How To Stay Safe In This World

We, in the church, have believed stories about peoples experiences regarding Satan's attacks, and even believed them over what the Word of God says.

Such as stories about how the devil was able to get at them and harm them.

In Luke 10:19 Jesus told his disciples that they had authority and power over all the devil's power and that nothing will by any means harm them.
"Nothing" in the Strongs Exhaustive Concordance in the Greek means, "nothing". This verse can be taken literally. So meditate on this fact "nothing shall by any means harm you"! It's true. It's truer than what you have heard other Christians tell you they have experienced.

Safety is actually a part of the salvation package. Sozo, the Greek word for "saved" has these definitions in the online Strongs at Blue Letter Bible...

1) to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

a) one (from injury or peril)

1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

2) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

b) to save in the technical biblical sense

1) negatively

a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment

b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

and soteria (salvation) means...

1) deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation

a) deliverance from the molestation of enemies

b) in an ethical sense, that which concludes to the soul's safety or salvation

(1) of Messianic salvation

2) salvation as the present possession of all true Christians

3) future salvation, the sum of benefits and blessings which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God.

Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for sōtēria (Strong's 4991)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011. 28 Jun 2011. < http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm? Strongs=G4991&t=KJV >

I have emphasized the safety aspect of "saved" and "salvation" above in bold.

Jesus came to destroy Satan's works.(1Jn.3:8) He has defeated him and disarmed him and given us this same victory over Satan by us being in Christ Jesus. Our real life is now "hidden with Christ in God". (Col.3:3)

I believe some have been overcome by Satan because they have not believed and therefore received by faith the safety aspect of their salvation. ("If God be for us, who can be against us") Or maybe they just don't realise what their salvation includes. Read and reread the "saved" & "salvation" definitions from Strongs above until you know and 'get' what you have been freely given in Christ.

Satan is said to be roaming around seeking whom he may devour. He may only devour those who are not appropriating what Jesus has provided for us. (Act26:18; Heb.2:14-15)

Jesus came to:

Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified Bible)

18The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],

19To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.

Isaiah spoke of this as well:

10For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.

11O you afflicted [city], storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in fair colors [in antimony to enhance their brilliance] and lay your foundations with sapphires.

12And I will make your windows and pinnacles of [sparkling] agates or rubies, and your gates of [shining] carbuncles, and all your walls [of your enclosures] of precious stones.

13And all your [spiritual] children shall be disciples [taught by the Lord and obedient to His will], and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children.

14You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness, in conformity with God's will and order): you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

15Behold, they may gather together and stir up strife, but it is not from Me. Whoever stirs up strife against you shall fall and surrender to you.

16Behold, I have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals and who produces a weapon for its purpose; and I have created the devastator to destroy.

17But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.

(Amplified Bible)

So, this is what God has provided for us through what Jesus has done:
- forgiven and cleansed us of all our sins
- set us free from the power of sin and its consequences
- set us free from the law of sin and death
- delivered us from the hand of the devil & translated us into His Kingdom
- healed us of all our sicknesses and diseases
- taken us into himself to keep us safe & sound
- adopted us into his Kingdom by being born again into his family
- guaranteed us eternal life by giving us His Holy Spirit as His down-payment

THIS IS SALVATION!

PRAISE GOD OUR GREAT SAVIOUR!

The Lord's Prayer - Is This Already Fulfilled?

I'm curious to what others may think.
In Matthew 6:9-13 we have what has been called "the Lord's Prayer" and we have been lead to believe it is an appropriate prayer for us to pray today.
My thoughts on this are as follows:

Jesus told his disciples this before he had finished his work on earth. So quite appropriately he told them to pray "Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven".
"Our Father" was a change of thinking for these Jewish followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob - a God who had up till this time related to them through the law as given to Moses. "Our Father" also means Jesus was saying God was not only his Father, but also the disciples Father. Jesus continued to emphasize the need to see God's name hallowed.

Then Jesus said "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven".
Hadn't the disciples already heard Jesus preach "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" back in Matt.4:17? So what was he telling them to pray this for?
Because Jesus was bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth and he was asking them to pray that this would be done. I think it has been done. Jesus said "It is finished" meaning all he came to do to reconcile man back to God was done/completed. His kingdom has now come to earth through believers who carry the Lord of the kingdom within them to establish his kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven. Believers can now rule and reign with Jesus, on earth as it is in heaven. God has taken the dominion that Adam had forfeited to Satan, off Satan, and given it back to those who put their faith in what Jesus has done - "Jesus, the Son of God, came to destroy Satan's works." 1Jn.3:8
I don't believe we need to pray "your kingdom come, your will be done" anymore. To me that would be like praying "God, save me" or "God heal me" or "God forgive me". These things have already been done! 1Pet.2:24 "He personally bore our sins in his [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed". All in the aorist tense. From the Strongs Exhaustive Concordance, Aorist means:

• "The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations."

Jesus has freed all mankind from their sins, sickness and diseases. But it doesn't happen automatically. Each person has to believe this and accept it for himself to receive the benefits.

The kingdom of heaven is within us because we have the King of the kingdom in us! Jesus in us wants to continue his rule and reign on earth, through those who allow him to by believing. That's why we believers are commanded to go and preach the good news of freedom from sin, sickness and disease and all forms of satanic oppression, so that supernatural signs and wonders can accompany what we preach. It is wrong today to ask God to heal, just as much as it is wrong to ask God to preach the gospel/good news! He has told us believers to go and lay our hands on the sick, knowing they will get well because Jesus said they would!

The rest of the "Lord's Prayer" is much the same...

...give us our daily bread - "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you". Jesus fulfilled this too.

...forgive us our sins... - Jesus took our sins in his body and died our death to fulfill the laws requirement. By faith, we died when he died. (Rom.6) God is no longer counting our sins against us (2Cor.5:19). Again fulfilled by Jesus!

...lead us not into temptation... - I don't believe this is suggesting that God had been leading them into temptation in the past because Jas.1:13 says God tempts no one. Here's another quote from Strongs:

• Referring to Mat 6:13: "Although the KJV renders this 'deliver us from evil,' the presence of the article indicates not evil in general, but the evil one himself. In the context of Matthew's Gospel, such deliverance from the devil seems to be linked to Jesus' temptation in 4:1-10: Because the Spirit led him into temptation by the evil one, believers now participate in his victory" (Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, p. 233).

Why would Jesus tell us today to lead us not into temptation. I believe Jesus was telling them to pray this for what He was about to go through, as said in the above quote.

...deliver us from the evil one...- Jesus has already done this for us. He disarmed Satan and gave us the keys of hell so we can effectively go right on in and set the captives free. Why ask God to do what he has already done?

...for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever... - God's kingdom is the ruling kingdom again over mankind. The devil has been overthrown. We are now seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus, "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named" (Eph.1:21-23 & 2:6) We are now "reigning as kings" (Rom.5:17) and are "more than conquerors" (Rom.8:37)

So my questions are:

"Do you think what the disciples were told to pray (Lord's Prayer) was just for them at that time, so God would work through the prayers of believers and fulfill his will on earth.? Was Jesus showing us how God wants to involve us in what he is doing, even when it was involving his Son?

Have we been fooled into praying what we have been taught these last 2000 years what was really only meant for Jesus disciples to pray so he could bring in the kingdom rule and overthrow Satans' dominion over mankind?

Is this praying the Lord's Prayer another sacred cow within the church?

Is it just another way for us to avoid any responsibility and just put it all back on God?

After all, anyone can ask God to do something and then leave it up to Him! You don't need any faith to do that!

But what if God is wanting to work mightily in the earth, "showing himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are right before him", but most of his children are still saying, "God, you do it"!

I hope you will comment.