Deliver us from devious, deceitful evil.
Everybody does it.
No harm, no foul.
What happens in Vegas . . .
The end justifies the means.
Isaiah 5:20 (NIV)
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.
I’m a child of the ’60s: flower power and peace. Evil, I thought, was nothing more than a bad attitude. If we all tried a little harder, all would be well. What do you think of my teenage imaginings?
Then I met up with reality. I lived with children whose souls had been broken by angry, drunken, selfish adults. Evil. No denying it.
That’s why we pray:
Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
Deliver us from evil.
This month, we’ve seen evil at work. 
In 2014, Billy Graham published ten rules for living:
May we, like Rev. Graham, shelter our souls under the umbrella of obedience.
Proverbs 22:1 (ERV)
A good name is worth more than silver or gold.
Good money doesn’t fix a bad reputation (something some powerful people are just now learning).
Take care of your name. Keep it clean. 
Psalm 23:3 (NIV)
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
The right paths . . . for God’s sake and your own.
“My dear Jesus, my Savior, is so deeply written in my heart, that I feel confident, that if my heart were to be cut open and chopped to pieces, the name of Jesus would be found written on every piece.”
Ignatius of Antioch (35-107)
(early Christian writer and bishop)
Philippians 2:10-11 (TLB)
At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Everyone will know his name. No confusion, no doubt.
Most of us remember Cheers, where “everybody knows your name.” Do you ever feel like no one knows your name?
God cannot forget you name.
Isaiah 49:16 (NIV)
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.
Some may see only the bad in you. Others may not see you at all. But Jesus has his loving eye on you, and your name is written on his nail-scarred hand.
Every year in Russia, another 120,000 children find themselves in orphanages. Not all are without parents. The tough economy, disintegrating morality and too much alcohol take their toll. Parents give up and abandon their children.
“A mother/father unable or unwilling to care for their child/children often leave their Podkidysh* (*translated one that is left at the door). Children are literally left at the orphanage entrance . . . They go to sleep without hope.”
Russian Missions brings the love of Christ to these left-at-the-door children, helping to meet their physical and emotional needs.
Lord, we don’t understand the pain of the children left at the door or the desperation of the parents who leave them. Our hearts break for both parent and child. Shelter them with your love. Restore their broken souls.
“Fasting is abstaining from
anything that hinders prayer.”
Andrew Bonar, (1810-1892)
He’s right. If it hinders prayer, you’re better off without it.
