Permit The LORD To Deliver You

As noted in my previous post, the devil has a multitude of weapons with which to tempt and lead us away from faith and trust in God and into misbelief, despair and eternal death. This is why the LORD Jesus instructs us to pray and to pray specifically, "deliver us from the evil one" (Matt. 6:13). The challenge is for us to allow the LORD to do the delivering, as indeed He always will. A Biblical story from 2 Kings 18-19 serves to illustrate this important fact about our prayers for deliverance. 

Hezekiah was a descendant of Israel's great King David and reigned over Judah toward the end of the 8th century B.C., during the time when the Assyrian empire was consolidating its control of Palestine and Syria. In spite of his father's pledged loyalty to Assyria, King Hezekiah led a rebellion against the Assyrians and gained the support of the Egyptians. Of course, Assyria under King Sennacherib (705-681 B.C.) returned to retake Judah. Sennacherib finally put down the rebellion in 701 B.C., overrunning Judah and taking 46 of its walled cities. 

Hezekiah sought to spare Jerusalem from capture by paying a heavy tribute of gold and silver to the Assyrians. This was in vain. The Assyrians demanded unconditional surrender and moved on the city. This is where the story really picks up. Sennacherib's emissaries came to Jerusalem, threatening Hezekiah and the people in the city, mocking their trust in the LORD, the God of Israel: 

And the Rabshakeh said to Hezekiah's emissaries, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. . . Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it! . . . "Thus says the king (Sennacherib): ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand. Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria’" - 2Ki 18:19-29 ESV

This taunt was Sennacherib's fatal mistake. It is always Satan's error and one we must take to heart again and again. Temptations to doubt, to follow the desires of our sinful hearts or the wishes of the sinful world will always come. We will be attacked. We cannot fight them alone. In that hour remember again the Apostle's instructions to put on the full armor: truth, righteousness, Gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God (Eph. 6:11-12). When the LORD arises to battle the devil must flee. And then remember this story as an illustration of what the LORD is able to do. 

By challenging the Lord of all creation, the Assyrian king found himself like an ant challenging an elephant. God's comforting words to King Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah were these: 

"Say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'" - 2Ki 19:6-7 ESV

King Hezekiah prayed fervently for the LORD to deliver them. The LORD spoke further through Isaiah: 

"Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! . . . "Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins . . . But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came. . . . By the way that he came, by the same he (Sennacherib) shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. - 2Ki 19:22, 25, 27-28, 33 ESV

That night, an angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. Jerusalem was spared. The Assyrians had to retreat. When Sennacherib returned home to Nineveh, as he was worshiping in the house of the Assyrian god of agriculture, Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. - 2Ki 19:37 ESV

As we have seen, the LORD permits Satan and his forces to attack us. He puts us to the test. Will we or will we not put our entire trust in Him? If we learn to do that, then Satan and his forces will be defeated. The LORD Jesus taught us that when the devil attacked him in the wilderness at the beginning of his public ministry (Matt. 4:1-11)

Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. - Mat 4:10-11 ESV

We have the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We have the shield of faith and we have the sure promises of our LORD, promises that Satan sought to twist and misuse when he tempted Jesus. 

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. - Psa 91:11-12 ESV

Help For Single Moms

I have been writing about motherhood this week, but today I write about single motherhood and want anyone who may read these words to lift up this concern with their church and Christian fellowship. This question was lifted up again for me last Friday evening when I attended a banquet to raise funds for the work of Pregnancy Assistance Center North (PACN), located in Montgomery County, just to the north of Houston.

Did you know that . . .

• Single Moms are the fastest-growing population in the world
• Single Moms are the highest unchurched population in the world
• 95% of Single Moms are unchurched
• 18 Million Single Moms in U.S – 17 Million are unchurched
• 37 Million Children live with a Single Mom
• 53% of the births in 2011 are children of Single Moms under 30
• The already small number of Single Moms in the church are leaving at a rapid pace
• Single Moms feel both judged and that they do not fit in at church

But all is not hopeless for single moms. Here's what a recent study learned:

The Powerful Force of a Mother's Influence: "Having a man in the house (and the added income he represents) can be a good thing, but the message here is: If you can't be with two parents, you're better off with your mother than you are with your father or anybody else," Biblarz said.

So what is the Christian church doing to assist single moms?  One resource is  called Hope4SingleMoms.com — The 21 Principles of a Healthy Single Mom.

Read a free pdf. about the first three of those principles from the book

• Hope
• Identity
• Victory

The material was designed and written for single moms by Lori Little, herself a single mom. She writes,

Whether you are a teen, never married, divorced or widowed single mom, the "21 Principles of a Healthy Single Mom" will encourage you to flourish in the midst of your overwhelming circumstances; leading you to live a life of purpose and meaning, focus and order, balance and harmony. The 21 Principles was designed for a single mom by a single mom. These 21 Principles will take every single mom to a new level by equipping you with positive instruction and practicle tools that will inspire you to live well as a single mother, and raise healthy children. EVERY 21 PRINCIPLES LEADERS KIT AND BOOK COMES WITH 21 FREE ONLINE INTERVIEWS WITH myself and Dr. Charles Stanley, Kay Arthur, Elizabeth George, Jill Briscoe, Michelle McKinney Hammond just to name a few. 

Lori Little became a single mom in 1996 when her son was just two years old; and she is still a single mom in 2011. Lori's background was in Corporate Business Development and sales, and she was also the former Director of John Maxwell's Thrive! division. More important though, Lori Little has the understanding and commitment gained from thirteen years of single motherhood.

Here are also a couple testimonials:

Lori Little not only talks the talk of the 21 Principles of a Healthy Single Mom, but she walks the walk. I want to affirm to you that Lori lives out these principles in her daily life! The Principles you read about in this book have literally been birthed in Lori by the Spirit of God. I have personally seen God take Lori from being a wounded, broken, insecure single mom, immerse her in Truth, heal her wounds and make her stronger than she could have ever been on her own! God has transformed her into a strong, courageous single mother who is raising and incredible son, and His desire is to do the same for you. --Dr. F. Bobby Atkins

A book of this kind and caliber is past due, and who better than Lori Little to lead the way? Lori loves the Lord, loves her family and loves to encourage other single moms. Her 21 Principles of a Healthy Single Mom are a godsend. --Elizabeth George, Author of a Woman After God's Own Heart

There are certainly other resources. What concerns me is that local churches give attention to the support of single moms in their communities. I think about the many I've known in the congregations I served as pastor. I thank the Lord for the support they received from their families and their congregations. I pray that this is duplicated over and over again in many other places. 

Jesus Himself Descended Into Hell

So far we've examined the false teaching of purgatory as a place of cleansing and the fact that hell, like heaven, is eternal and without end. We've been reminded that only in Jesus Christ, God's Son, does God's mercy and justice meet. Jesus himself proclaimed this by his descent into hell itself after his death upon the cross and before his resurrection. The Apostle Peter describes that great event in his words of encouragement to those believers who were being persecuted, slandered and reviled because of their godly lives and good behavior in Christ.

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. - 1Pe 3:17-22 ESV

What is he saying? He is telling us that the residents of hell will forever continue to reject God's mercy and choose their own delusions, despair and darkness instead. But we have our Baptism to cling to.

1. Christ suffered at the hands of evil men in order that he might return us to God. His death was for us. The righteous One suffered the sorrows of hell and death so that we may never be forsaken, but may forever be the forgiven and reconciled children of God (Matt. 27:46).   
2. When he had completed his sacrificial work upon the cross, he committed his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father (Luke 23:46). Joseph of Arimathea then placed Jesus' lifeless body into Joseph's previously unused tomb (Luke 23:50-53). 
3. While his body lay in Joseph's tomb, Jesus, "made alive in the spirit," went "in spirit" to the spirits in prison (Acts 22:4; 26:10). Why were they locked up, imprisoned? And who were they? They were the millions who lived before the great flood in the days of Noah (Gen. 6:3-13). They all had rejected the LORD God in spite of the fact that the LORD gave them a hundred years to repent (Gen. 5:32; 7:6) while Noah built the ark. 
4. What did Jesus proclaim? He proclaimed his victory over judgment, sin and hell. The people of Noah's day had all rejected God's mercy. In this hellish prison there was no change of heart on their part when Christ appeared among them. Like the demons who forever continue to be chained to gloomy darkness (2 Pe 2:4), these millions of deluded souls continued to reject their rightful LORD and God, just as  they had while living on the earth. 

There is a lesson for us all, writes Peter. Remember that Noah and his family, eight in all, were indeed saved by the ark that Noah obediently built during the hundred years that the LORD waited before the flood. We too have such an ark. It is called Baptism. In our Baptism we have a boat that delivers us from the fast approaching flood of God's judgment upon the rebellious world of this day. In our Baptism God comes to us with the Good News of Christ. He proclaims to us that when Christ died upon the cross, we died with him. When Christ rose on the third day, we rose with him. And now Christ sits at God's right hand. He is the Hand of God, with all authority in heaven and earth (Rom. 6:1-11). And now, since death no longer rules Christ, it no longer has mastery or dominion over us either. It has lost its power. We will never die. We will never be forsaken. We shall ever be with our Lord in that new creation that awaits us (Rom. 8:18-25). 

Jesus, Our Coveralls

How to books are very popular, e.g.

• Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook (Paperback) , 
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity 
• How to Win Friends and Influence People (Paperback)

The list goes on and on. We're dealing with a question 1000x more important than any of the above. We ask, How can the Image of God be restored within us? Jesus, the very Image of the immortal God and Father of us all, is doing this for and in us. We continue our study of that how, borrowing from our venerable father in the faith, Athanasius of Alexandria .

We've learned in previous blogs that only Jesus, the Image of the Father, can re-create the likeness of the Image in us men. He alone can give us mortals immortality. The more we study what He did and continues to do, the more that Image is restored. Paul writes, 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. - 2 Cor 3:17-18 ESV

And again, 

"The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. - 1 Cor 15:45 ESV

The freedom we have in Christ is freedom from the fear of being punished for our sins by eternal death. In Christ we are adopted into the Father's family. The Spirit of Christ in our hearts constantly bears witness to that truth. In our joy we are empowered to cry out in our hearts, "I am a child of my heavenly Papa, my Father! (Isa. 61:1; Rom. 8:2, 15-16; Gal. 4:6). The Spirit of Christ is power within us. He gives us power to love as He loves. He enables us to bring even this sin-filled body under control. He is at work to restore the image of God within us. 

The Spirit of Christ within us is life itself. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, points this out as He says to us and to all, 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - Jhn 10:10 ESV

Since we are alive in Christ we are unafraid of death. We despise it, because it cannot threaten or harm us any longer. It has no strength. Death is our enemy completely conquered by the rightful monarch. Death is now bound hand and foot, locked safely up in God's federal prison. TV cameras are constantly scanning everything death does. We sneer at it and mock it. "Hey Death, where is your victory now? Hello Mr. Grave, where is your sting now? Hah!" 

To illustrate, consider that some people must work in conditions where their clothing might catch on fire. To protect themselves they wear fire resistant coveralls, as pictured above. Both the outward and the inward lining of such clothing is flame resistant. With such coveralls on the worker's fear of being burned alive is largely gone. 

In the same way, clothed with Christ, we walk confidently about in this world, unafraid of what the so-called god of it may do to us. Satan cannot harm us. The power to condemn us to death is gone. For millions death remains strong and terrible. But Christ by His coming, by His death and the resurrection of His body, has destroyed it. He is our coverall. We walk about unafraid. Death and the devil cannot harm us. 

Yesterday I read a book that tries to analyze why Christianity is losing influence among so many here in America. The author's point is that we no longer proclaim the depth and power of our faith. We have settled for things like the prosperity gospel or the social gospel. This is bad religion. No wonder that unbelievers mock and despise us.

It is high time that we returned to the only religion that is not religion at all, but the Word of God. Consider this Word, take it again into your heart and share it wherever you can. We are in Christ. He is our very clothing and when we take off the clothing that is this body we will be clothed forever with Him who is our life. Here's how the Apostle puts it. 

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. - 2Cr 5:1-7 ESV

Ponder this fact. Live in Christ who is your coverall. Do that and you will be changed—today and forever!