My brothers and sisters this is the day that the Lord has made and we are going to rejoice and be glad in it. It is getting better as the days pass by with each breath that we take. This series is getting better by the day and I hope you can see the light of this message and the love of God spread about in the world and our hearts.

The second question is, Can suffering separate us from God’s love? Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35). How are we to understand this question? Does he suggest that suffering can so embitter and defeat us that we lose our hold on God? This can and does happen, as Dr Benson wrote: “In calamity, that is how some instinctively react. Their minds turn at once to God; their feelings toward Him are harsh and rebellious. When things don’t go the way we expect and tragedy strikes we sometimes screamed curses against God because of the situation.” Many times we fail to find the love in tragedy simple because it was never there, and the best time to vent is when we lost someone in death.

It is true that people sometimes react to suffering by cursing God and losing their faith in Him. However, Paul is not talking here about our love for God, but God’s love for us. He is asking, Will suffering keep God from loving us? not, Will suffering keep us from loving God? Does God stop loving us when we suffer? The answer is No. These sufferings cannot separate us from the love of God. If anything, God is closer to us when we suffer. We tend to think that because we are Christians, God should protect us from suffering—from tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword. So when we suffer, we think that God has abandoned us. What Paul is saying here is that when we suffer it is not because God has abandoned us; He loves us in our suffering. Instead of looking at suffering as a sign of God’s neglect of us, we should look at it as a privilege. Paul says, “It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict which you saw and now hear to be mine” (Philippians 1:29, 30).

The memory of the cross and of the One who spared not His own Son for us should encourage us that tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or even the sword cannot separate us from the everlasting love of God. Blessed be the Name of our God. I am so happy to end on a good note so we can build the next day like a brick on a brick.

As you ponder on the things God has done for us and how much He loved us, it is my prayer that you will lift up your voices to heaven and tell Him thanks for His saving grace. We love you Father and thank You for all that You have done for us. Hallelujah

Your servant and brother,
+ Sir Godfrey Gregg
Archbishop and Presiding Prelate
Administrator and Apostolic Head

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