VIRGINIA TECH.......

This post was sent to me by Joe Morrison

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
> John 16:33 >

> The massacre at Virginia Tech has millions around the globe asking the same question every human tragedy almost universally evokes: “Why?”
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> Why. It seems there is a built in need for humans to understand the reasons why someone would coldly murder people they, the murderer, don’t even know. People also want to know why this killing wasn’t prevented in the first place.
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> Even God, after witnessing the first murder recorded in Scripture, asked a question of the killer. In Genesis 4, The Lord asked Cain: “What have you done?”
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> In the first verse I quoted, Jesus declared--promised--two things, the first: You WILL have trouble. From the day Adam first sinned, to the world’s first murder, and throughout all of our world’s turbulent history, this statement is proven self-evident.
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> And this is where the world outside of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ gets hung up. Hopeless people see violence, brutality, tribulation, and trouble all around them and find themselves locked in the endless loop of W-H-Y.
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> However, the second declaration in John 16:33 provides the answer, the freedom from endless doubt and worry: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
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> Such simple yet powerful truths are contained in this tiny snippet of the Bible!
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> In fact, I ended the Space Shuttle Columbia memorial video (http://www.interviewwithgod.com/columbia/) with this text. It is about the most comforting thing I can imagine--Jesus Christ Himself said that no matter what we are going through, even unto death itself, He has conquered every foe.
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> "Where, O death, is your victory?
> Where, O death, is your sting?"
> 1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV
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> The writer of Hebrews asks: “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” There is no escape from the endless W-H-Y feedback cycle outside of Jesus Christ. None. We will see an endless media barrage probing into the background of Cho Seung-hui, the apparent Virginia Tech killer. But the world will not be able to provide real answers. How do I know this to be true? Because the next time a terrible human tragedy occurs, the question will remain the same.
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> A time such as this is time to tell hurting people to, in the words of Jesus Christ, “take heart!” God loves people, and that is why Jesus has already “suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9 NIV)
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> Jesus Christ is the only savior who has experienced every pain, heartache, trial, and temptation you, I, or anyone else will ever endure.
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> “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
> Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV
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> As we pray for the families and friends of the victims, and yes, those of the killer, we should ask and hope that the Good News of the Great Sufferer AND the Great
> Conqueror, Jesus Christ, will be shared with those who are hurting, and those who are asking…why.
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