They gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Psalms 69:21

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, seems like a nice enough fellow.

No, I've never met him, but the few times I've seen him speak on television, he seems to say a lot of nice things. No, he doesn't talk much about Jesus being the Savior, but Mr. Lama still struggles for peace and religious freedom for his followers.

As I said, he's a nice enough guy.

This is why I was surprised to hear him bring a complaint against the Chinese. It appears his aides picked up word that Chinese agents are training Tibetan women to poison him.

According to the information received, the ladies were supposed to have poison on their hair and poison on their shawls. Then, pretending to be his devoted followers, these women were supposed to come up to him and ask for his blessing.

Then, when Mr. Lama placed his hand on their heads or shoulders he would receive enough poison to kill him.

I was disturbed when I read this story and the hatred this reasonably nice guy seems to have engendered.

Maybe that's because, in some ways, it reminds me of the Savior's story. No, I'm not implying the Dalai Lama and Jesus are the same. Even on his best days Mr. Lama would not be worthy of untying Jesus' sandals.

No, the Dalai Lama story reminded me how much Jesus was hated.

The Gospels tell how He was hated by Herod, His hometown, His religion, His government and even some of the crowds of Jerusalem. All of them, in one way or another, plotted His murder. All of them wanted to see taken out of commission the one Person who was committed to getting their sins forgiven and their souls saved.

By God's wisdom, power and plan their hatred was used to accomplish God's goal of rescuing and redeeming us.

Then, three days after Jesus was buried, the plans of these murderers, was pushed to the side, as was the stone which had been placed before Jesus' tomb.

When the Savior emerged from that borrowed and now-empty tomb, He showed to all the world that the devil and death had been defeated.

Even more, sin's stranglehold on our lives had been broken. The poison of sin that had placed Jesus on the cross had been neutralized by the grace of God and the shed blood of the Savior.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, Scripture says all things work together for good to those who love You. We give thanks the same can be said for those who are loved by You. Keep us ever mindful of Your power and love that has been shown to us in the conquering Christ. In His Name I pray it. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Psalms 27-29    John 11:1-29

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