"Well Protected"

 "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15 KJV)

  "I look up to the mountains - does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you be day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever." (PSALM 121 NLT)

 Well, we made it home, safe and sound! I did pretty good time, about 9 hours, with about 1 hour of stopping for gas and tending to Marianne's needs; other than that, I think I did pretty good, driving a 40ft moving house down the road. Although, I am pretty sure we had some help, as I know that the Lord was with us, every bit of the way! 

 The whole purpose of Jesus coming, was to reconcile the world back to God! Therefore, His request to the Father, "not the He should take them out of the world," was because He had great plans for each one of them, as well as for all those that would come from their ministries. When God has something planned for us, He puts protection around us, and makes our way safe and secure. Whatever might befall us, is for the purpose that He has intended, much like Paul and the shipwreck, being stranded, on Malta, and then bit by a poisonous snake. 

 No harm can come to those who are sent by God, unless God intends for that to happen; and when it does, there is a reason for it, because: "we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28 NLT)

 Additionally, Jesus prays for them to be kept from the evil; not because they will not face evil, because they will! There will be trials and tribulations, some of which will be from the evil one, trying to stop the ministry from spreading. No, this is to protect them from being influenced by the evil in the world; mostly the things that the world places before us, to cause even the strongest Christian to be swept into something that they don't see coming. 

 Probably the worst thing we can do, as it is happening quite frequently and without any warning, is to keep something tempting us to ourselves, as if it is something we can handle on our own. We must not pretend we are strong enough to overcome being tempted; because when we think that we are strong, we soon find out just how weak we truly are! 

 That was the whole point of Jesus asking for this, because we are weak without God's help and His protection! If you don't know what I mean, there are barrier's that God will place in our way, to stop us from doing something that we should not do. It is best, to realize what is happening, and trust the Lord for what He is doing, knowing that it is because of your weakness. 

 Whatever you do, don't try to climb the fence that God has placed in front of you; or if there is a locked door, don't look for a key to try and open it! Believe that God is keeping you protected, because you are not strong enough to overcome whatever you are getting yourself into...

 "Yet true godliness and contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can't take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:6-12 NLT)