I saw God's justice when on 13 March 1996, unemployed former shopkeeper and former Scout leader Thomas Watt Hamilton walked into the Dunblane Primary School armed with two 9 mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolvers, and fired his weapons 109 times killing 15 five and six-year-old small children.

Thy will be done.

Most days, I agree with you Pastor, but today I only semi-agree with you. I already know the masses won't agree with me, but I'll say it anyway. What you leave out in this devotional is God's Mercy. Our Father is a Merciful Father. I don't believe that God sits there and exacts revenge on his children.
I do believe that our misfortune is a direct result of our free will. There is no way that I will ever believe that God would be a calculating Father that is just waiting for us, his children to "screw up" so he can punish us. Every path we take in life has consequences, good and bad. We have to take responsibility for our choices, our actions. What I do know is that God is always waiting for us make the best choices in life, seek Him out in all we do and ultimately wait for our us to request forgiveness when we know we “screwed up”. When you are not on a Godly path, you will face whatever lies down that road. You can, at anytime, turn around and seek God and correct yourself. It is the beauty of free will, God’s Mercy and His Love.
Anyways, just my thoughts this morning. I appreciate all you write Pastor, it is a blessing to read your devotional every morning as I nurse my son. I am a busy mother and don’t have a lot of time, so your 1 minute devotionals are an excellent start to my day.

JCO, you gave a good example of what happens when people take revenge into their own hands. That man acted upon his own impulses and did not follow God's way. Remember, God commanded, "Thou shalt not murder." I suppose you will want to argue about this, but there is no need for that. God's word is clear for those who desire to understand. Until you have that desire and an open heart to love God then you will be twisting these devotions and God's word to try and make them be something they are not.

I am so grateful for today's Bible verse that instructs us about what not to do when we are wronged. Following God means thinking about His words before we act. To think about His words means we have to be familiar with them. Bible reading and memorization of Scripture is so important so it will be immediately available for those times when we want to act before we think. We do not always have time to say, "Let me get my Bible and see what God has to say about that."

I am so thankful to know that whatever God chooses to be justice in a situation is so much better than what I would choose on my own for He alone has all the relevant facts about any situation. This is just one thing among the many that makes God so deserving of our praise. He gets it right with His divine justice. Amen!

JCO's now wants to add the Scouts to his "hit list". The tone of his anti-God comments has become overtly and unnecessarilly offensive. There is no dialog here; only invective and blasphemy. Certainly nothing worthy of consideration, much less response.

Amb, strangely enough I agree with what you said and what the devotion is saying. I definitely agree that God is a merciful and loving God and the fact you mentioned, that so many of the negative results of what happens to us are simply the consequences of our own actions. After all if we stand in the street long enough we will eventually get run over. I do think though that God is a God of justice and even if not in this life someday justice will be served. Life is not always fair and it may appear that murderers, tyrants, and others are evading any consequences or punishment, but I have no doubt those that have hurt the innocent or defenseless will be dealt with by God. For instance many years ago someone in my bible study class was murdered and even though there was a suspect he seems to have elluded justice. In some cultures and religions people would take these matters into their own hands, but as christians God is assuring and reminding us that He has not forgotten these atrocities and that He will take care of those that seem to happily and freely live their lives despite the great unrepentent harm they have done. We need to be a peace that these things will be taken care of, if not in this life, then in the afterlife.

JCO, I just wanted to clearly state that even though I don't like much of what you post and as Grant said it at times is downright blasphemous. I am still praying for you every day. You've got to understand that although you claim God is fictional that to us He is VERY REAL. Just as you would get upset if we kept criticizing one of your loved ones, like your child or wife, we get angry at times. So please try to understand you are making these statements about Someone we love deeply. This is Someone we feel has saved and changed our very lives, much less given us eternal salvation. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I do care about you despite your sarcastic and mocking remarks, but will for the most part no longer acknowledge or read them. They are basically the same points, just in slightly different forms. So anyway, I've said my peace and don't plan to comment on your reply. Just know I am praying for you, but no longer plan on reading your negative comments that cricizes our Lord.

"That man acted upon his own impulses and did not follow God's way."

Of course, a lie. I don't follow "God's way", nor do millions of atheists who would NEVER do such a thing. Such an act of violence sickens me and saddens me beyond imagination. If this was your own child, you would probably never get over this.

These children had there whole lives ahead of them, and if God exists, then he's extremely incompetent.

Similar situation with what happened in Beslan, Russia a few years back. Unbelievable horrific.

There is no justice, and anyone who thinks there is, is fooling themselves.

THEIR whole lives...

More wine ;)

JCO....do you not get this is the old adage "what goes around comes around"? The big difference here and most importantly the lesson is: we are not to take revenge ourselves, as did the person who killed all those innocent children. God is not a mean God, but he will deal with those who have not obeyed Him, and He will do it in a way so uncomprehending to us that it's a moot point to discuss here.

So God was powerless to stop this, got it. Or he had better things on his mind that day.

Sort of sounds like someone is more angry or upset with God than not believing He exists and feels like God should be doing things more their way even though they don't necessarily see the same big picture that God does.

Interesting...this morning I was reading in the Blackaby Study Bible and there was a sideline "Encounter Note" on "Refusal" which said, "Those who refuse to accept God's word will always find a way to dismiss or remove the evidence of His power. Only the Holy Spirit can soften a hardened heart." When I read that I thought of JCO and Erik. And then I read this devotion and the JCO comment.

God is not powerless. He acts upon a much bigger scale than we humans can possibly imagine. I do not know why He allows certain things to happen that go against His prescribed way for people to live. But I do know that He has the power to make something good come out of bad for those who love Him and are called by Him. How many of those affected by that tragedy love God and are called by Him? I do not know. One tragedy can be the platform for many, many good outcomes. That is what happened with Jesus on the cross. I do not have the vision of God to see all the good that results but I trust Him to find a loving way to handle tragedies. I am still praying some day for you, JCO, and Erik, to have your hearts softened by the Holy Spirit.

So true Janice, without the hardships and yes tragedies in my life I would not have the same empathy for others and would be a more selfish person. We truly don't always see the reason for things at the time and it's only after we've gone through the fire that we can come out stronger and with blemishes melted away if we allow God to refine us. When a person goes through these things they will either become a stronger person or a harder and resentful person. It is up to the them if they are wiilling to allow God to help them through these times and if they are willing to learn and become a better person as a result.

I'm not angry towards God, not at all. It's difficult to be angry at someone whom does not exist.

What I am angry at are the things that continue to be done in "His" name. The discriminatio of women in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Orthodox variety is one but small example. Of course I could go on all day about this.

When you look at the example I gave, the only sensible conclusions are either a) God doesn't exist, b) God doesn't care, or c) God is powerless.

Correct answer is a) of course.

JCO, May you have a personal encounter w/ Jesus. I promise you will never be the same. God loves you but he hates all of our sins. Let God fight your battles and it will always be well done.

I am thankful that Jesus made clear in John 16:1-3 that "a time is coming when anyone who kills you will "think" that he is offering a service to God. They wil do such things -Because They Have Not Known The Father Or Me." As much as these things grieve us as christians, how much more it must grieve God that in disobeying Him many fall into satan's snare, but He gave us free will and therefore will not force or control us like robots to obey Him. This does not make Him powerless. It is His decision to not force us to obey.

"JCO, May you have a personal encounter w/ Jesus."

Sorry, I don't hear voices in my head, nor do I see things that aren't there.

JCO,
I like the way Francis Chan puts this the best. We were created for God, and God sent HIS son to die for us because HE wanted us to be able to glorify HIM. He does not owe us anything, so asking why he allows things like that shooting to happen is a completely selfish and unwarranted question. God is probably asking himself why we would allow the world to get to the point where these things happen. Why have we not been sharing his word and showing his love so that everyone believes and wants to live their lives for Christ?

99.9999% of us on this planet had nothing to do with this shooting, and would condemn it in 1/19th of a second. So it's not a matter of us not following God.

You don't have to follow God to know this is horrible to the nth degree.

Religious arguments are just not convincing, to say the least.

Thanks, Kevin, for your comment. It is very relevant, but some will only see it as foolishness because they do not recognize the spiritual dimension of life.

"He does not owe us anything."

He does, he owes us an explanation as to why he's not on the ball.

Janice, thanks, so true!

JCO,

a) he doesn't exist.....
yet you say "he's not on the ball? Well that certainly is a contradiction! Seems like you believe He exists when you want someone to blame. Are you a parent? I'm guessing not, if you were, you might understand how a parent will sometimes allow their children to do something wrong to learn a lesson. If children don't obey their parents, there are consequences. Try putting God in the role of the ultimate parent. Sometimes we will never know the "why" and sometimes the answer is "because I said so."

JCO, You must think you are smarter than God. You are so smart, you have it all figured out that God doesnt exist because you are telling yourself this. You are too weak spiritually to believe in God because you think your own thoughts are right. You say you dont see or hear God. Maybe its because your eyes and ears are closed to God and his love and power. Opening your eyes and ears to the unoticed, beautiful miracles of everyday life will help you see God's love and power and understanding that God's hand is in everything can help you realize God's love. There are going to be trials and difficulties in life bc God gave us free will but those who truley know Him will never be without peace and understanding that everything will be ok whether its on earth or in Heaven.

Of course I don't think God exists, but if he were to exist, I think that we could all maybe agree he's at least incompetent, and in any decently run universe, this guy would have been fired long ago.

I am a parent, of two kids. And yes, maybe in the right circumstance I'd let them do something wrong that didn't hurt anyone to teach them a lesson, but I'd never let them go into a gym and shoot up little kids to teach them a lesson. So your analogy is way off base and I'm hoping this is not the kind of monster you worship.

I can't actually believe you are comparing being a parent to the gross atrocities that happen in the world! Funny stuff, keep the laughes coming.
LF, I don't keep telling myself God doesn't exist. That's just what all the evidence points to if you mind to think about it.

"There are going to be trials and difficulties in life bc God gave us free will"

Well if he gave us free will, and he's going to do what he wants anyway, why bother praying in the first place? Doesn't it seem like a big waste of time?

It really doesn't help to engage and argue with those with an agenda to be on this site. They're not here to learn, but to mock. We just need to go along with our own comments about the cdevotions and not let others let us get off the particular topic of the day. We've all pretty much covered every topic with them and there are some determined to argue for the sake of arguing. So basically at this point it would probably be better not to engage any particular individuals and just pray for them daily because it's not helping weaker Christians to watch the constant arguing with them. After seeing their comments for a couple of years it's obvious only the Holy Spirit can change their hearts. God bless

Thanks CF. God doesn't have any justice...moving on.

Obviously we disagree, but I'm not going to go back and forth about it with you. Love the way you always make sure you get the last word though :-) go for it. Only thing I want to remind you of is that I'm still praying for you, every day in fact. God bless