Stephen De La Vega

  “ Naysayer: one who denies, refuses, opposes, or is skeptical or cynical about something” ( Merriam-Webster ). We’ve all experienced naysayers to some degree. Sometimes they band together – maybe even carry signs! We can walk the other way most of the time, but when they target us, it might be difficult to rise above their offensive attacks. Job was a godly man who had it all, then suddenly lost it all. And, to add insult to injury, his friends caused him much heartache and torment...continually. Maybe we won’t have as many catastrophic afflictions as Job, but we certainly will experience people like Job’s friends. Let’s call them naysayers. Even those who mean well can be naysayers. They are simply a part of life. Let’s venture further into Resolution #9: I will rise above the naysayers . After Job’s extreme loss, three of his friends sat with him. They were sure God had punished him for disobedience, and they laid into him. Insult after insult – all based on a presumption ...

Last week I wrote about injustice and anger that boils within. Today, I share a story about justification that was framed from injustice. It’s a story that many of us have heard in some fashion – a story that I believe we can all relate to if we will pause to hear it. It’s a story about a person who lived a life many of us would applaud, yet whom was killed by people of power. He fell victim to a system that may have been born of good intentions, but somehow ambled into a gait of arrogance and superiority. The perpetrators, in the form of an organized aristocracy and as individuals, didn’t like him messing with the good thing they had going. So, they plotted to slap a death penalty on a man who did no wrong. And they carried out their plot to the bitter end. May I tell you about this victim of injustice?   His name is Jesus. In many ways, we can say there are people in America and in other countries, throughout the generations, with the same story. Jesus was a victim of ...