And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (2Timothy.4.18 KJV)
By this time Paul is in the final times of his ministry - his late years and about to die. _" For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure."_ He says in verse 6. He is also in a time that his own disciples have deserted him at the time he needed them most.
In the fight against the gospel, the devil uses Alexander the metalworker to do great harm by opposing the message. Paul then says when I stood to defend myself in the gospel, no one came to my rescue. This is true about men. They claim to be on your side when things look good. But when things turn upside down, they all desert you. We cannot blame them for this because man cannot naturally put himself on behalf of another.
Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor someone might even dare to die. (Rom.5.7 AMP)
God on the other hand is not like a man that he will desert you at the time of need. God is an ever present help.
Surely we walk in this world but we are not of this world. The world is under the control of the evil one. Because of this, he will always try to change our nature into his very likeness. Expect temptations and evil to always come your way.
Like Paul, we will always be faced by evil. But Paul is giving us an assurance: The Lord shall deliver from every evil work, and will preserve unto his heavenly kingdom. The life of a Christian is hidden in Christ and enclosed in the two arms of God the father. [John 10.28-30].
The heart of God is to always keep us away from evil and to provide a way out of temptation. This good pleasure of God is available for everyone who set their heart to harken to the word of God. They that desire to live for God.
The story is different for a person who prays to God to keep them from evil and temptation but has a secret desire to be overcome by them. Selah. What do you think of a man who prays to God to deliver him from drugs yet all they do is to associate with drug addicts, sitting in places where drugs are sold. Let alone drugs, think about gossip, disbelief, hatred, flattering and many more evils that come on our way.
Ps.1.1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (NIV)
God is ready to preserve anybody who gives their lives to Him forever and ever. He preserves us for His purposes.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?.......... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ........ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(Rom.8.31, 35, 38-39 NIV)
Hallelujah!
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