It is God’s will that all people live in peace. Unfortunately there have been times in history when restoring peace and ending violence and tyranny involved brave men and women going to the front lines of conflict. Tragedy, sacrifice and horrible suffering have marked these times of war. As we remember today the men and women who have lost their lives fighting for freedom and justice, let’s turn to God with our prayers for mercy, healing and peace and let’s reflect carefully on His Word.

God teaches us this:

“Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:10-12

The day will come when God will avenge and punish all injustice, cruelty and evil. My heart breaks today for the families of the children in Nigeria who were killed yesterday in a school by a suicide bomber. Please note the images in this news report are very upsetting: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29985252)

How do we fight this type of war?

God can stop this type of senseless violence and we must commit to working with God to end this carnage of innocent, precious lives! We must spread the Word of God to the very ends of the earth. We must use every communications tool at our disposal, especially digital communications tools that are so pervasive, to try to evangelize and convert people into committing to peace, human rights and freedom of expression for all.

Education for all children must be a global commitment we stand for and live up to. No child should be killed while they are trying to go to school! Every child should have the chance to learn, to play, to be protected and respected because they are precious to God! As we stand in remembrance of all who have fought wars for freedom, we must understand that this very day we are all called to fight a war against injustice, against violence and oppression.

You may thinking: “Ok, but how do I do that?”

This is what we need to do: we must pray to God who is all-powerful for God can convert people of violence into people of nonviolence. We must spread the Word of God using both formal and informal communications networks and make God’s will known to all!

Jesus is God! Jesus is Our Lord and Saviour and He too experienced horrible violence on earth as He was crucified. Jesus had no sin, yet He bravely endured the injustice of our sins by allowing Himself to be crucified for us, so that we could one day live eternally with Him in heaven.

Let’s commit to remembering the Passion of Christ everyday at the sacred time, 3pm, in our respective local time zones and let’s pray together for peace and conversion. Three o’clock is the time Jesus died on the Cross for us, so that we could be free to live with Him forever! Jesus wants to help us to restore peace on earth. It is God’s will that we pray and trust in His omnipotence, in His benevolence, in His wisdom.

Almighty God, my heart breaks that there continues to be so much senseless violence on earth. My heart hurts to see the carnage of these poor innocent children in Nigeria! HELP US MIGHTY LORD! Help us to send a message of peace to all who have been deceived by Satan in believing that You want them to kill. May Your Holy Will gentle Jesus be known by all. Help all violent people to understand that “They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.” 1 Peter 3:11