The Lord's Prayer: but rescue us
in Greek, ἀλλὰ ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς, but rescue/deliver us...
in the ultimate reality, God's kingdom, we realize there are no bootstraps we can pull ourselves up with. all we have are filthy rags. we have no kingdom of our own. we have no will of our own. we can't feed ourselves. we can't avoid indebtedness to God. we can't even tell ourselves "No." we are drowning in need of a rescuer.
it turns out ,a rescuer has come to tell good news to the poor, to set captives free, to restore sight to the blind, and to release the oppressed. (Luke 4:18-19)
this prayer reminds us that the delivering and rescuing is ongoing, just like the forgiving and being forgiven, and the sustaining, and the worshiping. our life is a journey, a pilgrimage, and a walk. we spend our entire lives learning to die.
Then He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? Luke 9:23-25 (HCSB)
but we don't hate life. we hate sin. it keeps us from our Father, the one who gives us life.
in the ultimate reality, God's kingdom, we realize there are no bootstraps we can pull ourselves up with. all we have are filthy rags. we have no kingdom of our own. we have no will of our own. we can't feed ourselves. we can't avoid indebtedness to God. we can't even tell ourselves "No." we are drowning in need of a rescuer.
it turns out ,a rescuer has come to tell good news to the poor, to set captives free, to restore sight to the blind, and to release the oppressed. (Luke 4:18-19)
this prayer reminds us that the delivering and rescuing is ongoing, just like the forgiving and being forgiven, and the sustaining, and the worshiping. our life is a journey, a pilgrimage, and a walk. we spend our entire lives learning to die.
Then He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself? Luke 9:23-25 (HCSB)
but we don't hate life. we hate sin. it keeps us from our Father, the one who gives us life.
10 For “Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3 (ESV)
We are in need of rescue from a life of death to a life everlasting, a life we can't attain on our own.
God is good
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