Death is a reality. Death is inescapable. Death is inevitable
and it is the last enemy of mankind to be destroyed by Christ only at the end
of age. As long as sin reigns in the world, death follows like a shadow,
everyone who is tainted by it.
The main headlines in the newspapers today have at least one
or more article pertaining to death. The latest tragic incident involves the
death of twenty children and six adults in a shooting rampage in the state of
Conneticut which has shocked not just the nation but the world as a whole. With
Christmas just a few days away, for the families who have lost a loved one, it
is going to be a very cold and bitter winter. How can we explain to our children that
what they see with their innocent eyes is not reality but just an illusion. The words of Westhampton Beach Superintendent
Mike Radday echo above the tears and cries of those who have lost one of their
own, “It is important for parents to reassure their children that school
is a safe place.” But
the reality is written in blood on the walls and floors of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
One may ask do we have souls and if so where
do we go when we die. Where would the souls of the those children have gone to? Some people may say, “Oh they were just another DNA
transferring machine. They have no souls and when they die they cease to exist.
Some may say, “Those are the children of Kafirs
and as such their place is in hell and that’s where they have probably gone
to.” Yet some may say, “It is but Karma, these people deserved what they got
and it is no problem, death is but a release of the soul from the body to
reincarnate again into another till they reach nirvana.”
Jeremiah 19:4-5 states that children
are innocent. The Bible also says that children cannot discern between good and
evil. Deuteronomy 1:39 - And the little ones that you said would
be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will
enter the land. I will give it. There is an implication in Job 3:16-17 that these
who are innocent and cannot discern good from bad will go to heaven should
death come upon them at this age. But most comforting of all is the very words
of Jesus when He said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are
converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of
heaven." And on another occasion He rebuked the disciples when they
stopped children being brought to Him for blessings by saying, “Let the
children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as these." All I can say is that those young
innocent children might be resting in the lap of Jesus right now.
But one may wonder why this has taken place and why God has
allowed for it to take place. God never created a world with evil. He created everything
perfect, yet it was the choices that we made that allowed sin to take control and death
to engulf us. It is always the choices that we make. God is not in the
occupation of forcing you to love Him or serve Him…He has given you the choice.
There is a good choice and there is a bad choice and the outcome of your future
lies on the choices you make. Now you may wonder how can I know or make the
right choices. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16 - All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
Yes, you need to turn to the Bible to know if you are making the right choices
as per the will of God for your life.
Isaiah 55:7 says, “Let
the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the
LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares
the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
But then again God cannot enforce his will and thoughts upon
you, unless you are willing to obey and follow His instructions, His plans to
prosper you will delay or may never take fruition if you stand in opposition to
the good will and plans God has set for you even before the beginning of time. It
is always about our choices. I don’t know what kind of a man Mike Huckabee,
Fox News commentator and former Arkansas
governor is, but I do believe that he is right when he says, “We ask why
there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from
our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of
carnage? We've made it [public schools] a place where we don't want to talk
about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability - that we're
not just going to have be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one
day we stand before, you know, a holy God in judgment. If we don't believe
that, then we don't fear that."
And with that I leave you with an interesting example of
choices made and their outcome taken from
What Happens When You Take God Out Of Schools
Makes you think.......
In light of the
recent shooting in Massachusetts, let's see, I think it started when Madeline
Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said
OK.
Then someone
said you better not read the Bible in school.... the Bible that says thou shalt
not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said
OK.
Dr. Benjamin
Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their
little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And
we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we said OK, we won't
spank them anymore.
Then someone
said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they
misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school
better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity,
and we surely don't want to be sued. (There's a big difference between
disciplining and touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.) And
we accepted their reasoning.
Then someone
said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want,and they won't even
have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea.
Then some wise
school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it
anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the
fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at
school. And we said, that's another great idea.
Then some of
our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long
as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what
anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and
the economy is good.
And then
someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women (and nude men)
and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female
and male body. And we said we have no problem with that.
And someone
else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude
children and then stepped further still by making them available on the
internet. And we said they're entitled to their free speech.
And the
entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote
profanity, violence, and illicit sex.
And let's
record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes.
And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes
it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.
Now we're
asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right
from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates,
and themselves.
Probably, if we
think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a
great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Dear God,
Why didn't you
save the little girl in Michigan?
Sincerely,
Concerned
Student
AND THE REPLY
Dear Concerned
Student,
I am not
allowed in schools.
Sincerely,
God
Funny how
simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to
hell.
Funny how we
believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny how
everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think,
say, or do anything the Bible says.
Funny how
someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan who, by the
way, also "believes" in God.
Funny how we
are quick to judge but not to be judged.
Funny how you
can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but
when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about
sharing.
Funny how the
lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public
discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Funny how
someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian
the rest of the week.
Are you
laughing?
Funny how when
you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address
list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you
for sending it to them.
Funny how I can
be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.
Are you
thinking?
Pass it on if
you think it has merit! If not then just discard it....no one will ever know
what you did, for sure. But, if you discard this thought process, then don't
sit back and complain about what a bad shape the world is in.....
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