₦airaland Forum

brocab:
OK I WILL MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR YOU TO READ, THEY CAN'T FIND JESUS, LET ALONE GETTING TO KNOW HIM. ONE WOULD THINK CATHOLIC'S WOULD KNOW WHOM THEY WORSHIP MORE THEN THE REST OF THE WORLD, BUT THEY DON'T. THIS IS WHY JESUS HAD CALLED HIS OWN CHURCH OUT FROM THEM. SO WE DON'T WORSHIP AN UNKNOWN GOD.

Question: did Catholic pray in Mary name

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"Spiritual works of mercy" which concern the spiritual needs of others.
Seven spiritual works Just as the corporal works of mercy are directed towards relieving corporeal suffering, the aim of the spiritual works of mercy is to relieve spiritual suffering.
The latter works are traditionally enumerated thus:
1. To instruct the ignorant.
2. To counsel the doubtful.
3. To admonish sinners.
4. To bear wrongs patiently.
5. To forgive offences willingly.
6. To comfort the afflicted.
7. To pray for the living and the dead
Though generally enjoined upon all the faithful, often, in particular cases, a given individual will not be obligated or even competent to perform four of the seven spiritual works of mercy, namely: instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, admonishing sinners, and comforting the afflicted. These works may require a definitely superior level of authority or knowledge or an extraordinary amount of tact.
The other three works - bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving offences willingly, praying for the living and the dead - are considered to be an obligation of all faithful to practise unconditionally.

"Corporal works of mercy" which concern
the material needs of others.


Corporal works of mercy are those that tend
to bodily needs of others. Iln Matthew
25:34-40 , in the The Judgment of Nations , six
specific Works of Mercy are enumerated,
although not this precise list — as the reason
for the salvation of the saved, and the
omission of them as the reason for
damnation. The last work of mercy, burying
the dead, comes from the Book Tobit


1. To feed the hungry.

2. To give drink to the thirsty.

3. To clothe the naked.

4. To harbor the harborless (Presently
interpreted as Shelter the Homeless ).

5. To visit the sick.

6. To ransom the captive (Presently
interpreted as Visit the Imprisoned ).

7. To bury the dead.

who tell u that Catholic are worshiping mary.
capital NO

we worship God and honor mary

a state of purification for the bible say. "nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven" (Rev. 21:27)

that mean you people are going against the really present of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist[body and blood of Jesus Christ]

sorry try to read bible and understand it

who are you to judge the church of God

when reading my Bible today am studying about judgment but with the help of holy spirit I can see that there is two judgment, let me go straight to the point.

Two Judgments
When we die, we undergo what is called the
particular, or individual, judgment. Scripture says
that

"it is appointed for men to die once, and
after that comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27).

We are judged instantly and receive our reward, for good
or ill. We know at once what our final destiny
will be.

At the end of time, when Jesus returns,
there will come the general judgment to which
the Bible refers, for example,

in Matthew
25:31-32: "When the Son of man comes in his
glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit
on his glorious throne. Before him will be
gathered all the nations, and he will separate
them one from another as a shepherd separates
the sheep from the goats."

In this general judgment all our sins will be publicly revealed
(Luke 12:2–5).

pls drop your comment about two judgment

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a "purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven," which is experienced by those "who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" (CCC 1030). It notes that "this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned" (CCC 1031).
The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.

Two Judgments
When we die, we undergo what is called the particular, or individual, judgment. Scripture says that "it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Heb. 9:27). We are judged instantly and receive our reward, for good or ill. We know at once what our final destiny will be. At the end of time, when Jesus returns, there will come the general judgment to which the Bible refers, for example, in Matthew 25:31-32: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." In this general judgment all our sins will be publicly revealed (Luke 12:2–5).
Augustine said, in The City of God , that "temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then; but all of them before that last and strictest judgment" (21:13). It is between the particular and general judgments, then, that the soul is purified of the remaining consequences of sin: "I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper" (Luke 12:59).
Money, Money, Money
One argument anti-Catholics often use to attack purgatory is the idea that the Catholic Church makes money from promulgating the doctrine. Without purgatory, the claim asserts, the Church would go broke. Any number of anti-Catholic books claim the Church owes the majority of its wealth to this doctrine. But the numbers just don’t add up.
When a Catholic requests a memorial Mass for the dead—that is, a Mass said for the benefit of someone in purgatory—it is customary to give the parish priest a stipend, on the principles that the laborer is worth his hire (Luke 10:7) and that those who preside at the altar share the altar’s offerings (1 Cor. 9:13–14). In the United States, a stipend is commonly around five dollars; but the indigent do not have to pay anything. A few people, of course, freely offer more. This money goes to the parish priest, and priests are only allowed to receive one such stipend per day. No one gets rich on five dollars a day, and certainly not the Church, which does not receive the money anyway.
But look at what happens on a Sunday. There are often hundreds of people at Mass. In a crowded parish, there may be thousands. Many families and individuals deposit five dollars or more into the collection basket; others deposit less. A few give much more. A parish might have four or five or six Masses on a Sunday. The total from the Sunday collections far surpasses the paltry amount received from the memorial Masses.
A Catholic "Invention"?
Fundamentalists may be fond of saying the Catholic Church "invented" the doctrine of purgatory to make money, but they have difficulty saying just when. Most professional anti-Catholics—the ones who make their living attacking "Romanism"—seem to place the blame on Pope Gregory the Great, who reigned from A.D. 590–604.
But that hardly accounts for the request of Monica, mother of Augustine, who asked her son, in the fourth century, to remember her soul in his Masses. This would make no sense if she thought her soul would not benefit from prayers, as would be the case if she were in hell or in the full glory of heaven.
Nor does ascribing the doctrine to Gregory explain the graffiti in the catacombs, where Christians during the persecutions of the first three centuries recorded prayers for the dead.

Indeed, some of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament, like the Acts of Paul and Thecla and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity (both written during the second century), refer to the Christian practice of praying for the dead. Such prayers would have been offered only if Christians believed in purgatory, even if they did not use that name for it. (See Catholic Answers’ Fathers Know Best tract The Existence of Purgatory for quotations from these and other early Christian sources.)
Why No Protests?
Whenever a date is set for the "invention" of purgatory, you can point to historical evidence to show the doctrine was in existence before that date. Besides, if at some point the doctrine was pulled out of a clerical hat, why does ecclesiastical history record no protest against it? A study of the history of doctrines indicates that Christians in the first centuries were up in arms (sometimes quite literally) if anyone suggested the least change in beliefs. They were extremely conservative people who tested a doctrine’s truth by asking, Was this believed by our ancestors? Was it handed on from the apostles? Surely belief in purgatory would be considered a great change, if it had not been believed from the first
—so where are the records of protests?
They don’t exist. There is no hint at all, in the oldest writings available to us (or in later ones, for that matter), that "true believers" in the immediate post-apostolic years spoke of purgatory as a novel doctrine. They must have understood that the oral teaching of the apostles, what Catholics call tradition, and the Bible not only failed to contradict the doctrine, but, in fact, confirmed it.
It is no wonder, then, that those who deny the existence of purgatory tend to touch upon only briefly the history of the belief. They prefer to claim that the Bible speaks only of heaven and hell. Wrong. It speaks plainly of a third condition, commonly called the limbo of the Fathers, where the just who had died before the redemption were waiting for heaven to be opened to them. After his death and before his resurrection, Christ visited those experiencing the limbo of the Fathers and preached to them the good news that heaven would now be opened to them (1 Pet. 3:19). These people thus were not in heaven, but neither were they experiencing the torments of hell.

Some have speculated that the limbo of the Fathers is the same as purgatory. This may or may not be the case. However, even if the limbo of the Fathers is not purgatory, its existence shows that a temporary, intermediate state is not contrary to Scripture. Look at it this way. If the limbo of the Fathers was purgatory, then this one verse directly teaches the existence of purgatory. If the limbo of the Fathers was a different temporary state, then the Bible at least says such a state can exist. It proves there can be more than just heaven and hell.

"Purgatory Not in Scripture"
Some Fundamentalists also charge, as though it actually proved something, "The word purgatory is nowhere found in Scripture." This is true, and yet it does not disprove the existence of purgatory or the fact that belief in it has always been part of Church teaching. The words Trinity and Incarnation aren’t in Scripture either, yet those doctrines are clearly taught in it. Likewise, Scripture teaches that purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word and even if 1 Peter 3:19 refers to a place other than purgatory.

Christ refers to the sinner who "will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matt. 12:32), suggesting that one can be freed after death of the consequences of one’s sins. Similarly, Paul tells us that, when we are judged, each man’s work will be tried. And what happens if a righteous man’s work fails the test? "He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Cor 3:15). Now this loss, this penalty, can’t refer to consignment to hell, since no one is saved there; and heaven can’t be meant, since there is no suffering ("fire" there. The Catholic doctrine of purgatory alone explains this passage.

Then, of course, there is the Bible’s approval of prayers for the dead: "In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the dead to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin" (2 Macc. 12:43–45). Prayers are not needed by those in heaven, and no one can help those in hell. That means some people must be in a third condition, at least temporarily. This verse so clearly illustrates the existence of purgatory that, at the time of the Reformation, Protestants had to cut the books of the Maccabees out of their Bibles in order to avoid accepting the doctrine.

Prayers for the dead and the consequent doctrine of purgatory have been part of the true religion since before the time of Christ. Not only can we show it was practiced by the Jews of the time of the Maccabees, but it has even been retained by Orthodox Jews today, who recite a prayer known as the Mourner’s Kaddish for eleven months after the death of a loved one so that the loved one may be purified. It was not the Catholic Church that added the doctrine of purgatory. Rather, any change in the original teaching has taken place in the Protestant churches, which rejected a doctrine that had always been believed by Jews and Christians.

Why Go To Purgatory?
Why would anyone go to purgatory? To be cleansed, for "nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]" (Rev. 21:27). Anyone who has not been completely freed of sin and its effects is, to some extent, "unclean." Through repentance he may have gained the grace needed to be worthy of heaven, which is to say, he has been forgiven and his soul is spiritually alive. But that’s not sufficient for gaining entrance into heaven. He needs to be cleansed completely.

Fundamentalists claim, as an article in Jimmy Swaggart’s magazine, The Evangelist, put it, that "Scripture clearly reveals that all the demands of divine justice on the sinner have been completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ. It also reveals that Christ has totally redeemed, or purchased back, that which was lost. The advocates of a purgatory (and the necessity of prayer for the dead) say, in effect, that the redemption of Christ was incomplete. . . . It has all been done for us by Jesus Christ, there is nothing to be added or done by man."

It is entirely correct to say that Christ accomplished all of our salvation for us on the cross. But that does not settle the question of how this redemption is applied to us. Scripture reveals that it is applied to us over the course of time through, among other things, the process of sanctification through which the Christian is made holy. Sanctification involves suffering (Rom. 5:3–5), and purgatory is the final stage of sanctification that some of us need to undergo before we enter heaven. Purgatory is the final phase of Christ’s applying to us the purifying redemption that he accomplished for us by his death on the cross.

No Contradiction The Fundamentalist resistance to the biblical doctrine of purgatory presumes there is a contradiction between Christ’s redeeming us on the cross and the process by which we are sanctified. There isn’t. And a Fundamentalist cannot say that suffering in the final stage of sanctification conflicts with the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement without saying that suffering in the early stages of sanctification also presents a similar conflict. The Fundamentalist has it backward: Our suffering in sanctification does not take away from the cross. Rather, the cross produces our sanctification, which results in our suffering, because "[f]or the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness" (Heb. 12:11).

Nothing Unclean Purgatory makes sense because there is a requirement that a soul not just be declared to be clean, but actually be clean, before a man may enter into eternal life. After all, if a guilty soul is merely "covered," if its sinful state still exists but is officially ignored, then it is still a guilty soul. It is still unclean.

Catholic theology takes seriously the notion that "nothing unclean shall enter heaven." From this it is inferred that a less than cleansed soul, even if "covered," remains a dirty soul and isn’t fit for heaven. It needs to be cleansed or "purged" of its remaining imperfections.



The cleansing occurs in purgatory. Indeed, the necessity of the purging is taught in other passages of Scripture, such as 2 Thessalonians 2:13, which declares that God chose us "to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit." Sanctification is thus not an option, something that may or may not happen before one gets into heaven. It is an absolute requirement, as Hebrews 12:14 states that we must strive "for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord."

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amen

hello sir pls I need application for my site

can someone welcome me here

but we have summit form here in my diocese

am also apply for priesthood in my parish

Luke 1:39-56 Today, our reflection is anchored on one of the great miracles that God performed in the life of Mary. In Luke 1:49 , inspired by the Holy Spirit, Mary proclaimed, “ The Almighty had done great things for me, holy is His name ”.

Assumption of the Blessed mother of God into the kingdom of God is one of the gifts He bestowed on our Blessed mother Mary, for her obedience and faithfulness to the word of God proclaimed to her by Angel Gabriel. Whenever in obedience to Hebrews 13:7 we celebrate a saint, that is, brothers or sisters, heroes and heroines of faith in the Lord who spoke the word of God to us, we consider the outcome of their way of life in order to imitate their faithfulness to the Lord. Dear friends in Christ, Mary’s divine call, her obedience and also her faithfulness was unique and outstanding all through her earthly life, and as such, even her departure from the earth was unique and outstanding. By the power of divine grace in her through the merit of the death of Jesus, Mary triumphed over sin and death. “Indeed, her assumption was only possible because she shared in the triumph of her Son over sin and death. This is a gift of grace. For Mary, we might think of it as the final act in the drama of her life of faith and discipleship. When the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the Messiah, she found within herself, again through God’s grace, the courage and faith to say “yes” to all that God was asking of her. In the power of God’s Spirit, which covered her with its shadow (see Luke 1:35 ), Mary lived a life of fidelity and obedience to God in union with her Son who was also her Lord.
It was her union with him in life which meant that she would find herself in union with him also in the mystery of his death, his resurrection and his ascension into heaven. This is what it means to be “in Christ”. This is what it means to be a member of Christ’s body. (See 1 Corinthians 12:27 ) Friend, Mary’s assumption is therefore a sure hope for us, for we too are called to be “in Christ”; we too are members of his body. As St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, “If we have died with Christ then we believe that we will also live with him.” ( Romans 6:8 ) This belief echoes the words of Jesus himself, found in John’s Gospel: “ If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you ma y be also. ” ( John 14:3 ) In celebrating Mary’s assumption into heaven we celebrate something which places Mary among us as the first to receive the gift of salvation in all its fullness; a gift which the Lord also holds out to us. May this woman, given to us by Christ as our mother, be the companion of all her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus ( Rev. 12 :17 ) on our journey of faith.

We employ the intercession of this our heavenly sister and mother, to accompany us until we share with her the joy of salvation in the presence of Jesus for all eternity in the name of Jesus.

Prayer Points 1. Thank God for reminding us that as many that will remain faithful to Him to the end will overcome death.
2. O Lord, cause me to be faithful to You even to the end in the name of Jesus.
3. Father, I receive the power to overcome sin in my life in the name of Jesus (3x).
4. Jesus, whatever shall make me miss the place you are preparing for me should be destroyed in Your name. Amen.
5. Father, do great thing for me; work an outstanding miracle that will set me apart unto Your glory in the name of Jesus.
6. Father, in the covenant You made with Abraham, You assured us, that those that bless us are blessed and that those that curse us are cursed. I know that Mary is a unique daughter and mother in the new covenant of Jesus Christ. With the words of angel Gabriel, let us bless our blessed sister and mother in the Lord (the Blessed Virgin Mary) as we say “Hail Mary full of grace………” May the memorial and celebration of the miracles you performed in her life strengthen our faithfulness and commitment to Jesus – the WORD – in the name of Jesus.

Exercise: Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary , and one Glory Be, to ask God for the double portion of Mary’s anointing and grace.

Scripture Reading : Matthew 12:9 – 14

Pope Francis saw the danger that lies in the notion that “this is how we used to do it” and warned that “a Christian who hides behind the notion that “this is how it’s always been done…” is committing a sin, becomes idolatry and disobedience leaves one’s life “patched up and half-and-half” because his heart is closed to the “newness of the Holy Spirit”. He, therefore, invites us to “free ourselves from this protocol in order to make room for God’s surprises.” There is a serious danger inherent in holding tenaciously to “how we used to do it.” When we follow protocols in the things of God, we might hinder the activity of the Holy Spirit which Pope Francis describes as the newness of the Holy Spirit. Imagine if a boy in an obvious distress approaches a minister of God for counseling and advice, and the minister turns down the request on grounds that “this is not my office time,” it could spell disaster. The Holy Spirit says that this action is wicked and stubborn. It shows that the minister of God lacks the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ says, “ My meat is to do the will of He who sent me.” This minister is only doing his will and not the will of the one who sent him. Do you know that if God should follow protocols in saving us at times, the devil could have had ample opportunities to make mince meat of us? Dear Child of God, at certain times, the rigidity inherent in laws set by humans or even in interpreting the laws of God makes it very impossible to act swiftly in order to save souls, bring peace and save lives. The constant clash that Jesus had with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees was mostly hinged on that fact that Jesus saved lives even on the Sabbath.
This is one of their reactions to Jesus’ healing: “ The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, ‘There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath’. ” This mentality of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law stems out of “closed hearts” and the mindset that everything that does not agree with their personal desires is incorrect, untrue and unacceptable.
Thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ who constantly corrects our errors. He said thus, “I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save a man’s life or to destroy it? ” Beloved, following our Lord’s teachings, any custom, tradition, belief, system, principle that harms or hurts humanity should be revisited to have a human face. According to Pope Francis, “ even customs must be renewed in the newness of the Holy Spirit, in the surprises of God.” Angelica Hope’s faulting the inherent danger in “as it was in the beginning mentality”, prayed that we be “ gifted with wise flexibility. ” Bill James also faulted rigidity that is bent on having its ways without recourse to the impact on a human being thus, “ Standardization leads to rigidity, and rigidity causes things to break.”
Positive change must be welcomed. The barriers we create in form of religion, ethnicity, race, beliefs, etc., often fall short of the expectations of Jesus from us. In the home front, some fathers may not want to help out a little with domestic chores all in the claim that it is the customary role of the woman to take care of the home. So many have been enslaved to certain dehumanizing traditions all because they want to keep to the status quo (how our fore-fathers use to do it). In hospitals, one finds some medical personnel who would not want to attend to emergency cases simply because it is their closing hour. Some will watch patients bleed to death, because they are waiting for a cash deposit to be made before medical treatment could commence. Dear Child of God, you are therefore challenged today to get rid of all sentiments, resentments, opinions, ideas, customs, traditions, principles, natural inclinations, etc., that make you overlook the call of God to show mercy, extend love, save lives and counsel a confused person. Every law is at the service of God for the good of humanity.
Prayer Points:
1. Pray for open heart and openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
2. Pray for change of traditions that tie destines down due to covenants entered by our ancestors.
3. Pray for divine intervention in traditions that still carry out human sacrifices, that it will be stopped.

Exercise: Be bold to leave every “dos” and “don’ts” and “mosts” that make the next person around you suffer.
Memory Verse : Mark 2:2 . 7



source:- https://dailystrengthdevotional.org/protocols-not-observed/

Scripture Reading : Psalm 8:1-9

Welcome to this great day the Lord has made. The good Lord wants us today to actually begin to walk in dominion. Every child of God, without exception, can walk and operate in dominion. One thing I have discovered is that it is the desire of both young and old to walk in dominion; but the sad reality is that very few walk in it. Walking in dominion is the full realization that man has been placed above all powers and authorities that want to oppose the divine intention of God through the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. The Lord gave Peter the keys of the kingdom, and told him, “THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL.” This is a confirmation of the limitations of the powers of darkness upon our lives.

Share this testimony from a user of Daily Strength: Every time one of my daughters is always convulsed after seeing an apparition. This experience continued unabated until she was taken to the hospital several times for medical attention; thinking that she was epileptic. One day, I prayed, “Lord open my eyes to see what is tormenting my daughter.” The Lord then opened my eyes and I saw a giant monster that was indescribable. I began to call on the name of Jesus to destroy the monster, and to my amazement, the monster started to scatter like a collapsing house and from that day my daughter was set free. Hear, Psalm 91:13 , “ You will trample down lions and snakes, fierce lions and poisonous snakes.” Jesus can never leave us without the authority to operate. In Luke 10:19 , He releases the authority thus, “ Jesus answered them, ‘………….. Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you’ .” If you understand the power you have as a child of God, based on the spoken word from Christ Jesus, you will no longer be confused, fret and be fearful or live in doubt or lose your peace of mind no matter what is happening. A preacher was once asked, “Why are you always calm?” He answered, I know who I am in Christ and because I know who I am, I know what to do at any point in time, nothing takes me unawares. ”

Beloved, Christ has given you dominion (authority and power) to operate here on earth. The Centurion understood the power of dominion when he said to Jesus , “Oh no, sir……Just give the order, and my servant will be well. I am a man under authority of superior officers,…….I order this one, Go! And he goes; and I order that one, Come! And he comes….” ( Matt.8:8-9 ) . The scripture says, “Decree ye a word and it shall come to pass.” This means that there is power that follows what you say as a child of God. Make declarations that will stop the devil rather than be afraid. Tell the devil, enough is enough. As a child of God, you cannot be in a tight corner. The devil and his agents are supposed to be afraid of you; because our Redeemer lives, you will never be helpless, you will never be intimidated again by the devil.

During our school days in the university, it was as if the spirit of death was launched against our set; we kept losing students. Thank God for those who knew who they were in Christ among us then, who brought us together to decree and pass judgment against the power of darkness. Beloved in Christ, open your mouth and make utterance against what is challenging you. The name of Jesus is the symbol of your authority. Let us reflect more on walking in dominion tomorrow. God bless you.
Prayer Points:
1. Thank You Lord for Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generation.
2. By the power in Your word in Psalm 72:8 , I break in pieces and consume every demonic kingdom that resists Your dominion in the name of Jesus.
3. Standing on Your word in Jer. 30: 8, I break every yoke off my neck, and burst all the bonds in the name of Jesus.
4. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you are failing and why you are not operating in dominion.

Exercise: The word of God said, greater is He in you than he in the word. Ask the Holy Spirit to interpret this message to you with respect to walking in dominion.

Memory Verse : Psalm 8:6 .

While Christians may think of themselves as divided into different churches
and denominations, the devil actually sees that they are one in their faith in
Jesus, Pope Francis said in a video message to a Christian unity celebration in
Phoenix.
“Division is the work of the ‘Father of Lies,’ ‘the Father of Discord,’ who does
everything possible to keep us divided," the Pope said on Saturday in the
message to the gathering sponsored by the John 17 Movement.


“I feel like saying something that may sound controversial, or even heretical,
perhaps," he said in the video. “But there is someone who ‘knows’ that, despite
our differences, we are one. It is he who is persecuting us. It is he who is
persecuting Christians today, he who is anointing us with (the blood of)
martyrdom."


The devil, he said, “knows that Christians are disciples of Christ, that they are
one, that they are brothers! He doesn’t care if they are Evangelicals or
Orthodox, Lutherans, Catholics or Apostolic … he doesn’t care! They are
Christians."
The John 17 Movement — named after the Bible passage in which Jesus prays
for the unity of his disciples — includes evangelicals and Catholics. One of the
participants at the Phoenix meeting was Giovanni Traettino, a Pentecostal
pastor from southern Italy whom the pope has known since his days in Buenos
Aires. The Pope visited Traettino’s church last summer.
The Pope promised Traettino and all those gathered in Phoenix that he would
spend the day praying with them for the grace of unity, “the unity that is
budding among us is that unity which begins under the seal of the one
baptism we have all received."
In the video produced by the Vatican television centre, Pope Francis told the
group that “division is a wound in the body of the church of Christ. And we do
not want this wound to remain open."


Christians, he said, must seek unity together, they must pray for one another
and they must work together to assist the poor and vulnerable.


While the Catholic and mainline churches have been engaged in high-level
ecumenical dialogues for 50 years, Pope Francis told the Phoenix meeting, “I
am convinced it won’t be theologians who bring about unity among us."


The work of theologians is essential for understanding, he said, “but if we hope
that theologians will agree with one another, we will reach unity the day after
Judgement Day."


“The Holy Spirit brings about unity," he said, and Christians must open their
hearts to the Spirit’s gifts with “prayer, friendship, closeness and reflection."

Scripture Reading : Revelation 12:7-11


A popular chorus says “No power battles with the Lord! No power battles with the Lord! Any power battling with the Lord volunteers to die!” Today, we reflect on recent moves by individuals who tend to be opposed to God in their actions and inactions. This reflection is therefore a timely warning to humanity, that even if our inclination to the world may have made our human mind perceive God as inactive and not in charge any longer, don’t forget that nobody fights God, no man! No authority! Nor angel, and survives it! Dear child of God, watch out, if you are in any position of authority and by divine design, you have a leadership role to play, be mindful of this truth revealed by William Gaddis, thus, “ Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power. ” The High Priest in Acts 5:28 manifested the corruption of power by the comment made to Peter and the other apostles, “ We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of this man. ” Peter clearly asserted the superiority of God’s order to that of man even to that of the High Priest who was highly respected in the society thus, “ ………We must obey God, not men. ” ( Acts 5:29 ) Beloved in Christ, the truth is that power and authority is given to man by God. It should not be abused. It should not be used to attack God or His creatures.

Nebuchadnezzar never got it right as one who God blessed with authority. Here is the sad account the Bible gave about him: “The Supreme God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great King and gave him dignity and majesty. He was so great that people of all nations, races, and languages were afraid of him and trembled. If he wanted to kill someone, he did; if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did. He honoured or disgraced anyone he wanted to. But because he became proud, stubborn and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honour. He was driven away from human society, and his mind became like that of an animal. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like an ox, and slept in the open air with nothing to protect him from the dew.
Finally he admitted that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and can gives them to anyone he chooses.” ( Daniel 5:18-21 ) One may be saying, thank God, I am not a President, a Governor, a King, or a Prime Minister; but the attitude of some believers in the church amounts to fighting with God. Profiteering in doing the work of God, blackmailing and corrupting the ministers of God, leadership and position tussles and conflicts in the church, oppression of the helpless and the defenseless, including other vices, are ways men tend to fight with God. In some cases, our interests and stakes, conflict with that of God and when we tenaciously hold unto our own, it could stand in opposition of God’s will. Some believers are given to creating divisions and rancor among the body of Christ; enacting obnoxious and morally debased laws and policies using their authority to favour only those who appeal to their personal interests. One of the remarkable things about David was that, God lavished a lot of power and authority on him, such that was capable of making him proud, cruel and stubborn, but he rather understood the great saying, “ To whom much is given, much is expected. ” He appreciated the position that God gave to him by being very submissive to God (ALWAYS CONSULTING GOD BEFORE CARRYING OUT ANY LEADERSHIP ROLE). One great secret we must learn today is that great leaders who become very submissive to God are always exalted.
They become submissive because they are fully aware that God lifted them up. Beloved in Christ, we can learn from the Master Jesus in Phil. 2:8 which says, “ He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death – his death on the cross.” For this reason, God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name .”
Prayer Points: 1. Thank God for another new day.
2. Pray to have the attitude of Christ as pointed out by Philippians 2:5-6 . (Take seriously)
3. Pray for all leaders in the whole world especially those who have forgotten that God gave them the position.
Exercise: Sit back for five minutes and reflect over your role as a leader. Are you working according to the mind of God?

Memory Verse : Luke 1:52 .