Stand Firm and Hold Fast: Love, Hope & Faith!

Therefore, brothers and sisters

stand firm and hold fast to

the traditions that you were taught,

either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

~2 Thessalonians 2: 15

The perpetual richness of the mystical body of Christ or the Church is derived from her oral and scriptural traditions, passed on to our generation from the Apostles who lived during the time of Jesus Christ earthly sojourn and the early Christian fathers and mothers. And the essence of the oral traditions which were handed over to us from generation to generation were substantiated and consequent upon what Saint John the Evangelist wrote in the concluding chapters of his Gospel according to John which stated, “If these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” Jesus Christ did and taught us so many things that were they to be written down the whole world will not contain them!

When I was growing up and with little or no knowledge of the Bible, my parents were many compasses in addition to the catechist and other influential members of my Christian community in Nigeria, and today I owe everything to them through Jesus Christ for the love, care and vital instructions that helped shaped my faith in God and led me to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior today!

Oral Tradition

Christmas Childhood Memories

It is with absolute nostalgia that I retrospect some of the Oral Tradition of the Church that I so cherished and which have made me a better Christian today.

The Christmas day celebration, whose date was not written down in the Bible, but has come to signify one of the cornerstones of our Christian festivity, is on my top list! As a child, I can vividly remember the two-dimensional preparations; the spiritual has to do with the reception of the sacraments through the participation and attendance in the required church activities and the physical dimension that has to do with the much anticipated new clothes and shoes, the sharing of Christmas meals with our neighbors and gallivanting almost the entire neighborhood visiting families, eating, playing and receiving money and plenty of gifts.

Christmas merriment growing up as a Catholic in a multi-cultural and diverse community of varieties of religious, ethnic and social background was very unique in many ways. For instance, Christmas meals, which are in most cases very delicious menu of rice and stew, or jellof- rice, fried meat either of beef, goat or chicken and turkey, in some places pounded yam served with egusi (melon), Okoho or Ogbono soups that contains assorted varieties of meat, such as dried stockfish, mackerel, game- such as grasscutter (a type of rodent) in addition to the traditional beef, chicken and goat, are distributed among neighbors far and wide without regard to religion or any of the differences I have mentioned. Christians share their merriment with Muslim and people of other religion, who wholehearted accepts them and reciprocate in some cases by giving the bearer of the food gifts in cash and kind.

These tradition which the Church actively encourages have tremendous positive impact in my community and resulted in the typical scenario of a child is brought up by the village, as everyone is interested in your welfare. This act of sharing in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ has become an iconic means of sharing the gospel of Christ in our community and without doubt, love did abound indeed.

Legion of Mary, Mother of God

There is a unique pride in being identified as a Legionary in those days when I was a youngster in Otukpo, Nigeria. The members of the Legion of Mary at St. Mary’s Catholic Church are required to help the elderly people in our community with task such as fetching water, firewoods, running the errands and washing their clothes among other things that they may need.

I recall two siblings that were over 90 years old each in those days. The man had slight hearing impediment; nevertheless, he always vividly respond to our presence with joy and communicate eloquently. We fetch water for them, help set up their fire for cooking, wash their clothes, however when it is time to eat, we will remind them that as legionaries we are not allowed to accept gifts, since our actions are to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary and offer our service through her to her son, Jesus Christ!

Then comes the arguing back and forth, with them insisting we must at least take a bite otherwise they will not welcome our help in the future! As a matter of fact we have no choice but to take a piece of their meal and thank them for their generosity. When it is time to depart, these elderly folks will ask us to kneel so they can bless us! These blessings have remained with me to this day and I cannot thank God enough for the simplicity, love and complete gratitude always on display whenever we visit these siblings in Otukpo.

Adoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints

As a Catholic, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Mother of God, and the angels and Saints have a unique place in our Christian faith. The Holy Rosary prayer is second to the “Our Father” or “The Lord’s Prayer” growing up in my family. We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and adore the angels and Saints, because my parents believe in the communion of the saints. Even before I knew how to read the Bible from the Christian perspective, I was knowledgeable in saying the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, the Apostle Creed, the Glory be to God, the Holy Rosary prayers and many other prayers in the Church, including the recitation of the Lord is my shepherd or Psalm 23!

My family favorite saint is Saint Jude Thaddeus and we have an altar with his statue and those of the Cross of Jesus Christ and other relics in a corner in our living room. 

Today, I have many favorite saints and try my best to emulate them, because like the Blessed Virgin Mary, they too try to emulate Jesus Christ, who is both our moral and spiritual compasses in life. I also have a dedicated altar with the crucifix of Jesus Christ and other relics in my home and I pray through the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saints Peter and Paul, Anthony and Francis, Martha and Veronica, Rita and Fustina, Pope John Paul II and Maxmillian Kobe, Padre Pio and Joseph the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Augustine and Blessed Cyprian and uncountable other men and women of God that have lived a glorious lives here on earth.

Family Tradition in Faith

My parents used to tell us several stories, which in conclusion draw on the Christian values of generosity, prudence, humility, patience, perseverance and endurance, love, friendship, sharing and the need to be a brother’s keeper. We are required to help anybody even if the person was a stranger. I remember one incident in particular when we were coming from the farm and we ran into an elderly farmer with a basket on her head. My dad insisted one of us takes the basket and help her home!

He will always say God is visiting us through such folks and therefore we must be ready to help, because we are helping Jesus Christ, who instructed we should love our neighbor as ourselves! And there are so many other traditional values that have been woven into our Christian consciousness and they have become part and parcel of our lives.

Scriptural Traditions

Catechism and Sunday school Teaching

When my parents enrolled us into the Catechism class, were we to prepare for our first Holy Communion, which is one of the seven Sacraments of the Church, the others being Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Matrimony, Holy Order and Anointing of the Sick!

I was baptized as a child because my parents exercising their free will and their faith in God deemed it necessary that as their Child I ought to be born again into the Church of God or the mystical body of Christ. However my real encounter with Jesus Christ began when I was in the catechism class with the Catechist quoting the scriptures about the authenticity of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ appearing under the bread and wine at the Eucharistic celebration or the Holy Mass.

For sure there were millions of questions; however by faith in the words of Jesus Christ, I believe that he is present in the Holy Communion after the consecration prayer by the Priest.

It was also in the Catechism class that the Ten Commandments of God was thoroughly explained to me, and how it forms the basis of Christian practices in our daily life. The Bible traced the origin of man’s creation and the salvation that was granted to mankind after the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

I learned about Abraham faith, Esau and Jacob (Israel), then Moses all the way to King David, John the Baptist and finally Jesus Christ.

Then we were taught to make sure that all our actions were motivated by two major Commandments; love of God and love of neighbor and that if we ever entertain any doubt regarding the compatibility of our actions and these laws, then we must reject those actions that bring about doubt within us.

The Ten Commandments

Jesus Christ summarized the Ten Commandments into two namely:

1.      The Lord says: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart.” And

2.      The Lord says: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

3.       

In order to love God, I must set my heart on the things of God, so that I can really love him above all things and be faithful to his commandments, as a child love his father and obey his order. Through the scripture, I am taught how to love God; obeying the teachings of the mystical body of Christ, the Church, profess my faith without fear or favor, pray to my God day and night and always, offer my difficulties, my joys and my sorrows to God. I must never use the name of God in vain; do not swear or lie in the name of God and never disrespect the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.

 

In regards to the commandment of love thy neighbor as thyself, for me to love my neighbor as Jesus Christ have loved me, I must never used my neighbors for my own ends or do to them what I do not want done to me. I must honor my parents and mankind and give them help in their spiritual and material needs. I must be generous, kind and compassionate to people, I must not discriminate or harbor ill feeling towards another person. I must obey the legitimate authority and give them their due respect. If I am in the position of authority, I must dispense it with love and compassion of Jesus Christ, becoming the servant and not the master of those under me. I must work for justice, avoid violence and forgive those who hurt me and ask for forgiveness from those I might have hurt. I must not kill or support any form of killing, and my love must not be selfish, but truly self-sacrificing as Jesus Christ did!

 

Stand Firm & Hold Fast!

 

We are able to stand firm only if we constantly try to live in accordance to the way that our God desire for us and not through any machinations of ours! In such scenario, we will experience the gradual disappearance of our anxiety about the future and become more hopeful because our blessed assurance comes from a God that is steadfast and faithful in all his ways. And we can hold fast if only we truly know God’s enduring faithfulness, steadfastness and truth! He is the almighty Father!

 

What are the circumstances that challenge us to stand firm and hold fast to our faith whether it is through oral or scriptural and both traditions?

We must stand firm for love, hope and faith! It is our responsibility as the instrument of God to love humanity and offer mankind the hope and faith that God has blessed us with.

 

We must stand firm for justice for all mankind.

We must stand firm and love every mankind irrespective of their religion, race or locality and or socio-economic or political association and lifestyle orientations.

We must stand firm and pray for all mankind that God will have mercy on us all.

We must stand firm against any form of discrimination that disparage humanity.

We must stand firm for generosity, even if our society is full of greedy and selfish doctrines.

We must stand firm for the goodness of mankind and refuse the doctrine that criminalizes mankind for political, social and economic gains.

We must stand firm to the truth of God as taught to us by our faith.

We must stand firm against killings of human beings from conception and even as children or adult.

We must stand firm against unjust wars.

 

Additionally, we must hold fast to the teaching of our God in the Bible and through the Church.

We must hold fast to the examples of Jesus Christ and live it, so that we too can become the light

We must hold fast to the commandments of God, which are love

We must hold fast to our faith and belief in eternal life through Jesus Christ.

We must hold fast to the necessities of the Sacraments in our lives.

We must hold fast to Christ tenet that we must love all mankind and hate no one.

 

Practical Challenges

 

It is not enough to be a Christian by name and neither will it be enough to try and live a truly Christian life through our own effort. That is why Jesus Christ admonished us to come to him all those who labor and are burn and he will give us rest.

Therefore if we want to stand firm and hold fast to the teachings of Jesus Christ as handed over to us through the Bible (scripture) and oral testimonies of the Saints of God, including and not limited to those recognized by the mystical body of Christ, we must use the love of God as the basis for all our actions. If we love God, we will be empowered to love our neighbor as the Holy Spirit and God and ourselves and become the temple of the Lord and Jesus Christ will come and offer him to us again and all our actions will be orchestrated through divine providence.

Prayer

 

Dear heavenly Father,

 

Here am I again, before your throne of grace, as I go down on my knees and looking up at my crucified Jesus Christ on the cross! I believe you want me to walk in your peace.

Help me to stand firm in the life you have given me and hold fast to your truth!

Let my life bring glory to your holy name and that will be enough for me.

Thank you O my Lord and God for always hearing my prayer.

In Jesus Christ, I offer you my life today.

Amen

 

Ref: 2 Thessalonians 2, John 21, Matthew 23, and Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5,

Podeh2016

Let Us Pray and Support Italy: Earthquake leaves 39 dead and towns in ruin

The devastations from the early Wednesday, August 24, 2016 strong, shallow earthquake has left at least 39 people dead and rescuers are overwhelmed in search of survivals.

 

Please let us pray for the people of Italy and help support by any means possible the effort to save lives and provide succor to those that are being rescued.

 

My heart goes out to all those that have lost loved ones and are without home and really cannot even imagine what the future hold for them right now.

 

I pray that the almighty God will intervene and manifest his light in the midst of this terrible darkness. Amen!

Hope!

 

Hope!

 

Hope!

Hope!

Hope!

Hope!

We must continue to hope even in the midst of despair and hopelessness, because the human spirit is strong and tremendously determined and especially when we seek the comfort of the almighty God.

May God comfort the people of Italy today, as the struggles for survival and restoration continues.

With love,

Peter Odeh & Family

podeh2016

Pictures courtesy of CNN!

http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/23/europe/italy-earthquake/

Happy Birthday Mr. Kobe Bryant “The Black Mamba”

On behalf of my family and me, I want to wish you a very happy 38^th birthday anniversary!

May the almighty God continue to bless you with love, peace and prosperity as you enjoy life after the National Basketball Association!

You are indeed among the greatest in the sports of Basketball and your global recognition is remarkable.

Please continue your philanthropic gestures to the whole world and especially in communities that lack the basic necessities of life, especially in the developing countries of the world.

Sincerely,

Peter Odeh & Family

Baltimore MD

The Beautiful Composition of the Kingdom of God

And People will come from the east and the west

and from the north and the south and

will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.

~ Luke 13: 22-30

What a relief it is to know that the Kingdom of God is not limited to any particular race, ethnicity or people, but rather it is by nature Catholic or Universal and composed of people from the north and south, and from the east and west!

In an era where humanity constantly display the melancholic trend of not wanting to have anything to do with God all in the name of freedom to do anything that pleases us and without recourse to spiritual and moral compasses, it should be encouraging to those who desire goodness, justice and peace everlasting that irrespective of where you come from and who you are Jesus welcome all into the Kingdom of God!

The emblems of the Kingdom of God are eternal life, peace and joy in the presence of the creator of heaven and earth! We shall lack nothing good and our being will be transformed into the glorious bodies that will never suffer corruption and in the presence of the Lord our God it shall be all praise and glory, singing alleluia without end.

The Kingdom of God is not the exclusive right of Christians alone, neither is it for the Caucasians nor the rich and powerful. On the contrary, it is open to all mankind, rich and poor, white and black, Islam, Buddhist, Pagans, and Hinduism, people with various lifestyle orientations, among others. The simple criteria required of those who seek to enter this beautiful Kingdom of God are believing in the name of Jesus Christ, and accepting the fact that he is the Messiah and the Son of the living God and finally living according to his tenet as exemplified in the scriptures and emulated by uncountable saints, past and present in this world.

The Kingdom of Earth

Throughout history, man has continued his quest for true freedom, peace and joy, however and most regrettably these missions have largely remained elusive principally because, we have rejected God by acting unjustly toward our neighbors, our greed and self-centeredness have blinded us to the virtues of generosity, and the hatred we have for those who does not support our ways of lifestyle, may not come from our ethnicity or shall the commonality of faith is so intense that we are ready to kill, destroy or denigrate humanity in order to make a point.

The consequences of these godless trends are evident in the spiritual and moral decadence that are prevalent in our society today. Examples of the penalty of relegating God to the background are beyond imagination, however it suffice to mention but a few:

The misrepresentation and mischaracterization of love is on the top of the list! As a result of our obvious egocentrism, most often the kind of love will manifest are the self-centered or greedy type that whenever expressed must be accompanied with a return investment status quo. What this kind of mentality does is to perpetuate the doctrine of an eye for an eye or you only help those you expect something from in return.

Have you ever experience a situation whereby you encounter someone more powerful, rich and in position of high earthly authority utter words like, “I am powerful and can do and undo?” if so you will understand how mortal man has turned himself into a mini-god!

To be fearless in itself is not a bad thing, since without being fearless, you may not take the necessary stride to survive or overcome bullying and other forms of intimidations. To be fearless before God is completely absorbed, considering the fact that our lives are in God’s hands and not vice versa. We are witnesses to many so called great world leaders that claimed to be mini-god and dealt heartlessly, cruelly and ruthlessly against those they think were opposed to them. Fortunately these folks are no longer with us, but the almighty God remained and abide forever!

Ours is also a society that have accepted and put into practice the doctrine of individuality and the concept of relativism without recourse to God or any kind of divine or moral compasses. We are free to do anything we like or want and careless about whether there are repercussions, as long as we are personally satisfied or experience pleasure or other forms of gratifications.

The only downside is that such gratifications are as ephemeral as life itself.

In our quest for this one-dimensional freedom based on our physicality alone, we are in reality less free and have become captive and slaves to our machinations! We design weapons for protections, but the same is now used to make us less protected, we design medications to heal and prolong our longevity from a scientific perspective, regrettably we now used the same medications to kill and hurt others, we design scientific mode of transportations such as airplane, cars and trains and ship, unfortunately either by omission or commission humanity have lost and continue to loose their lives through these means of transportations. The bottom line is simply we are unable to achieve the kind of kingdom that is capable of delivering our quest for infinite love and longevity, health and well-being, true happiness and joy, satiability and glory.

The results of this synthetic freedom that completely disregards the tenet of the freedom that God has fashioned for humanity are, wars after wars, refugee crisis, forced- migrations with the detrimental consequences of severe discrimination and helplessness of the victims, destructions of lives and properties. All these inimical development culminate in many becoming resigned and seeing life on earth as useless, hopeless and worthless.

Without an iota of doubt, it is this kind of state of This state of utmost despair has led to the emergence of another ugliness, that of terrorism and terrorists that feel that life has no meaning and the use of weapons is the solution to every human problems.

This is the pathetic representation of the Kingdom of earth in our era, where the rich becomes richer and the poor become poorer and unfortunately nobody experience true peace anymore, as every facet of humanity are plague with hurt, betrayal and lack of peace.

Summarily, the egocentric and godless choices we make have tremendous negative impact in our society and the people we encountered, as evident in the prevalence injustices, discrimination and hatred, killing, lynching and incapacitations of mankind as a result of our inhumanity.

The Kingdom of God

In order to appreciate the Kingdom of God, we must emphasis what it is not! When Saint Paul was writing to the Galatians he stated the work of the flesh, which personifies the Kingdom of earth:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. (Galatians 5: 19-21)

The Kingdom of God is completely the perfect opposite of the fallibility of the kingdom of earth and its emblems are life, righteousness, power, justice, peace, love and glory through eternity. As a result of man’s limitations to describe the physical nature of the throne of grace and the eternal glory of the Kingdom of God is impossible to comprehend and therefore it suffices to use the words of the prophet Isaiah as a prelude to challenge our imagination:

Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together and little children will take care of them. Cows and bears will eat together and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle’s do. Even a baby will not be harmed if it plays near a poisonous snake. (Isaiah 11:6-8)

The above scenarios are not humanly possible and therefore to fully comprehend the nature of the Kingdom of God is beyond the imagination of mankind, nevertheless the characteristics described by the prophets and especially Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God enables those who desire God to have a glimpse of the glory and greatness that awaits us, if we eventually make heaven.

The Kingdom of God is life and not death and it is for all eternity! There is absolute peace, justice and righteousness in the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is so powerful that no evil can ever prevail against it! And those who make heaven will enjoy happiness and joy that can never be expressed by human understanding and the mankind insatiability for what is good will be quenched forever.

Whatever pleases us here on earth, whatever we truly desire and longed for and whatever dreams we want to accomplished and which we hope will make us extremely happy and satisfied, is nothing in comparison to the glory that waits us in heaven.

Composition of the Kingdom of God

The most amazing part of the Kingdom of God outside the fact that it is eternal, glorious and full of love and life is the composition attribute that Jesus Christ eloquently described today in our hearing! People from the North and South, and from the East and West are all welcome in the Kingdom of God! White and Black, rich and poor, religious and impious, people of every kind and types and nature are welcome into this Kingdom of God through the amazing and divine grace and providential care of the almighty and eternal God!

What an awesome feeling it must be to know and without an iota of doubt that, neither my race nor ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic status, lifestyle orientation, religious belief or lack of it excludes me from the Kingdom of God, as long as I am willing to accept Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord, Son of the living God and my savior.

All are welcome in my Father’s house or kingdom, as Jesus Christ will remind us throughout the scriptures and through the lives of the saints and the faithful that live a life full of emulation of our Lord and savior.

 We know through the scriptures that after the fall of our first parents Adam and Eve, because of God’s infinite love for mankind and through divine providence designed a way for humanity to return to him. This loving God, faithful and steadfast beyond understanding decided to subject his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ to death on the cross, so that upon him will hang our transgressions and through his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, will now serve as our advocate with the Father and effectively reconcile us on the path to the Kingdom of God, which is everlasting joy in the presence of the angels and saints

 Therefore no matter what religion you may belong to, whether it is Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Paganism, African traditional worshipers and others not listed here, you are in line to enter the Kingdom of God too, because Jesus Christ did not die for Christians alone, but for the entire humanity!

What is needed is for us to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, the Messiah and savior of the world and live according to his tenet here on earth.

In the Kingdom of God, we are no longer going to see ourselves as Black or White, Africans or Americans, Asians or Europeans, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, wise of foolish by our standards, married or unmarried! Instead, we shall be like the angels every ready to serve and be in the presence of the almighty God, in his glory, praising, singing and worshiping him world without end, and as for our being, the transformation shall be complete; from corruptible to incorruptible where there is no more sickness, pain and death.

Let us challenge ourselves together to begin to prepare toward the coming of the Kingdom of God by living the godly life today!

Let us live our lives based on love, hope and faith in God!

Let us thrive for heaven by loving one another and becoming an instrument of God’s peace, reconciliation and joy to our families, friends and community and those we encounter in life!

Let the joy of the Lord, be our strength as we march on, seeing in our sufferings and challenges the call to carry our cross as Jesus Christ did, and so bring comfort to those experiencing pains and hurts, and make this life meaningful again.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly Father,

I thank you so much for making thy Kingdom of heaven open to the entire humanity. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray that you encourage us to put into practice what our Lord, is preaching and so become the light of the world. May your will be done in our life today and always, as we hope to be united with You and your Son our Lord Jesus Christ who in union with the Holy Spirit lives and reign one God world without end. Amen!

Ref: Luke 13, Galatians 5, Isaiah 6,

podeh2016

It’s up To You and Me: Let Kindness, Justice and Love Abides

The Glory of the Lord will dwell in our Land (R)

Kindness and truth shall meet;

Justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth,

And justice shall look down from heaven

The Glory of the Lord will dwell in our Land (R)

~ Psalm 85

Emmanuel! Emmanuel! The word became human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son.

The glory of the Lord already dwell in our land through the coming of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of the almighty God and therefore the fulfillment of these verses from the Psalmist in Chapter 85.

If you believe yourself to be a child of the living God, then the task of manifesting the glory of God falls on you, because we are the chosen one and it is us that must be the light of the world and show mankind the beauty, love and compassion of the Almighty.

When our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the crowds and his people saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice”, it must be obvious that there is a direct difference between proclaiming that I am a child of God and living as a child of God! In other for us to become the glory of the Lord in the world that is saturated with the darkness of transgressions against our God and wrongdoings against humanity, it is critical for us to put into practice the tenant of our faith before mankind irrespective of our personal relationship with the people or locality we find ourselves. Without doubt the bane of our society rest upon our failure to practice what we preach.

CHALLENGE

Today God is calling us to his light of love and how many of us are willing to lift up the cross of salvation and become an instrument of the glory that the Lord has given to the entire world to see?

Are we ready to become the instrument of kindness and truth today?

Are we prepared to become the instrument of justice and peace today?

Are we ready to become God’s instrument of love, hope and faith today?

If we truly desire to be the emblem of the child of the living God, our faith challenges us today to go out and make a difference, and we ought not to be afraid because it is the Holy Spirit of our God that will lead and guild our actions.

KINDNESS

In your neighborhood, how many people do you encounter each day that are in need of your kindness?  The act of smiling to a stranger can have a powerful effect in the person’s life and at times may be the turning point toward holding on or giving up in life. Therefore your kindness must embody the act of sacrifice in which you help bring comfort to those who are being challenged by the harshness of life.

When I was hungry, you gave me food!

When I was sick, you visited me!

When I was naked you clothed me!

When I was upset, you calm me down!

When I was insulted unjustly, you stand by me!

When I was jobless, you supported me!

When I was in despair, you gave me hope!

When I was hated, you love me!

When I was alien and stranger, you received me!

Our kindness is not restricted to our loved ones; otherwise it does not come from God! We must show true kindness by helping to make life meaningful even to those that do not share the same faith or religion, belong to our socio-economic class, have the same lifestyles or orientation, and may not be of the same ethnicity or locality!

Without doubt, in order for our kindness to emanate from our God, it must be a clear manifestation of Jesus Christ love for us; sacrificial or agape in nature, meaning we do not anticipate a return for “investment” because we are doing it for God and not to be seen or commended by man.

JUSTICE

Without justice, peace can never exist in our community!

If we claim to be children of God and yet turn our eyes away in the midst of injustices, refusing to stand up and defend those being unjustly treated, how can we have the continuous audacity to pray before God?

Imagine a poor, helpless and alien person being treated unjustly because of the society stereotypes and status quo regarding this person or group of persons? As a child of God what will you do? Our faith asked us to stand up for justice and voice our opposition to inhumanity.

Just because it is legal, does not always make it right! That is why we are called the light of the world.

For instance slavery used to be legal and may still be legal in some parts of the world, but is it just, absolutely not! Lynching and killings of the poor by their masters used to be legal and go unchallenged by law, but does it make it right before God? Absolutely not!

Denying access to quality healthcare, education and other opportunities that can help transform the lives of the poor, downtrodden and hopeless people may be legal or have a systemic approval of the so called strong and powerful or rulers of a given nation, but is it just? Not at all!

Sometimes we engage in wars in the name of justice, but are we honest about our intentions; is it just to engage in these wars that results in the death of millions, disintegration of families and therefore nations and people with the resultant crisis of refugees and compulsory migration for survival?

In order for justice to prevail, we must be willing to let go of certain stereotypes that diminishes and denigrates humanity and begin to see all as children of God. Justice makes life peaceful because we are exercising what is right before God by making sure that the innocent is set free and the guilty one condemned.

LOVE

In our contemporary society, whenever the topic of love is brought up, regrettably the first image that is painted in our consciousness is that of “Eros” or that which is passionate and intense and aroused romantic feelings!

However the kind of love that God is requiring of us is that which simply enables us to deny self, or rejects greed and egocentric behaviors.

God is love and love is God, and as a matter of fact, as the scripture continue, hope, faith and love abound, but the greatest is love!

Love enables us to give without asking in return!

Love enables us to support those that hate us!

Love enables us to see God in others that may be different from us!

Love enables us to defend those that are hated in our society!

Love enables us to reconcile people to God!

It is nothing short of love, when we go out of our way to bring joy, peace and happiness to others and without expecting anything in return.

It is only love that can help us to treat others without prejudice and discrimination on the basis of their faith, race and or other forms of lifestyle orientation.

We cannot claim to be children of God, when we allow ourselves to become instrument of hatred directed against humanity either due to ignorant or as a result of being taught by previous generation.

It is never godly to hate an individual simply because of the color of his or her skin!

It is never godly to hate an individual because of difference in religious practice!

It is never godly to hate an individual because of his or her shortcomings!

It is never godly to hate an individual because of where he or she comes from!

It is never godly to hate an individual because of his or her sin! You hate the sin not the person!

Unfortunately our contemporary society relentlessly tries to justify why we should hate, but Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit is challenging us today to love as he did; sacrificing his life for the salvation of humanity- all mankind, and not just for Christians alone!

When Jesus Christ spoke about the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel according to Matthew, he allows us to understand the necessity to follow their preaching- that which speaks about the living God, however we must never follow their ways of life, because they are not practicing what they preach! Today, the same Jesus Christ is speaking to you and me too, and we must obey the teachings of God, but never follow any kind of lifestyle that is contrary to such divine teaching.

Do not wait for the government and other kind of institution to act before you accept your role as a child of God and become the light of the world! Nobody can teach me a Christ that is different from that written in the scripture and followed by the traditions handed over by the Apostles and other Saints of Jesus Christ, some of which were martyred for their faith.

Do not look up to the spiritual or political leaders in order to follow the teachings of God!

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land and indeed it already dwelled through Jesus Christ our Lord and if you believe in Jesus Christ as the messiah and the Son of the living God, then you must go out today and become the glory of God, his instrument of kindness, justice and peace and love before all the people you will encounter.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father,

I thank you for your words which are active and living in our hearts.

Help us to go out today and bring glory to your name.

Teach us to love you and love our neighbors as ourselves, and turn us into your instrument to bring comfort, peace and your joy to a world that is experiencing so much darkness and pains from wars, discrimination and hate.

Send your Holy Spirit to come and dwell within our heart, so that we can become the light of the world.

In Jesus Christ mighty name, we pray. Amen

Ref: Psalm 85, Matthew 23, 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4, John 1

Podeh2016

The Bone Shall Rise Again: Hope in Hopelessness

God is our hope in the most hopeless situation you can ever imagine in life.

Have you ever experience a situation that seems so hopeless, fruitless and nearly impossible to resolve?

Have you ever being in a situation where it seems there is practically no solution to your case?

Have you been in a marriage where your desires seem impossible after all your effort?

Have you been in a relationship that is kind of an endless cycle of hurt, pain and frustrations?

Have you ever imagine that it is time to give up now?

Have you ever contemplate committing suicide or harming yourself because of lack of progress in your life?

 

Well you are not alone! The people of the ancient times experience the same thing, if not worst and behold, because they put their trust and hope in the Lord, God and they were eventually rescued through the infinite love and mercy of the Almighty!

 

God is speaking to you today, through the prophet Ezekiel, first by asking you saying, “Son of man, can these bones come to life?” Well like the prophet Ezekiel in all honesty we cannot!

However, since nothing is impossible for the Lord our GOD to do, the almighty can of course make the bones to rise again!

 

Consequently, no matter what circumstances you may be facing; whether it is lack of the fruits of the womb, bad relationship, faithlessness due to the hardship and betrayals you have experienced in life, maybe it may be lack of employment or you are underemployed, maybe you are a refugee with no hope of having a home again, maybe you are grieving a loved one and you are wondering how can life be so unfair! It may be that you are concern about your immigration status in a foreign land, you might have fallen into the wrong hands and all your possessions have been taken from you. As a matter of fact, you are in a hopeless situation and there seems to be no future for you or your loved ones.

 

Well, your feelings are not synonymous to that of your God! Unlike our emotions that dangles like the pendulum clock and subject to the tides of the events we go through, the way God feel about us is the same, that of a loving and compassionate Father, always anxiously waiting for us to turn to him!

 

Today, we must challenge ourselves and accept the inevitable truth of a loving God that fundamentally know and care for us so much that he was willing to sacrifice his Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ in order for humanity to gain permanent reconciliation and win back the path to eternal life.

 

Please do not give up, no matter how tough the situation you may be going through right now.

The “Bones Shall Rise Again” if only you believe that God understand your situation and will make a way where none seems to exist.

Instead, let us give thanks to the Lord; his love is everlasting.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for always hearing our prayers.

Today we come before you and with gratitude in our hearts once more lay down our challenges in life.

Right now some of us feel like “we can’t breathe” because of the innumerable difficulties we are facing; from within our homes, and to the outside world and we are about to give up.

Now you have spoken, and your words are truth, because you are the unchangeable God!

Grant us your infinite grace and wisdom and make us worthy of your strength and power, patience and perseverance, so that in joyful hope, we will wait patiently for your promised to come to pass!

Thank you O Lord, our GOD for hearing our petitions brought before your throne of grace and through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives in unity with You and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen!

 

Ezekiel 37, Malachi 3, Psalm 107

Podeh2016

HealthCare: AETNA PULLING OUT OF OBAMACARE!

If you live in the USA and by chance are lucky to have health insurance, then this development is as ugly as it can get! The decision by another healthcare insurance giant company, AETNA to pull out of participating in the Affordable Healthcare Act or OBAMACARE is essentially hinged on their capitalist and profiteering interests and nothing more!

The Healthcare Insurance industry is kind of the National Rifle Association of healthcare management in the United States of America! Its trademark is simply egocentrism and inhumane capitalism, cold-blooded life suckers typical of the “Merchant of Venice” era of William Shakespeare that is indifferent to the plight of the people as long as they keep making profits!

 

The careless about the people as typified in the acrimonious fight against President Barack Obama, while using the Congress to frustrate the initial scope of OBAMACARE and when they failed to derail for instance the Pre-existing clause of the Affordable Healthcare Act, they are now hell-bent on using the back door to milk the people and deprive ordinary Americans the opportunity to visit their doctor.

 

The only difference between the NRA and the Healthcare Insurance companies is the route at which they arrive at their exploitation of the ordinary citizens! Whereas the NRA wants easy assess to all types of guns, so that we can keep killing ourselves, while the smile to the banks, the Healthcare Insurance companies generally wants to deprive Americans the affordability of insurance and by so doing can astronautically and unilaterally control the cost of delivery, deny Americans insurance at will or make it so unaffordable that the middleclass will have to mortgage their lives to get the minimum healthcare possible!

 

It is a national disgrace and a colossal dogmatism on the part of the healthcare insurance industry, and in particular AETNA and their cohorts not to exercise any iota of moral compass, but instead focused extremely on their financial goals and nothing else.

As long as the profit merging does not meet their market projections, to hell with all Americans!

 

The United States of America is a country blessed with natural and human resources and as a matter of fact the number one superpower nation on earth and yet it cannot boast of providing affordable healthcare for her citizenry? This is a shame beyond imagination and perpetuated by the inimical status quo of unilaterism of capitalism as the singular foundation for doing business in the country.

 

Is the life of an American not more important than the excessive profits that these companies in the healthcare industries continue to amass?  

Is it not possible for businesses to offer their services by mingling compassion with profit making mentality?

 

In fact, words failed me to see that in a country like the United States of America that almost everyone crave to visit to say the least is among the poorest countries in the developed world in terms of the ration of healthcare insured citizens to the general population.

 

Nobody and neither am I advocating that the healthcare industry should become a charitable network; nevertheless, the level of inhumanity, acrimony and denigration of the virtues of humanity, love and compassion is just too much to ignore.

 

I thank Mr. President Barack Obama for trying to bring sanity, commonsense and humanity to the healthcare insurance industries.

Posterity shall vindicate Mr. Barack Obama for his humanistic and pragmatic articulations whenever it relates to Americans, especially the middleclass and the less privilege, considering the fact that the wealthy live at will and many are indifferent to the plight of the poor as long as it does not affect their wealth or comfort.


podeh2016


http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/healthcare/aetna-decision-exposes-weaknesses-in-obama%e2%80%99s-health-care-law/ar-BBvHR4L?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U270DHP