Nov 11 - Matthew 6:13

Jesus said,

Do not lead us to the time of trial,

but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:13

It is important that we talk generally about this final Lord's Prayer petition (today) before we talk more specifically (in the next few days).

Generally, what does this petition tell us?

It tells us that we are in a daily battle. And we war in two primary directions.

First,  there is an internal battle. It is with "temptations" (to use the modern translation that we prayer in church each Sunday).

Second, there is an external battle with the "evil one" -- who has "sworn to do us woe."

One of my favorite Christian books was given to me last year. I confess that I haven't read the whole book. (I confess that I don't read a lot of whole books! I glean. I collect a lot of information ... and I know where to go back to when I need more.) but what I cleaned most from this book was the title itself. It described our true battle in seven short words: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil.

Those are our three primary enemies, and they operate on two fronts.

·       Internal -- Our flesh is at the root of this internal battle. When a major Hollywood star was caught in a very sickening sin -- leaving his wife for his adopted daughter – he excused it simply by saying, "The heart wants what it wants." Inside of us we have hungers, wants, bitterness, lusts, and anger. Our flesh -- and its weakness -- is at the root of this internal battle.

·       External -- When Jesus says, "deliver us from the evil one," he is reminding us that we are not alone on this planet. We battling a powerful external force. In Ephesians 6:11-12, the Apostle Paul describes this external battle in this way: "Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against… the cosmic powers of this present darkness." Yes, there is an internal struggle, but there is also a powerful external enemy.

·       Internal and External -- So far we have dealt with the internal enemy – that is the flesh. We have also dealt with the external enemy – that is the devil. According to the book title, there is one more enemy – the world. The world is largely external. There is a culture that shapes us, too often in a negative ways. There are peers that apply pressure. There are neutral things, not bad in and themselves, that too many take two extremes and abuse -- things like alcohol. These external realities create internal temptations, and the battle rages on two fronts – inside and out.

Can you identify the primary battlefronts in your life? Where are you we kissed and unprepared?

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is wide

but not deep

(I am tempted to graze

and glean widely, but

I finish few books deeply.

I am a generalist.

Not a specialist.)