Samples of Deliverance, Part 1 Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Samples of Deliverance, Part 1 -------------------------- Date: 7/8/2002 Keywords: "deliverance" "promises" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. The current studies look at biblical samples of deliverance from temptation and other problems. Thanks go to www.whatsaiththescripture.com for its Bible search engine. Passages*: 2 Chronicles 12:7 When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, this word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: "Since they have humbled themselves, I will not destroy them but will soon give them deliverance. My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shishak. Ezra 9:6-8,13 6. and prayed: "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7. From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. 8. "But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 13. "What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Questions 1. Who delivered whom from what?   2. What was the response of the people who were delivered?   Practical help Few things embolden folks to resist sin more than examples of God's grace and deliverance in other people's lives. And Scripture is full of such stories. The passages we're exploring in the current eXXit studies are from some of these tales. Here are tips for getting the most from the passages: 1. Check out the context of each passage to understand the full story. 2. Be aware that the circumstances in the stories may be unique but that the principles of God's grace and deliverance are eternal — and applicable to your life. In other words, don't seek a duplicate of other people's deliverance. Seek your deliverance. 3. Print out a few of the passages that really speak to you. Then stick 'em in you wallet or on your computer. Try memorizing a phrase or two. 4. Write down your own story of deliverance. Documenting it (if for only your eyes) will help you see God's grace in concrete terms. 5. Share the story with other folks seeking deliverance — whether from porn or other troubles. Your story might embolden them to seek God's grace themselves. As to the passages above, two things stand out: 1. When seeking deliverance, humility doesn't hurt. Look at it as a prayer that tells God you're through with your own strokes and ready for a few of his. 2. Deservability, to coin a term, doesn't count for nothin'. God delivers despite our unworthiness. Which, by the way, only humbles us more. So, friends, hold the stories of Scripture in your teeth, and go for deliverance from porn (or whatever). We at eXXit and, more powerfully, the Bible itself are cheering you on! eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2002 by eXXit *Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved. ---