PRIESTS OFTEN GET ASKED, 'IF THERE IS A GOD, HOW CAN HE ALLOW SO MUCH SUFFERING?'
The Scriptures - the spiritual history of our human race - tells us that humanity turned away from God in order to follow a new, self-chosen path.
God did not turn away from humanity.
God, the first parent, suffered the pain many subsequent parents have undergone - the heartache of a rebellious child who rejects the very inheritance given with so much love and forethought to ease the future.
We have been promised by God - again according to the Scriptures and the eyewitness testimony of the prophets and the Son of God - that this state of affairs will not continue indefinitely.
God is allowing humanity the freedom to run events according to human home rule.
And every newspaper every day reports on the results. Variable to say the least.
For thousands of years, the human family has suffered greatly from wars, poverty, disasters, crimes, injustices, sickness and death.
This will end. God's Word, the Bible, proclaims that God's intervention will bring about the downfall of satan's troubling attempts to win final rulership over humanity.
'The wicked one will be no more ... But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.' [Psalm 37: verses 10 to 11].
How did suffering start?
When God created man and woman - Adam and Eve - He made them perfect in body, spirit and mind. He placed them in a paradisic garden, and gave them satisfying work to do.
If humanity had been content to live according to the Plan God had mapped out for them, well, all the troubles we read about every day - and often experience - would not have occurred.
But God had implanted in Adam and Eve the ultimate gift - that of completely free will.
They were thus not to be mindless robots, but unique creations in charge of their own destiny.
However, their continued happiness - and that of their descendants - depended upon their using their free will in the right way - to obey God's Law.
They used their free will in choosing the guidance of satan above that of God, and thus began the great drift, the spiritual divide, that occurred between God and His human family.
Misuse of free will has often led to catastrophe; humans, it seems, were not created to be very successful independent of their Parent, God.
Humanity's pull away from God included pulling away from His sustenance and counsel. Suffering became endemic, age affected humanity and death entered the world.
Humanity's divorce from God
God is giving humanity plenty of time to see the results of the human experiment with total self rule.
God has given many thousands of years for humanity to try all types of political, social, economic and religious systems apart from God's guidance.
The results have shown much suffering. Murder, millions slaughtered in wars, crime and violence are rampant. Drug abuse is an epidemic. Sexually transmitted diseases cause emotional and physical suffering, in some cases death. Family life and moral values have in various cases broken down.
Human governments have not been able to solve all the problems which face their constituents.
No one has ever been able to overcome sickness, aging and death.
The Final Kingdom
Jesus Christ came to earth to claim us for the Kingdom of God. He healed the breach between humanity and God. He taught us how to prepare for life in the eternal Kingdom.
At His Second Coming, Jesus will come again in power and glory, to rule all humanity for eternity.
Biblical prophecy tells us, 'In the days of those Kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom in heaven that will never be brought to ruin. It will crush and put an end to all those kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.' Daniel 2:44
Why not accept Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Saviour?
This world will pass away for each one of us. Each of us has a lifespan which will end. We know that there is another world hereafter, and we - with our individual free will - have the right and responsibility to make a choice whether we wish to live unending eternity with our God Parent or in banishment from His Love and His Kingdom.Why not make the best decision you have ever made in your life for your future?
Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, follow His teachings and thus prepare well for your eternal future.
DO YOU WANT TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOUR?
It couldn't be simpler.
Just close your eyes, calm your breathing, and recite the following prayer dedicating yourself body, mind, spirit and soul to the Son of God Who gave His Life for you.
"Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, that you died on the cross to rescue me from sin and death and to restore me to the Father.
I choose now to turn from my sins, my self-centeredness, and every part of my life that does not please you.
I choose you.
I give myself to you.
I receive your forgiveness and ask You to take Your rightful place in my life as my Saviour and Lord.
Come and reign as King in my heart.
Fill me with Your Love and Your Life.
Help me to become a person like You - a person who is truly loving, respectful of life and obedient to the Commandments of God the Father.
Restore me, Jesus.
Live in me.
Love through me.
Thank you, God.
In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen."
Now pray Christ's own prayer
Pray the following words as Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us;
"Our Father,
Who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day
Our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, Amen."
Take time to pray
Take time to pray. Prayer is easy; just talk silently within yourself to Jesus. Tell Him your fears. Tell Him your tears. Tell Him your worries, your sins, your hopes, your joys.
He wants to be your Friend.
The One Who always supports you, whether anyone else does or not.
The One Who always loves you, whether those who should love you do or not.
The One Who wipes away every tear, calms every fear, and unerringly leads us to our Heavenly Port in Heaven when earth's tempest is done.
Now seek Baptism
Now find a good and trustworthy priest, seek baptism, and be baptised in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
And go forth to become a saint.
The most holy version of the unique you God called into being.
Congratulations on your new life in Christ!
The Service of Baptism
http://lumierecharity.blogspot.ie/2011/12/module-4-service-of-baptism.html
How to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour: Prayer Chapel
http://churchinterfaith.blogspot.ie/2016/06/how-to-receive-jesus-christ-as-your.html
