Last Sunday two bombs exploded at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Philippines. Twenty-two people were killed and more than 100 injured. Islamic state has claimed responsibility for this attack and the press is reporting the likelihood of two suicide bombings.

Let us pray the words of Psalm 72:14 together for the people of the Philippines:

“He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” Psalm 72:14

How offended God is by the killing of innocent people!

“The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.” Psalm 11:5

It is important to do more than grieve these assaults on innocent lives. We must remember that we are all called to be peacemakers.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Words of Jesus, Matthew 5:9)

Every disciple of Christ and child of God is called to fight the ‘good fight of faith’.  This battle is a battle between good and evil and it is only won with God’s grace – alone we cannot do anything. Each of us impacts our global condition by the choices we make and these choices impact the overall state of grace of the world.

In this post let’s reflect on how we can silence evil in our world by stepping up to our responsibility as peacemakers.

What’s needed to silence evil in our world?

The answer in one word is GRACE!

Grace in its most simple definition is God’s Blessing and Favour. God’s grace or God’s blessing may come in many different forms. It consists of God’s forgiveness, God’s enlightenment and inspiration, God’s encouragement and strength, God’s comfort, God’s holy power and love transforming and saving the soul. The Holy Spirit gives us God’s grace so “let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Obtaining God’s grace requires that we be in a relationship with God that honours His Holy Will. When people turn away from God they turn away from the source of God’s grace, Jesus Christ – Saviour of the World. As sin in our world increases, the supply of God’s grace decreases and the price to humanity escalates as market economies collapse, jobs are lost, corruption and violence increase, people become more depressed, diseases and famines spread, wars increase, terror networks expand, sexual immorality grows etc.

Every day we are in a battle of good and evil.

Love is a choice to do good. In the choice called love we honour God and give Him glory.

Evil is a choice to sin; it is a choice that pleases Satan and dishonours God.

The more people sin, the more the world is disconnected from God and God’s grace. If we want to increase the supply of God’s grace then we must cooperate with God’s will.

If we were able to see with spiritual eyes we would see that the battle between good and evil is fought with ‘angels and demons’ at our sides. If you believe in God then understand that God created angels to assist mankind in giving Him glory. Demons are angels that have fallen; they choose to fight against God as they strive to possess souls and enable them to commit the most horrific forms of evil, e.g., terror attacks.

The principal angel that wanted to be ‘like God’ is Satan.

Satan said, “I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.”  Isaiah 14:14

“The great dragon was hurled down–that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”  Revelation 12:9

The battle of good and evil is a battle that is fought between God (Jesus Christ) and Satan, between God’s angels and Satan’s demons and between the children of God/disciples of Jesus Christ and the children of Satan/disciples of the devil.

Spiritual warfare is a battle that aims at eliminating the root cause of evil. It is a battle that understands that there is a demonic force in the world that seduces and assists people in committing sin of every sort: abortion, rape, child abuse, prostitution, human/drug trafficking, corruption, war, terror, murder, sexual immorality etc. – the list goes on and on.

The more we love and stay connected to God, honouring His Holy Will the more God blesses us and supplies us with the grace to continue to love. But the more people sin the more people are cut off from the source of God’s grace – Jesus Christ (True God, True Man).  As sin increases, demons become stronger as they prevail in the spiritual battle between good and evil and the price to mankind escalates.

Jesus Christ said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14

Jesus Christ commanded us to do this:  “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Matthew 5:44

Are you praying for the leaders of all countries that God may assist them in creating peace in our world?

When we pray for someone who is persecuting or threatening us we are calling upon God’s grace and power to silence the demon responsible for the evil. When God’s grace silences the demonic force, the result is spiritual conversion and an end to violence. This is spiritual warfare. It is not fought with guns, it is fought with God’s grace and it is aimed at invisible demons that can only be stopped through the omnipotence of God.

Spiritual battles are won we do this: LOVE, REPENT, FORGIVE, TURN AWAY FROM SIN, BE CHARITABLE, THANK AND PRAISE GOD, LIFT ONE ANOTHER UP WITH KINDNESS AND MERCY, COMMIT TO JUSTICE AND PEACE AND PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!

This is a warning from God:

“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskins of your heart, …Or else My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.” Jeremiah 4:4

When we remove the foreskin of our heart’s, we can no longer be untouched by the suffering in our world!  We cannot blindly ignore our responsibility to be peacemakers, to be charitable, to be merciful and just.

God gives us a formula to bring the world back into a state of grace (i.e., peace and prosperity) and it requires ACTION ON OUR PART!

God promises this,

“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

God is telling us in this Scripture to trust Him. Humility commences when we bow down to God’s greatness and acknowledge our infinite need for His grace and our inability to succeed without Him. We must pray for those that are persecuting and hurting innocent people in our world, because this is how we silence the demonic force that has taken them captive and is motivating the horrific violence we are seeing in our world.

When we seek God’s face, we seek a relationship with Him, acknowledging His importance in our life. If we confess our sins and turn away from a sinful life, God will begin to shower us with His grace and that grace begins with His forgiveness and culminates with His healing upon our life.

The formula for personal transformation and global transformation is the same formula.

1. We must come back to God and acknowledge our sinfulness. We must confess our sins and ask God to forgive us.
2. We must pray not only for ourselves but for all souls (including our enemies) so that our world can be brought into a perfect peace with God.  Remember only God’s grace restores peace in our hearts and in our world.
3. We must live in a continual state of ‘spiritual discernment’ as we make the choice called LOVE. This means we must be ever mindful that we are making choices that are pleasing God. We must keep praying for God’s grace to give Him glory by being humble, charitable, merciful, forgiving and just.

If you want to help God fight the forces of evil in the world, then you must commit to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Be baptized in Christ and He will give you a ‘new heart’ and a ‘new Spirit’.

“Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Ezekiel 18:31-32

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”  Ezekiel 36:26-27

Every day renew your consecration to Jesus Christ as you dedicate your life to Him. Jesus is our leader in the spiritual battle. Grace comes from Jesus Christ.

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9

With grace comes faith and with faith comes responsibility to pursue the Holy Will of God each and every day.

Join The Mercy Movement, a prayer movement to restore our relationship with God and silence the forces of evil in the world. We are calling all Christians to unite in prayer at the time Our Lord Jesus died for us, 3pm, each of us in our local time zones EVERY DAY!  At this time remember the Passion of Our Saviour Jesus Christ and pray for all souls, especially for those most in need of God’s mercy.  Pray for peace as we come together to pray for God’s grace upon all so that the demons of darkness in our world will be stopped through the omnipotence of God.  Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to restore peace, changing our hearts, our lives and our world.

Holy Lord, “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you!” Job 42:2

Help us Jesus to live in accordance to Your Holy Will. Help us to repent and turn away from sin. Please stop the demonic force that is causing terror, war and destruction!   Give us the courage and the zeal to proclaim Your Holy Word and to live it each and every day as we hold Your hand and live our lives with You and in You.  I love You Jesus!  You are my Heart’s Desire!