all we can to honor You.
