December 31/2011
With the beginning of the new year 2012, let us all ask almighty God genuinely to shower on every one the graces of health, prosperity, peace, faith, and hope
Let us all put our burdens, pain, sickness, deprivation, persecution, separation, broken hearts, disappointments, frustrations, bereavements, injustice, abandonment, and anger in the hands of Almighty God and follow the teachings of His Gospel. God, with his gracious wisdom and abundant generosity, shall definitely see in every way possible that we all safely overcome with faith and hope all kinds of failure temptations, hardships and difficulties. Let us all trust in Him and recognize that we are all His beloved children and that He has created us in his image.
Romans 8:16-19: "The Spirit himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then
heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with
him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that
is to be revealed in us. For the creation waits with
eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God."
We should doubt God's deep love for each and every one of us. How could He
not, as He sent his only son, Jesus Christ to defeat death, give us the
eternal life, suffer and be crucified so we, His children, can become
purified and absolved from the original sin and be helped to walk safely the
path of eternal salvation.
John 3:2 :
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet
appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we
shall see Him as He is".
Let us ask Almighty God to help us live in peace and harmony with ourselves
and others. Lead our steps into the righteous paths and grant us the
strength of endurance and hold us back from the sin of hurting or hating
others. Grant us the graces of love, meekness, humbleness, transparency,
honesty and forgiveness. Maintain our hearts and minds pure, and free from
grudges and selfishness. Help us to remember that vengeance is evil and
forgiveness is a Godly grace. Not allow vengeance to take control of our
lives.
Being faithful to God's holy teachings, is being loving
and forgiving. For when we trust God and believe in His justice, we ought to
leave Him punish those who are evil. (Matthew 13:43): "Then the righteous
will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
He who has ears, let him hear".
God's teachings in regards to vengeance is very clear .
Romans 12:19-21: "Beloved, never avenge
yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance
is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is
hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so
doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good."
This verse frees us from the burden of taking justice into our own hands. It
tells us "Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it
is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ God will repay
those who are righteous"..
Since God is going to take up our cause and see to it that justice is done,
we should lay it down, work hard not to succumb to our human destructive and
evil instincts.
We don’t have to carry anger, bitterness,
resentment or revenge no matter what is our burden because refusal to
forgive will make it impossible for us to understand and experience the
forgiveness of God for us. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Forgive us
our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). Then
commenting on that prayer, Jesus said, "For if you forgive men when they sin
against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not
forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew
6:14-15).
Saint Paul says leave it to the wrath of God.
”Then the wrath of God is defined further as God’s vengeance, “Vengeance is
mine.” So wrath is connected with God’s response to something that deserves
vengeance. And then it says, “I will repay.”
So God’s wrath is treated as a repayment to man for something man has done.
This simply means that the wrath of God is God’s settled anger toward sin
expressed in the repayment of suitable vengeance on the guilty sinner.
God will and shall see that justice is done on the Day of Judgment. So let
us be forgiving and avoid any sort of vengeance.
Daniel 12:2-3: "And many of those who sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to
shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the
brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like
the stars forever and ever".
With the 2012 new year, let us pray from the
depth of our hearts for all those who hate and hold grudges against us. Let
us ask almighty God to cure them from these evil ailments and grant us the
grace of forgiveness and the strength of faith to keep
loving them.
No one should forget that our live on this earth is too short, and that we
must be righteous to deserve the eternal one in Heaven where there will be
no pain or fights, but happiness and peace.
Corinthians 2:2-10: "But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear
heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who
love him"--these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the
spirit searches everything, even the depths of God".
O Lord may your peace, your true love, your eternal and divine graces be with us and among us all the days of the 2012 new year and we will offer glory and thanksgiving to you, now and forever.
Happy New Year
*Elias Bejjani
*Canadian-Lebanese Human Rights activist, journalist and political
commentator
*Email phoenicia@hotmail.com
*Web sites http://www.10452lccc.com &
http://www.clhrf.com
*Mailing phoenicia group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Phoenicia/.