Escaping From Harm

We have been rescued by the Lord, so that we might escape the power of sin and death that would hold us captive.  Consider the words of Colossians chapter 1:
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

God gives us the power to resist temptation that would lure us away from His path and to walk in His ways, consistent with the new birth that we have experienced.  He has come to give us a new life, and to enable us to discern what is right and to experience His presence with us.   We are no longer held captive by sin, but we can walk in victory over it - we have a new nature, brought about by our invitation for Christ to come into our lives as our Lord and Savior.

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In 1st Corinthians 10, we read about how God has offered us a pathway to escape temptation - He has provided spiritual resources for us in order to be resistent.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
There has been quite a bit of attention on the refugee crisis that is affecting Europe.  As Messianic Rabbi Eric Walker pointed out on The Meeting House the other day, the majority of those who are migrating are Muslim men.

But there are numerous Christians who are migrating from the Middle East via what is being termed an "Underground Railroad," hearkening back to the days when slaves in the south would be transported into freedom.

The Washington Examiner reports on this modern-day Underground Railroad that is helping to bring Iraqi and Syrian Christians from their ancestral homelands to the United States.

Citing a CNN.com video featuring Iraqi and Syrian Christians threatened by the self-styled Islamic State who are seeking asylum in California, the articles says that, "With the help of Chaldean Catholic groups in San Diego and elsewhere, scores of Christians have come to the U.S., often via Mexico. Once on U.S. soil, they apply for asylum. Many are in immigration detention centers or staying with family as they wait to see whether they'll be granted asylum."

The piece offers the reminder that in areas of Syria and Iraq controlled by the Islamic State, Christian men have been executed and Christian women taken as slaves. An estimated one-third of Christians in Syria have fled and approximately two-thirds have fled Iraq. According to a Politifact analysis of State Department statistics, the U.S. has admitted Christian refugees from Syria at a lower rate than Muslim refugees.

Mark Arabo, a spokesman for the local Chaldean community in the San Diego area, and president of the Neighborhood Market Association, has led efforts to highlight the plight of Iraqi Christians, according to an article published last month in the San Diego Union-Tribune.  He contends that the United States isn’t doing enough to help these refugees and in doing so is turning a blind eye to a “full-blown genocide.”

Arabo has said his organization has been working with 20 of 27 Iraqis who, as of about a month ago, had been detained and reached out to him for help.  The majority of the 27 Iraqi Christians were either charged with immigration fraud or had been ordered to be deported by an immigration judge.

There are Christians from the Middle East who are being brought out of dire, life-threatening situations, with the promise of freedom on the other side, in another country.   They have known the threat of extermination at the hands of the brutal terrorist organization, ISIS.  It can be a reminder to us of the conflict between Christianity and radical Islam, as well as the persecution that so many believers in this world face on a daily basis.

So, you can't blame them for wanting to escape; and apparently some may have been so intent on escaping that they have been willing to bend the rules, which is not a good thing.

In light of this ongoing story, I thought about this whole topic area of escape.  While we are not always promised an escape route from trial, we are promised a way of escape from temptation. When we are tempted, we can rely on God's promise of His provision of strength to stand and resist in the face of what the enemy brings to lure us away from God's principles.

And, if you know Christ, you have participated in a magnificent escape - out of darkness into light, from death to life, from the kingdom of the enemy to the Kingdom of God.   In the secret place of the soul, you can experience a spiritual transformation, the rebirth of a spirit and the release of power to walk in the ways of the Lord.  And, what has taken place inside will be seen externally in the way we live.   God has provided the way to travel on this journey and He is inviting each of us to join Him.