Nougat 30

I’m gonna lay down my burdens

Down by the riverside down by

Down by the riverside

I’m gonna lay down my burdens

Down by the riverside

I’m gonna study war no more

Siblings, I’m convinced that if I’m as tired of the multiplicity of wars and conflict, God is beyond tired. It’s as though all opportunities given to us to do better are thrown in God’s face. Yes, I know, it’s been prophesied about, but even then…

Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.

Isaiah 2:4 NIV

[4] He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Study War No More

I woke up to the news of another gun attack in the USA and an attack on a church in the DRC. I’m wondering if we ever plan to stop. There’s an argument about mental health, as though to justify the behaviour governing the attack. Now, I’m not contradicting the theories, but if mental health triggers such ghastly, premeditated murders, we have to address some other issues. Questions like,

‘Who’s managing the provision of medication to those persons?’,

‘How’s it that funds are so accessible to all those persons with known mental health issues?’,

‘Are there other factors that we need to be looking at, including the content of video games etc, and access to information for vulnerable people?’, and

‘Why is there no gun control law in place?’

Self-Check

Perhaps the bigger question is,

‘How are we handling the inner wars we face every day?’

Deeper Dive

Siblings, our recently-concluded study included Christ’s prophecies about humanity at war with ourselves – internal family fights and external conflicts. What’s happening in the USA and other spaces is somewhere in between.

We can’t turn a blind eye to what’s happening. Whether it’s the USA, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Burundi, DRC, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, the UK, France, Ireland, Australia, Nigeria, Niger, New Zealand or elsewhere … we can’t turn a blind eye. Whether it’s a mosque, church, or temple, public attacks on civilians in the name of religion are WRONG! And we must condemn it.

Attacks on schools, senior citizen centres, and public spaces must end. We must call them out for what they are, and prayerfully denounce them. Let’s cry out to God for the day when swords become ploughs, and spears become pruning hooks. As we cry, can we also offer ourselves as ones to work with the survivors and traumatised? Hmmn

Prayer

Lord, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as in Heaven. Please Y’shua, hear our cries

—

May all we seek be found in Christ