Deliverance

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:13)

In 1972, at about age twenty-two, I found myself deeply ensnared in a semi-Christian cult, which was alleged to be a new revelation from God to man including revelations about the existence and work of angels and life in other universes. As a very young man, it was all initially intriguing and fascinating. The book was so technical and difficult to read however that I soon arrived at the conclusion it wasn’t a book and revelation for everyone. And that caused me to conclude that God would never be so exclusive regarding a revelation. I also increasingly found the pride that some of the followers had regarding their involvement in the group troubling. But, my own pride made it difficult to gracefully bow out of the fellowship without a sound scripturally based defense. I was earnestly praying daily that God would show me the way out.

Within days, I was driving up the highway at night and noticed a 1972 Datsun pickup truck on the side of the road with the flashers on. The hood was up and the driver was doing something under the hood. I was at that moment driving the very same year and model truck and was intimately familiar with the vehicle since I couldn’t afford to pay others to work on it. So, I pulled over and backed up to offer assistance. In a few minutes, I had his truck started, and he was able to get it home. The carburetor needed an overhaul, which I offered to do for him. That next morning as I worked on his carburetor, I learned that he was a member of a Wycliffe Bible missionary team that travelled the world translating the Bible into newly discovered languages. He just happened to be home on a small leave, and he upon hearing my plight instantly offered me the scripture verse I needed to leave the cult: “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.” (Colossians 2:18)

Eventually, we all realize regarding Christmas that Jesus arrived to deliver us from certain death, but how often do we realize that God delivers us from ourselves daily – sometimes because we asked in prayer and sometimes without us even realizing that it happened. In the story above I stopped to help a stranger with no suspicion that in fact God had compelled me to stop so a fellow believer could by God’s leading deliver me from an awful situation. We are not quick to look back to see just how often God’s hand is actively in our lives on so many levels in an interwoven fashion.

As Jesus prepared himself and the disciples for his departure, he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: “…just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34) I like to think that Jesus was not really feeling it necessary to offer this solely as a commandment.

Wasn’t Jesus’ larger hope was that the disciples and all who followed them would love each other as our Savior loved us? And, this hope was founded in a universal Kingdom truth that he had been demonstrating throughout his life on earth: As Peter wrote, “…love covers a multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:8) And the blessings that come from loving one another happen on countless levels often unrecognized and unappreciated manners – making every day Christmas in the life of those in the Kingdom.

Paul later wrote, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2) We really ought to keep our spiritual senses open to how God places both angels and other spiritual brothers and sisters along our path to deliver us from peril.

We often fall into reciting the Lord’s Prayer with little thought or appreciation for how Jesus truly did not waste a single word within that prayer. It truly is the perfect prayer for us – complete in every way. As we continue to learn in the world without being of it, we really need to understand how critical it is that our Great Shepherd and Deliverer

…lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.