September 14, 2016 THE ULTIMATE DILIVERANCE
2 Timothy 4:18: “The Lord will deliver me from every deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever.”
When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he knew that soon his life would be taken because of his faith in God and his being a faithful minister of the gospel. This letter was written from prison and many say that this was his last letter. There are some to day who believe that God delivers them from every “evil deed,” and when they do encounter an evil deed, they say that it was a result of an attack of Satan. However, this view gives Satan too much credit as He cannot do more that God allows him to do. God does not send evil to his people, but He can and does use evil to further His purposes. We have to face the fact that Paul, who some would say was the greatest Christian ever, was in jail, and certainly putting him in jail and taking his life because of his faith was an “evil deed.” Yes, there are many times when God delivers us from evil in the here and now, and probably more times than we realize, but the reality is that sometimes He does not deliver us from evil deeds of others. The good news is that He uses the evil we encounter to advance His purposes, even though we may not understand how and why, and He promises us that He will strengthen us and be with us in any trial. We have all asked why bad things happen to good people, but if we are to find any answer for the evil that we see, and sometimes encounter, we must come to know that God is sovereign and that He is in the midst of fulfilling His purposes. We are called to stand fast and endure all that comes our way, knowing that our Father loves us and is in the process of transforming us into His image. Certainly, Jesus was without sin, but He encountered the greatest of evil deeds when He was crucified. Because Christ is in us, we can avoid becoming bitter or defeated when we encounter evil, and we can find God’s grace and strength to be sufficient for whatever we face. How we respond to evil deeds is crucial because our response to evil reveals what we know of the love of God and because it presents an opportunity to express the love of God. Having this right response to evil deeds does not mean that we do not resist evil or that we do not seek justice, but we are to respond in accordance to the Spirit within us. We find hope in the fact that God will indeed deliver us from every deed and will bring us to live with Him forever! In the meantime, we are to live as overcomers in a world that is plagued with evil-because we are overcomers in Him.
Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”
James 1:12: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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