“Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil”
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – Jesus (John 10:10)
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:11, 12)
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
To have a growing relationship to our heavenly Father does not mean that we are no longer confronted with the evil that is in the world around us. It is a misunderstanding among some that when we give our life to Jesus Christ our battle with evil is over. The truth is that most Christians find that their struggles have escalated after they have crossed the threshold into the God’s Kingdom work.
Today we need to be reminded that there is an enemy. There is a “thief” whose sole purpose is to steal our joy. He wants to distract us…to burden us down and make us ineffective. Unfortunately, some deny the existence of the devil and, therefore, they have become easy prey for the “roaring lion”. They do not see a reason to pray this part of the Lord’s prayer…”deliver us from evil”. “Weren’t we delivered once and for all when we were born again?” Of course, when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we were delivered from the wages of sin. We went from death to life. But we still live in a dangerous world that is under the attack of “spiritual forces of evil”.
No, the devil cannot steal your salvation but he can steal the abundant life that God intended for us to experience. Nothing brings more victory to the kingdom of darkness than believers commiserating about the challenges of living for Jesus. Many have forfeited the joy and peace of the Spirit filled life in order to live in the misery of self pity. Those who are called to bear the Good News of the Gospel become a “bad ad for the heavenly Dad”.
Rise up, today, child of the King! Let us pray that God would deliver us from evil so that we can be free to experience the abundant “full” life that Jesus has given us!