Don't try this at home

Psalm 34:14 (NIV)

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.



The lord can deliver us from evil...
...The lord can redeem us from evil

But he doesn't remove us from evil!

For as long as we're in this world, evil and our own flesh will always be present.

Jesus instructs us to pray that God will deliver us from evil. Praying that God will show you malicious and malignant actions from others including your own is part of our spiritual growth. When we are unable to perceive or recognize evil God will allow us to see it. Seeing evil parade about in the light of day gives us a stark wake up to the depths of human perversion.

What happens to you when you see footage of the 9/11 terrorist attack?
Disgust, anger, resolve, sadness and more... all describe the feelings that decent people have at the images of evil.

Evil teaches. From profound to
simple. Evil has a way of
making an impact that leaves
an indelible impression on our lives.

We are instructed to never ever do that or allow that again. We glean from
wicked conduct how not to act. Whenever I meet someone who has
twisted behavior I come away with gratitude that I had parents who
taught me better. Evil has a way of showing us the dark side of life
without God, without morals, or no virtue.

Years ago I pastored a man and his wife who had several children. The father and I were
fairly close friends. I was impressed with his parenting and
complimented often his mild manner toward his children. One afternoon
he confided in me that his father was the meanest man he ever new. As
a child his father beat him regularly. He cried as he told me the next
part. One evening, in a rage, he watched in fear as his own father
murdered his mother.

His point in sharing this with me was that from his horrific childhood
experience he was determined in life to not repeat the sins of his
father.

We see evil and we say to ourselves, "I don't want to be that guy!"
God works in mysterious ways. Evils lessons are profound. We vow to
never forget when we are confronted with vile actions that rattle our
senses.

If not but for one purpose: that we may look in the mirror and say.
"I don't want to be that guy."

"Lord, deliver us from evil!!"

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