Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil (Penny Cox)

By


“My sheep listen to my voice: I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand”

(John 10:27)

I’m sure that everyone would love to avoid temptation because resisting it is so difficult! We all have our weaknesses - the list of possibilities is endless, but we shouldn’t give in to our temptations because they could lead to us doing evil.

Resisting temptation can feel like a constant and exhausting war where battles can be lost. Jesus knows that we can’t fight that war on our own, so he teaches us to pray to God to lead us away from temptation.

It’s not actually wrong to be tempted. Jesus himself endured temptations in the wilderness. But he rejected those temptations using the promises of scripture. Let’s make sure we do the same.

In John 10:27 Jesus tells us that his people listen to his voice and follow him, as sheep with their shepherd. Now a sheep needs to stay pretty close to the shepherd to be able to hear his voice. In the same way we need to keep close by our own Good Shepherd and his word.

The Lord’s Prayer confronts the existence of evil, reminding us that it is an ever-present danger from which we need to be saved. Staying close by the shepherd protects the sheep from predators so that none can be “snatched away” and this too is Jesus’ promise to us.

 A Prayer - Heavenly Father. Thank you that you gave us Jesus to be our shepherd, to lead and protect us. Help us to keep close to him and listen for his voice. Thank you that we can call on you give us the strength to resist temptations and evil thoughts and acts. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be Alert (Liz Morris)

By
Image
" And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:18 I love the inference that to pray is to be alert. As Paul draws to the end of his letter to the Ephesians, he reminds them of the importance to keep on praying at all times, in many different ways in the Spirit. Prayer is such an integral part of growing in our faith and seeing His kingdom come in our lives, our community and our world. It helps our earthly minds come to know our Heavenly Father and see His plans and purposes unfold. I love the fact that Paul goes on to put in a personal prayer request in the next verse and I am sure that the church in Ephesus often prayed for him along with many of the Christians from the other churches. I am sure too, that the alertness of all the early Christians to pray was essential in the success of the ministry of all the Apostles and the advancement of the g
Read more

Jesus and the strong man (Nico Marais)

By
Image
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[a] how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 5:18-20 What precedes today’s passage is the well-known story of Jesus sending the demons from this man into a herd (or litter, depending on who you ask) of pigs that ultimately drown themselves.  The Bible says this man was so strong that chains could not hold him.  When he is set free from his demonic bondage he begs Jesus to come with Him.  Jesus says no and sends him back to his family, friends and his own people to share what Jesus has done for him. This is exactly what Jesus asks each of us to do as well.  We can’t really share Christ’s peace, mercy, hope, power and love via proxy.  We have to encounter it for oursel
Read more

Breakfast On The Beach (Penny Cox)

By
Image
"When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread” John 21:9(NLT) I don’t know about you, but when I’m confused or stressed, I often revert to doing something familiar. It comforts me, and makes me feel secure. Perhaps that is why the disciples decide to go fishing at this time. Maybe they were feeling stressed and want the comfort of familiarity. Or maybe they were hungry, or needed the money. Or simply didn’t know what to do with themselves without Jesus’ physical presence. Whatever the reason, despite their best efforts, the fishing trip was unsuccessful until Jesus appeared on the shore, and intervened with a miracle that saw the disciples’ nets filled to capacity. The part of this account that I find so encouraging is that Jesus not only turned up to help the disciples when they had failed to catch any fish, but that he also made breakfast for them. Jesus shows us that he knew exactly what his friends needed; they needed his reas
Read more