When Jesus was on earth He explained how difficult it was for people of affluence to enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10: 24-27

We human beings are often our own worst enemies! We have a natural tendency to rely on our own strength, trusting in our own abilities, failing to recognize our profound need for God’s grace and divine intervention.   Our affluence and our arrogance coupled together create an illusion that we can conquer all problems on our own. This horrible deception often results in human beings never realizing their potential and this limits the well being of the entire world.

Let me offer an example. World military spending totaled more than $1.6 trillion in 2015. The U.S. alone accounted for 37 percent of the total. (Source: nationalpriorities.org) Yet in spite of the trillions of dollars spent on defense the world never seems to find peace. In spite of a very rich military investment, global unrest, violence and war continue to increase.

Why?

“With man this (peace) is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27

Why is it that too often human beings need to be humbled by suffering before mankind calls for the assistance of God?

How much suffering does the world need to endure before we begin to realize we need God’s help?

It is often, unfortunately, only as we begin to acknowledge our failure to achieve our goals that we begin to humble ourselves to consider that we need to look to God for answers.

Let’s explore then what are the seeds of global peace and let’s consider how we can work with God to change our world and fulfill our human potential.

All of us are called to be children of God, but God does not force anyone to be His. To honour and obey God is a choice called LOVE. Conversion to Christianity is never forced on anyone. Our spiritual journey must be marked by our free consent to God’s Holy Will. A successful spiritual life is not a life of monetary affluence or influence, it is a life defined by trusting in God, living in communion with Him, surrendered to God’s Holy Will and God’s Holy Way. A successful life is a life blessed by God dedicated to His glory.

God wants to bless us and prepare us to enjoy our eternal inheritance in heaven. We need to understand that we cannot ‘save’ ourselves, nor can we make our lives right with God without God’s divine intervention and the saving grace of Our Saviour Jesus Christ.

One of my favourite spiritual role models in addition to Jesus Christ is the Virgin Mary. She was chosen to be the Mother of God’s Only Son, Jesus Christ. God however did not force His Will upon her; He first awaited her consent to His Will before God would be made flesh within her. Upon hearing from the Angel Gabriel that she was chosen to be the Mother of God incarnate, the Virgin Mary gave God her unconditional consent to His Will by saying: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38

The Virgin Mary surrendered her life to God and consented to His Holy Will.   God chose her knowing full well that she would be faithful to Him. Recall that God spoke of the Virgin Mary to Satan in the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. After the fall of Adam and Eve, God entered the Garden of Eden to tell Satan of His plan of salvation.

God said, “And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman (Virgin Mary), and between your offspring (followers of Satan) and hers (Jesus and His disciples); he (Jesus) will crush your head, and you (Satan) will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Enmity is a powerful force of opposition that exists between the forces of good and the forces of evil. God is the source of all that is good and holy, but Satan is the source of all that is evil and unholy. God made it perfectly clear right from the beginning of creation that His Son Jesus Christ will destroy the power of the devil by crushing his head, while Satan would strike Jesus’ heel in the crucifixion.

If we want to create peace in our hearts and in our world and destroy the power of evil we must be prepared to do what the Virgin Mary did, we must be ready to give our lives to God and give an unconditional consent to His Holy Will, trusting in Jesus. Recall that the Virgin Mary was filled by God’s grace and remained faithful to God by trusting in Him and submitting to His Holy Will. Jesus acknowledged her fidelity by telling His disciples what made her special. “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:50  What truly made the Virgin Mary precious to God was that she embraced God’s Holy Will.

At the end of our life, success in God’s eyes will simply be a question of ‘did we do God’s will’ or ‘did we do Satan’s will’?

St. Paul tells us that “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13

God in us, the power of the Holy Spirit in us, enables us to both understand God’s Will and to do God’s Will in our life.

TRUE FAITH IN ACTION – therein lie the seeds of global peace and the summit of our existence as children of God!

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” Acts 16:31

The name ‘Jesus’ means ‘God saves’. ‘Christ’ means ‘anointed’ or ‘chosen’. Jesus Christ is God-incarnate, the living God, One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, chosen to save us from our sins and to sanctify our lives.

God’s plan of salvation was not just to cleanse us from our sins but also to engage us in His plan of salvation so that we could powerfully oppose all that is unholy in our world.

Purification plus sanctification comes through the power of the Holy Blood of Jesus, the infinite merits of His sacrifice and the power of the Holy Spirit of God living within us.

We cannot succeed as disciples of Jesus Christ until we consecrate ourselves to God, living to serve and to love Him and one another. The Holy Spirit of God living within us enables this consecration or dedication to God. God has helped me to understand that I cannot do anything without Him; I know I must remain in an intimate communion with Him to succeed. Jesus describes this communion like this:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

Let me tell you of my gardening experience this year to share with you a lesson God taught me.

Now that I live in the country I have been planting a vegetable garden for the past three years. The first year we were very ambitious, researching and purchasing organic seeds. We started by planting tiny little seeds in little pots that would commence their life in a sunny warm indoor setting, to yield little plants that would ultimately be planted in our garden outdoors. The process was slow but ultimately very fruitful.

This year we were not so ambitious. We went to the garden center and saw some fairly large tomato plants with fruit already on the plants. I thought wow this will be easy this year. Never mind the seeds, we’ll have ripe tomatoes in a matter of weeks.

So we planted the tomato plants in our garden, and only a few days later some unknown animal attacked our garden in the night. The predators ate everything–fruit and plant. I was disappointed; my garden was destroyed. A couple of months passed and I decided I would try to plant some lettuce. The garden was now overgrown with weeds, as I had ignored it. We commenced removing the weeds when to my surprise there they were – tomato plants with green tomatoes on them hiding among the weeds. While the animals had eaten the plant, the root of the plant was strong enough to regenerate it!

Friends of God – True Faith in Action is like the root of the plant that keeps persevering and fighting to survive and prosper even when all seems lost.

True faith never dies, even in the midst of tragedy. Even when all seems lost, true faith keeps on fighting the good fight of faith.

I often think of the wars all around the world where it must seem on the ground like all is lost. People are displaced, some living in refugee tents, some people have died tragic, horrible deaths. Homes and infrastructure have been destroyed, yet people with faith keep their eyes fixed on the eternal horizon and on Jesus Christ and with hope and with love keep fighting for new beginnings, positive transformations and regeneration.

All things are possible for God! The question is will we be as faithful as the root of the little tomato plant that kept on fighting to survive and regenerate the plant through the grace of God? The root gave itself to God. I did not help it because I thought it had died. Even in a very arid summer, under difficult growing conditions, the root managed to stay alive and to grow and prosper.

Will you believe the words of this Scripture?

This is God’s promise:

God said, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Do you understand why God is asking us to seek His face?

Think about the times when only a face-to-face meeting will do.  You need to discuss something important and your relationship with that person is important to you.  Jesus wants a personal relationship with each of us.  He wants to live in an intimate relationship with us.  Jesus does not want to only be consulted occasionally; He wants us to recognize that He wants to live in us and help us in each moment of our life so that we can achieve our potential as children of God.

I invite you to BELIEVE UNCONDITIONALLY in the power of God, for in God is the promise of our global restoration and the promise of the salvation of our souls through the grace of Jesus Christ!  We need to ask Jesus for faith, because faith is the root of the tree that will never give up fighting for love to bear fruit.

Faith is a gift from God. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are showered upon us in abundance if we ask for them. How pleased is Our Lord of love and peace to shower His people with His blessings? Infinitely pleased!

Let us empty ourselves of all arrogance and truly humble ourselves acknowledging that the answers we are seeking will not come from the world throwing more money at its problems!   Let’s trust in Jesus as we go to Him like the little vulnerable branch that wishes to stay intimately connected to the vine in order to prosper. Let us believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to restore our world. Our world must behave like the little tomato plant that gave itself to God in hardship and relied on God to supply the necessary nourishment to restore it.

The world needs God’s grace!

PLEASE JOIN Christians all over the world that are doing what God asked us to do.  We are praying for God’s Love and God’s Grace to change our world. We are calling all Christians to join us in a humble prayer at the time Jesus died for us, 3pm, in our local time zones. At this time we are seeking God’s face as we contemplate the Passion of Christ, remembering how much Our Holy Lord Jesus suffered to save us.

Let us seek the crucified face of Jesus Christ as we remember the infinite price Jesus paid to save us and to sanctify us.  When you look at the crucified face of Jesus Christ, you will understand how much He loves you!  And this love will enable you to reject sin and repent.

“We love because He first loved us!” 1 John 4:19

Let us renew our consecration and promise to love God and one another ON A DAILY BASIS AT THE HOUR OF MERCY (the time Jesus died for us, 3pm) as we pray for the Holy Spirit of God to be poured out upon us and upon all flesh so that all souls can be brought to repentance and saved by Jesus and so that souls can be purified and sanctified so that we can restore our world through the infinite love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Learn more about The Mercy Movement, a historic peace movement, and the first of its kind where Christians of all denominations are coming together to stand united in prayer against the power of evil by calling upon the omnipotent power of Jesus Christ. For God all things are possible! Let’s hold the hand of Our Lord Jesus, let’s unite as children of God and pray and believe for God all things are possible!