Why do good people suffer? (“The Mystery of Innocent Suffering”)

Why do good people suffer?

(“The Mystery of Innocent Suffering”)

Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair.

He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,

“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb and naked shall I go back again.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

blessed be the name of the LORD!”

In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.

~ Job 1: 20-22

Why do good people suffer in this world? Have you ever taken the time to imagine the countless examples of folks who tried their best to love God and love mankind get ripped, torn and devastated by calamities that ordinarily where considered to befall only the evil ones?

The book of Job is the story of a good man who suffers untold calamities! Job lost everything; all his children and property were gone and as if these were not enough, he was afflicted with a nauseating disease. According to the Jewish tradition and belief, such calamities only happen to an individual that sinned against God and also wicked to his neighbors. Job friends contended as such and refused to listen to his explanation that the punishment he was undergoing was not based on his infidelity to God nor was he wicked to man.

He cannot understand how God can let so much evil happen to one like himself- considering the fact that Job has been an unusually good and righteous man by the standard of his era. Consequently he boldly challenged God! In the midst of this “desert or dry season” experiences Job did not lose faith, but anxiously hope for God’s justification and restoration. In conclusion, Job learned that God is greater than the way traditional religion has limited his essence and he was restored according to the promises of the almighty, whereas his friends were reprimanded by God for their lack of understanding.

Comfort

It is very easy to serve the Lord our God when things are very comfortable with us! In the midst of well paid job, beautiful family and profession and excellent career progressions, good health of body and mind and abundance of opportunities to amass wealth, authority and positions, it is not difficult to praise and believe in the existence of a loving, compassionate and merciful God. These were the kind of scenarios that Job was living in prior to the Devil challenging his faith in God.

Trials and tribulations

Imagine, one day you wake up and behold, the car is gone, followed by the house, and then the multiple bank accounts are being closed at a rate faster than you can bear, and if these were not enough, you lost your health insurance, your unemployment benefits if any at all is gone, no life insurance, no bank savings and on top of these, you are required to pay for utilities? What will you do? This is the same you that was recognized by all as a generous, compassionate and kind person; one that people come to for help such as in paying their children school fees, assisting with mortgage, car and utilities payments. However at the moment you are now struggling to live above the water! Take a moment and ask yourself, how easy will it be for me to serve God and recognize that God loves me and want the best for me?

Serving God under these kinds of circumstances can be very challenging on various fronts:

Perception:  Even in our temporary society, many still hold the belief that when a man of comfort fall from grace to grass, there must have been something very bad going on in his life that the outside world are oblivious to, but never hidden from the almighty God. In most cases you find out that YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN- meaning, even some of your friends and families will desert you and will have nothing to do with you because to them, you must have been living a latent life of evil and your comfort was derived from devilish machination that have come back to haunt you!

Relationship:  At a moment like this, your relationship with your God is greatly challenged too! How can a God who is so merciful, kind and compassionate, so loving and understanding allow me to go through this pain? Where is my God, answer me O Lord might as well form the cornerstone of your conversation with your God. However the truth be told, our God is unchangeable, meaning he is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, unlike us who are readily and easily changed as a result of human nature. Where do you stand in your relationship with God when the going is tough and life seems meaningless?

Moreover, during trials and tribulations, we have seen over and again how friends and even some family members desert or run away from you or even encourage you to do something that you would never have imagined. These advises may come from their good heart and desire to help restore your glory, nevertheless, how do you relate such prompting with your understanding of God’s will in your life?

Prayer:  Every good act offered to God is prayer and therefore, prayer is not only when we communicate with God, but also whenever we engaged in doing something that is good before God and man! During trials and tribulations, it can therefore be very difficult to pray. When you don’t know whether you will be able to pay the bills, live in your house, pay for the children school fees, support your extend families and friends and contribute to your local churches or place of faith, it is hard to pray with the mindset that our God is a loving, compassionate and infinitely merciful one that will always provide for our needs based on his divine providence.

Suffering (The message of Jesus Christ)

God did not intend that our “suffering” should become a hurdle in our lives especially in our relationship with him. On the contrary, suffering is a form of purity of body and most importantly the soul, bearing in mind that our life does not end when we die, but actually transition into the glorious form of either eternal life for the one who follows the ordinances of God or eternal damnation for the evil man.

Jesus Christ is the epitome of suffering and the grace that abound whenever we offer our suffering to the almighty God with the faith, hope and trust that our God’s love is so infinite that he will never allow anything that is not good for our body and soul to befall us.

It is not all suffering that comes from God, for instance when you suffer because of a foolish decision or in clear disobedience to the will of God, you will not gain anything other than perpetual pain. The same is applicable to the law of the land intended to protect man and property.

The suffering that I am most concern is that which Job experienced because of his service to the almighty God. If for any reason you suffer because you are trying to do the right thing before God, your rewards are guaranteed before the almighty.

So what are some of the attributes that we can gain in the midst of divine suffering?

Obedience:  We all can learn obedience through suffering as Jesus Christ did! Even though he was the Son of God he learned obedience to his heavenly Father’s will and agree to become the sacrificial lamb that brought mankind eternal salvation.

Humility:  Suffering can teach us how to be humble of heart too! The humility attribute of suffering is not the same thing as humiliation; because God will never forsake nor abandon those obey his commands.

Wisdom:  In the book of Job, he said “But God teaches men through suffering and uses distress to open their eyes.” A blind man or person in this context is the fool who can never comprehend either the nature of God or his eternal plans for humanity and can become easily disillusioned as a result of his suffering.

Christ-like nature:  Suffering produces endurance, endurance brings God’s approval, and his approval creates hope. This hope is in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and of which by faith we attest to and look forward to after our life here on earth.

Are you suffering?

Are you undergoing your “desert” or “dry season” or “suffering” experiences today? Is life outlook so unbearable for you today? Do you feel you are being punished unjustly? Are you feeling hopeless and helpless because of the circumstances that are weighing you down and almost becoming unbearable?

Are you compelled to ask, “Why me?” Well you are not alone! I know of a guy who try his best, did everything that the law wanted from him and unfortunately ran into an attorney who not only caused him a fortune, but regrettably did not provide the required services. As a result for over three years, this guy has been without employment and is now practically living like a beggar. What do you want such a fellow to do? Reject and disobey God? Follow the advice of so some of his caring friends and engage in illegal activities just to make money?

Life means more than living on earth! Our faith in God prove beyond reasonable doubt that there is life after death and God in his infinite love and goodness once again reached out to man from heaven by sending his Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to die for us and pave the way for eternal life.

Will you rather live a sumptuous life in this short lived life on earth or endure some suffering in order to gain eternal life in the Kingdom of God?

Are you willing to be the “Job” of your generation?

Love and Life

Then Job answered the LORD, “I know, LORD, that you are all-powerful: that you can do everything you want. So I am ashamed of all I have said and repent in dust and ashes.” The LORD blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than he had blessed the first. (Job 42: 1, 2, 6, 12)

Today God want us to choose love and life instead of hate and death! The suffering you are going through is not meant to kill you, but to transform you into a vessel that will bring glory to the almighty God. Do not fight your trials and tribulations with anger, doubt and frustrations; rather offer them up to the Lord our God in prayer with a joyful anticipation of a glorious end, as Job did!

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father,

Please guide me through the cross that I carry today.

Help me to focus on Jesus Christ’s suffering and learn to be obedient to your holy will.

Above all, grant me your grace to be patient, to persevere and endure my situations until you make a way for me to bring glory to your name.

Thank you, O Lord, my God for today is enough.

Amen!

Ref: Romans 5, Job 1, 35, 42, 

Podeh2016

Indifference

There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments…

dined sumptuously each day.

And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus,

covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of

the scraps that fell from the rich man’s tables.

When the poor man died …

~ Luke 16: 19-31

 

Indifference or unresponsiveness or lack of sympathy or apathy literally can translate to the opposite of humanity, especially in light of the abject doctrine of selfishness and egocentricity that has permeated all facets of our lives. The mere fact that we see death as a result of unnecessary action and inaction and still go about our “normal” life as if nothing has happened is both frightening and worrisome to say the least. And as children of God, we must let go of our insensitivity and begin to love one another again otherwise what a hopeless society ours shall continue to be!

We have become so cold and indifferent to the plights of others, especially when it does not “seems” to affect us directly to the point that, we not only justify our insensitivity to the needs of those seeking our attentions, but vehemently defend why it is not necessary to be bothered with such inimical trends like the killing of people that are defenseless, the homelessness affecting folks, the refugees crisis emanating from the wars and natural disasters and other forms of man inhumanity toward others on the basis of ideological state of mind such as terrorism based on religion and racism.

The perpetrators and agents of this “indifference” may have their fill in this world; however the scripture is warning us what is waiting for all who perpetuate this godless and inhumane attitude.

Today we are being challenged to give up our attitude of indifference and substitute it with one of compassionate sensitivity that foster love and love in turn will promote humanity and humanity will lead us to God and our God will lead us to eternity in his Kingdom of Heaven!

At times is difficult to love, especially when you are hated unnecessarily and that is the more reason why we need God and one another in our lives.

The Rich man and Lazarus

 

Wealth and riches are definitely blessings from the almighty God and therefore the crime of the rich man was not about his possessions but simply as a result of the indifference to the welfare of other people and in this case especially toward Lazarus!

The rich man failed to see in his possessions the opportunity to use it to glorify God and therefore save more treasure for eternal life.

The insensitivity of the rich man was so gross that even though he was aware of Lazarus plight, but careless because his heart has become immune to the suffering of others and to the extent that he continue to live sumptuously and can go to sleep without giving his life style a second thought and challenging himself as to whether he is loving his neighbors as himself.

We are all aware of this kind of egocentric lifestyle especially here in the western hemisphere where individualism predominates over commonality and conformity or traditional values such as “we are our brothers keeper of the extended family system in the developing countries.”

The rich man believes that his wealth can buy him favoritism even before God!

Are we any different from the rich man when we fail to extend a helping hand to those who are suffering and in terribly need of our help?

Lazarus represents the downtrodden, the rejected and abandoned and the forgotten that unfortunately is unable to stand on his own and therefore is in need of our helping hand!

 

The contemporary Rich man and Lazarus

 

On different levels, and sadly too the Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus continue to play out in our lives on a daily basis. The rich man represents countries and people of the world, who happen to be blessed by the same almighty God with abundance of resources that could be committed to serving God and humanity and unfortunately in many instances, we have seen the abuses of these resources and misappropriations leading to countless and unbearable act of inhumanity against man!

When technological and scientific and liberal art and other forms of human intellectual advancements are used to demonize, denigrate and murder human beings, such an act represents the attitude of the rich man and the victims are the Lazarus of our times.

 

So who is the Lazarus in our lives?

 

In the United States of America, there are many Lazarus in our lives; we see them and yet like the rich man in the Parable of Jesus Christ, we disregard them and go about our daily activities as if nothing has or happening!

Given the recent events in the country especially the killing of harmless African- Americans by the police on one hand, and those who try to justify and support these perpetual abuse of authority by way of propaganda and extrication of the parts of the law of the lands that give unilateral power to the police to kill in the name of security are like the rich man in the parable who have grown so cold at heart and indifferent to the plights of the people of color that we no longer see any need to defend the helpless and hopeless! The uncountable evidences from video cameras that have shown that in most instances these victims of police brutality did not provoke nor encourage any kind of altercation and yet they were killed! How can we in our right heart justify such an action?

How can a person take the life of another fellow who does not present any form of threat other than the color of his skin and the stereotypes attached to him, and then rationalize such an action? And as if that is not enough, the “prey” goes about his or her business as if nothing has happened? In fact, the reaction we paid to a dog that is killed by mistake is greater than any that an indifferent heart have exhibited toward the wrongful death of a Black man in America.

The refugee’s crisis of the world was never an accident, but the evil machination of man to perpetuate his authority, power and clutch on the helpless people in their native land, a land that no longer know peace and where the normality of daily routine have been taken away and replaced by bombing, gun violence and other forms of mass destruction of lives and properties. As a result of this atmosphere of mediocrity, hostilities and uninhabitable many like the natural migration of birds in search of a livable environment have given up on their native land, home and people and are now roaming the global desperately looking for where to live and breathe again! These peoples are the Lazarus in our lives and the many of us that refused to grant them help and try to again justify why such an inhumane action should be taken against the downtrodden are nothing short of the rich man in this parable by our Lord Jesus Christ.

This negativity does not end with the two examples above; in fact a deeper reflection on the family can showcase circumstances in which many of us have decided to act like the rich man to members of our family, friends and neighbors. Whenever we fail to use our talents, gifts and blessings to show compassion, mercy and justice, to provide help and support for the less privilege are become the “rich man.” A father who invests his wealth selfishly without regards to his family makes the entire family to become his “Lazarus” and the same are applicable to mothers, children and any other members of the family that is self-centered to the extent of exhibiting indifference to the plight of his family members.

When the Drug companies are too focused on making money that they are indifferent to the inability of their “customers” to purchase their medications due to inhumane skyrocketing increase in the cost of such drug, they become the “rich man” and make the recipient of their product the new Lazarus.

Children born and unborn, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters that are subjected to any form or kind of inhumanity such as killing or murdering, and subjugated or oppressed circumstances are the ‘Lazarus’ in our lives and those of us who supported or carry out these evil plans or machination are the rich man.’

 

Consequences of Indifference

 

The earthly consequences of indifference are manifested in the perpetual and ongoing wars, conflicts and apathy we see on a daily basis in our lives! People get killed unjustly, the downtrodden are rejected, racism is a common phenomenon because those who are not hurt by it careless about the victims, there are those who are hungry, thirsty and homeless, naked, uneducated and hated and yet many of us turn our face away, because we are not the victims.

We are rich by worldly standard, plenty of money, possessions and life a flamboyant and luxurious lifestyle, our children did not lack anything good, our home is well protected and in retirement we are sure to perpetuate this “Hollywood” kind of living! However our next door neighbor has nothing to eat or drink, living in a home that might collapse any minute due to dilapidation, children that cannot afford to go to school, let alone be granted entry into your rich man mansion and yet, we turn our face from these human suffering and still claim to be living a life of luxury? This is not the kind of luxury God intended for the rich. It is the Devil that has taken possession of your heart and turns it into a muscle that beat but cannot feel.

These are what indifference look like, when you fail to show compassion, mercy and justice, when you refuse to stand up for what is right and defend the victims of inhumanity, when you look at a fellow man with a heart that is unresponsive, insensitive and lack sympathy, when what you see in the next man is a being that is synonymous to one of your properties- the one that might be in the closet that you really do not want to give away, only because you just want to keep it without needing it.

Indifference is when you see injustices and decided to careless about it and do nothing since in your mind it does not affect or matter to you.

Indifference is also when you see people being hated for no other reason than the color of their skin, the way they speak and the culture that they live out and you feel no remorse toward the perpetrators.

 

Hope in hopelessness

The reality of humanity is that we are made up of both physical and spiritual nature and created by God and given the ultimate task of loving the Lord our God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

In spite of the shortcomings we have witnessed as a result of the countless ways we have become indifferent to the plights of others, there is still hope in God’s ability to touch our lives and turn our hearts from that of stone to flesh!

Love is the only viable means by which we can overcome our insensitivity and lack of sympathy for others.

When we care about the downtrodden, the rejected and those who we think have nothing to offer in return, our world will be a better place to live in.

Today is another new day, a new opportunity given to us by our God to make a difference in the life of someone; love, support and help just about anybody that we will encounter. The challenge is are we ready to let go of our ego, cold-blooded hearts and begin to see ourselves in others?

How many of us think about eternal life? We have two choices, life everlasting in heaven and eternal damnation in hell; of these which one do we want to reside in? If our goal is to have a share in the eternal life that was won for mankind by our Lord Jesus Christ, then we must first and foremost change our ways, habit and culture and other practices that are contrary to the tenet of our faith, hope and love for God.

 

Prayer

 

Dear God,

Please touch my heart today and remove the coldness residing within me!

Open my eyes to see myself in others and grant me your grace to live in accordance to your tenet of love.

I do not want to be indifferent to anybody again!

Thank you for always hearing my prayers.

In Jesus Christ name I have prayed. Amen

Podeh2016.

Love Transform the Vanities of Life

Love Transform the Vanities of Life

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,

Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!

~ Ecclesiastes 1: 2

Is it not true that in spite of scientific, technological and other advances made, man is still subject to birth and death, joy and sorrow, peace and war, health and sickness, wealth and poverty, hope and despair, and courage and fear? And are we not still experiencing hate and love, dichotomy and discrimination? Without doubt, life can seems to be a meaningless endless cycle of birth and death in which sorrows outweigh joy and happiness and disappointments predominates over satisfaction?

However love has the power to transform the vanities of life into the glory of eternity with God. This love enables us to see the image and likeness of our God and creator in every man irrespective of the color of his skin.

If you take the time to become aware of the plans that the almighty God has for mankind, life is no longer the vanities that the preacher eloquently expressed but a path to eternal glory in the Kingdom of heaven. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is that “New thing” under the sun in which the Preacher’s visions in Ecclesiastes was not privileged to see and we are custodian of this transfiguration of humanity from death to eternal life.

In order for our life to be transformed from the mundane expectations of the Preacher to a new and exciting one, in which we are no longer limited by our earthly existence, but thrilled about the plans of God in counting us worthy of eternity with him, we MUST love God with our whole being and love our neighbors as ourselves! Love is not vanity because God is love and love is God!

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes wrote down the following visions after a thorough assessment of the plight of man on earth;

Ecclesiastes

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
    vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil
    at which he toils under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but the earth remains forever.
 The sun rises and the sun goes down,
    and hastens to the place where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
    and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
    and on its circuits the wind returns.
All streams run to the sea,
    but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
    there they flow again.
All things are full of weariness;
    a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
    nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done,
    and there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there a thing of which it is said,
    “See, this is new”?
It has been already in the ages before us.

~ Ecclesiastes 1: 2-10

On several levels, the Preacher or Qoheleth practically expresses the sentiment that any human being is capable of feeling based on physical experiences. Life can be vanity or useless especially for the downtrodden, oppressed and demoralized members of our society. And it can also be useless for the wealthy and powerful in that after death, they cannot inherit the wealth they are leaving behind nor are they able to buy over death with their money or power in order to enjoy life without end.

One of the most glaring examples in our contemporary societies of this element of vanity which can easily change to hopelessness and uselessly bleak visions of life is evident in the relationship that exists between the police and the people of color in the country, the attitude of some rich people treating the poor without compassion or dignity, and on a generalized basis the divergence and negative perspectives that permeate the dichotomy seen among the White and the people of color in America. For how long are we going to be judgmental, discriminatory and hateful of people that does not look or act like us? These too substantiate the vanity of life!

Until we begin to see ourselves as equally created by God and that nobody is superior or better than any other person and most importantly the color of one’s skin should never be the basis to deal kindly and lovingly or otherwise our society shall never know true peace, because in our blindness, we have failed to see the plans of God for us all, which are not dependent on the color of our skin! Eternity is open to all and not based on who we are, were we come from or what kind of color of skin we possess.

Racism and mutual Mistrust

The ways and fashion in which the police system was set up either by commission or omission in the country as it relates to dealing with the Blacks are deplorable, dogmatic and inimical to say the least. The generalized attitude of the police toward the Blacks is simply that of “You are guilty until proven innocent” which is completely different from the yardstick applied universally. As a result, a Black is more inclined to be found guilty for a crime that he did not commit as have been shown over and again. The fact that Negroes make up about 13% of the total population and account for nearly 42% of prison inmates clearly demonstrated that something must be fundamentally wrong with both the policing and the criminal justice system.

This conclusion was derived in part sequel to the advancement in technology such as DNA which has exonerated almost 99.9% of Blacks convicted for crimes they did not commit. This is very hard to bear! And today we see evidences from Police body cameras that in most cases show a complete contrast to the narrative we are made to swallow as the gospel truth. Do we really need a body camera to do the right thing, namely protecting every American lives irrespective of the color he may carry? And again lies another vanity of our life here on earth.

Racism, which is the discrimination on the basis of the color of an individual skin, is pathetic, useless and pitiable doctrine that has degenerated to the point of usurping even the law of God to justify the perpetuation of hatred and other forms of myopic sentiments, and to the extent that the lives of the victims are no more as important as those attached to animals! Racial discrimination and bigotry that are based on unnecessary and useless cultures or habits such as the way an individual looks like as compared to the quality of his characters are clear disregard to the law of God, which admonishes us to love God with all our heart and love our neighbors as ourselves.

The most regrettable thing about racism in America is the gross ignorance of the perpetrators who failed to see in their detrimental actions and inaction against the Black as fundamentally due to a racist mind! Some of these fellows were born into the family that practices this form of prejudice and becomes a second- nature even without their realizing it!

And to such fellows, the argument surrounding the discrimination on the basis of the color of the skin seems strange and uncalled for. In fact it is almost similar to the culture of genital mutilation that the practitioners never see any evil in the fact that there is serious health, mental and physical trauma associated with such an archaic tradition.

On the other hand, Blacks have become skeptical of both the police structure and the status quo of racial intolerance and the consequences that abound. In their despair, majority are not police friendly, seeing these officers as enemies because their actions which speaks louder than words

The Black man that committed the same crime as a White fellow in America might get almost ten times more severe penalty, making one to continue to wonder what kind of judicial or justice system are we talking about? These scenarios are not limited to the police and justice system alone, but like cancer spreads into other areas of human living such as schools or education, businesses, employment and the pursuit of happiness! We see the vanities of life in such scenarios as the Preacher rightly exemplified in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

There are other Whites that suffer discrimination too! There used to be a time that if you are White and at the same time a Catholic, you are more prompt to being bullied, offered less support by the status quo then and easily intimidated if you dare dream to pursue political career.

These are facts and under such state of affairs it is very easy to conclude that life can be very useless indeed, especially when after having gone through all these various forms of discriminations and threat to your lives and even visibly witnessing the deaths of innocent people in the hands of those meant to protect them such as the police and the judicial system and the generality of the people irrespective of the color of your skin!

The Resurrection Changes Everything

But if there is no resurrection of the dead,

not even Christ has been raised; 

and if Christ has not been raised,

then our preaching is vain;

your faith also is vain

~1 Corinthians 15: 13-14

In the monotony of life, where the despondent does not see anything “New under the sun” and is tempted to conclude that life is useless after all, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ bear a different testimony to the reality of life! The resurrected life is spiritual and does not have the limitations of our earthly body and without doubt, that includes the color of our skin.

Physical death is no longer the “necessary evil” end that humanity anticipates, in which the rich detest as deprivation of pleasure and the poor look forward to as a means of being extricated from their burden, but a transition to either eternal life in the Kingdom of God for those who love God and love their neighbor as themselves or eternal condemnation in hell for the perpetrators of evil and denial of the existence of God.

Under the sun, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a clear contrast to the bleak landscape outlook that the author of Ecclesiastes has painted for us as reflected above! In fact, while there seems to be nothing to be excited about life, given what he saw as the meaningless endless cycle of life and death leading to nothing, Jesus Christ’s resurrection challenges us to focus on the brimming potential that everyday offers to those who believe and see life no longer with the ordinary visions of the Preacher, but through the eyes of faith in God. We are recreated everyday by God, molding us as a potter does to the clay with the hope of preparing us eternity with him.

Jesus Christ who is new under the sun has new things he wants to show us; new areas in our lives that needs modification in order to bring glorification to the name of the God we serve, new experiences that are necessary to grow our love and compassion for one another and new challenges and opportunities that will ultimately make us a new creation ready to become the instrument of peace in the midst of war, hope in despair and faith where doubts prevail.

And finally when our earthly lives are over, we are confident that because we have made the Lord God our habitation by loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves eternal glory awaits us through the power resident in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in heaven we shall no longer see ourselves as Black or White, but simply like the angels in perpetual worship of our God in all his glory and splendor unthinkable by human imagination.

Conclusion:

In the midst of the prevailing challenges that we are daily subjected to, be it the threat to our freedom or lives or properties, whether it is our being hated sometimes for no justifiable reason other than the color of our skin, or the way we talk or where we come from, Jesus Christ is the ultimate solution to our needs to live a life that will bring glory to God. Let us look up to the Christian values of love for all mankind and put it into practice today!

Life is therefore not useless at all, because true life goes beyond just the physical attributes of being born and dying, in fact, life is glorious when we see Jesus Christ in every facet of our lives here on earth.

If we desire heaven which is our ultimate destination as children of God, we must live according to the tenet of God; namely love the Lord your God with all your hearts and love your neighbor as yourself.

Love is the key to visualizing the usefulness of life because in love we find God and in God love abound and if love flourish so is the blessed assurance of eternal life.

We must work for love, with love and through love so that the world may know that we are children of the almighty and ever living God and true disciples of Jesus Christ who died for our salvation through the act of love. Let us emulate Jesus and begin to change of communities beginning with our homes, one person at a time until when Jesus Christ will come again to take us to our final home in heaven.

We shall overcome, but with love trust and hope in the almighty God, not in hate or violence or by our human understanding!

Prayer

Dear God,

Make me into a new creation today and let me become your instrument to bring love, peace and hope, faith, truth and justice to all that I encounter. Open my heart to see your image and likeness in others irrespective of the color of their skins.

Help me to focus on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and know that life is not vanity upon vanities and that physical death is only a transition and not the end of my toil.

Help me to overcome evil with goo, hate with love and pride with humility.

And above all, count me worthy of your Kingdom of eternal life and glory.

All these I ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

podeh2016

Love and Pray for Your Enemies: The Blacks and the Police in America

“You have heard that it was said,

‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven;

for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

“For if you love those who love you,

what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 

“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? 

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

~ Matthew 5: 43- 48

We are not born with hatred, but taught to hate!

Police it is said are supposed to be our friends and not enemies, however in the country, the White dominated Police institution has historically and continue to be very hostile to the African-American people.

It is very difficult to justify the killing of an unarmed Black American, with his hands up and in compliance of the orders being given by the police. What else are we required to do, disappear or become invisible?

We cannot wait for the system to fix these perpetual anomalies and instead we must turn to what we know best, pray and forgive because we are children of the living God.

There was a time it was extremely difficult to be a Jew in this world (Holocaust), there was also a time when Catholics were killed or martyred at will by the institution (Roman Empire) and again, history shows the denigration and inhumanity that the Blacks in the Western Hemisphere were subject of (Slavery), then we have the Palestinians, Syrians and so many others that have to deal with discrimination and death threat on a daily basis.

Today in America, the case against police brutality continue to be a thorn in the flesh of the country that profess freedom for all and that we are all created equal.  

In the face of racism, discrimination and hatred, in the midst of hopelessness, stereotypes and constant threat to lives and properties, in the vicinity of overbearing and recklessness in the use of guns and power especially by the Police against especially Blacks in America, I come today to passionately plea that as children of God, let us love these WHITE POLICE OFFICERS, BLACK POLICE OFFICERS AND ALL POLICE OFFICERS and pray for them!

This world is not our final destination!

This institution has the power, influence and money, it can hire the best defense attorney in the country, it can manipulate the law of the land, it can usurp even the justice system, however none, neither institution nor man can influence God to become partial.

As we continue to grieve for yet another unnecessary use of force, leading to the death of another unarmed human being, one who is like a sub-human being to the Police in America, let us not forget to reach out to our God in faith, in hope and in love, because only the almighty can determine our destiny in this world and most especially in the world to come.

Let us Pray:

Dear heavenly Father,

For how long will these police officers continue to molest, intimidate and kill us in America? For how long are we going to live under a system that out rightly negate our freedom to live freely as the others do in America? For how long are our brethren going to suffer martyrdom in the hands of the police officers in America?

O Lord, our God you are the creator of the universe and we are asking you to please come and grant us the kind of peace, security and protection this world cannot offer.

And above all, give us your grace so that we can continue to forgive and pray for these police officers and their system which discriminate against us especially because of the color of our skin.

Thank you for always hearing our prayers, for in Jesus Christ name, we have prayed. Amen!

May the almighty God continue to comfort my people in their pains, sorrows and slavery! Amen!!

Podeh2016