New Year’s Predictions on Matters of Faith (All Faiths)

Written by Irene Pierce Panayi

I write a lot on matters of faith because faith really matters! 

I foresee the following happening in the near future:

First, I think Jesus will become widely accepted around the world and across all religions. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the world will become Christian. On the contrary, Jesus loves people from all faiths and can be welcomed in wherever you are. I think we will begin to hear: “I’m a Jesus-believing Jew,” “I’m a Jesus-believing Muslim,” “I’m a Jesus-believing Buddhist” (I, personally, consider myself to be a Jewish-loving, Muslim-loving, Buddhist-loving Christian!) 

Jesus is real, still alive and His love, help and guidance is like no other—You have to experience it to believe it and the easy first step to do that is to simply say, “Jesus, I ask you to guide me , protect me and help me to do God’s will in all things” and then watch your life change in magnificent ways. 

Second, I think the Jews will finally receive the great respect and recognition they deserve. I wrote a separate blog post on this topic entitled, “Why Christians owe Jews an apology.” Once Christians extend that apology, I think Jews will begin to see that Jesus is a lot closer to them than they realize and that relationship will become significant for them.

Third, I think Islam will be wiped clean of the terrorist label that has been unfairly attached to it—Just because something is done in the name of a religion, doesn’t mean it represents the religion. There are good and bad in all faiths and people who take teachings out of their true context and to extremes. One can find justification for negative acts in virtually all holy books if things are read in isolation and taken out of context. A blog post on this is coming. 

Fourth, I think Tibetan Buddhism will become even more recognized and important once people get past the assumptions that we have all made about Buddhism and realize the amazing impact it can have on the mind, body and soul, and on human lives in general. It can have a tremendous on health, relationships and even one’s faith because it helps to settle the mind. If one’s mind is stressed and anxious it can become distracted which makes it harder to discern God’s will and guidance in your life. When one’s mind is calm and at rest, God is able to guide more effectively. 

Fifth, instead of people feeling threatened by other religions and having fighting and division among them, I think we will begin to recognize and respect the uniqueness of each one. I think we have different religions by design. Our God has proven through His creation that He is a God who values diversity. He created different types of apples, grass, clouds, flowers, trees, birds, animals and the list goes on and on. There are even different types of rocks and bodies of water (Fresh water, salt water, rivers, lakes, oceans, groundwater). With regard to the human body, there are different eyes (color and shape), noses, skin type, hair and the list goes on. There is even diversity among sunsets and sunrises with regard to colors and brightness. Why would religion be the one thing that is exempt from that concept of diversity that is interwoven throughout all of creation? It wouldn’t be. God created diversity for a reason and we need to begin to appreciate that fact. Instead of feeling threatened by diversity and that which is different than our own personal norms, we need to start appreciating our differences and learning from them. For more, refer to the blog post, “Do the world’s religions believe in the same God? And if they do, why are they all so different?”

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