More Peace

I know how truly blessed I am to get up each morning and enjoy the peace which comes with the start of a new day. The house is silent except for the cycling of the coffee maker and the refrigerator. There are no obtrusive sounds of sirens, planes, trains or automobiles. Just the quiet.

As the sun starts to give its first glow on the horizon, the birds begin to sing and welcome to the day. The first to voice its song is the bob white and then the quail. The cactus wren joins in, followed by the morning dove. Peace.

Most mornings my heart joins in. It’s very rare for me to wake without a sense of peace. God’s peace! Before I started to write this morning I looked back over the blogs from the past 2+ years and found that I have written about peace over seventy-five times. It’s a subject that occupies much of my teaching.

To many, peace is a fleeting or even elusive sense of well being. There are so many things that rob peace; text messages, phone calls, conversations, career, doctors reports, financial statements, weather, personal relationships and world conflicts. I’ve found that we must fight for peace or our mind will take us down a road of turmoil.

“We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5 ERV

Jesus knew what it was to be bombarded with unsettling and fearful thoughts. In fact, each time he was with someone who was facing a fearful situation His counsel was the same “fear not”. One of his final impartations to his disciples was a message of peace.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:26-27 NLT

Each day I pray for personal peace and then for the peace of my children and grandchildren. I thank the Lord that He is teaching my children, making them aware of His love and bringing peace to their lives.

“I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace.” Isaiah 54:13 NLT

There are times when we have to make decisions, hard decisions, and we are left wondering what to do. Years ago, Dave and I made a commitment that we would let peace rule and direct us. If we didn’t have a peace about something we didn’t do it. There were times that we told the kids they couldn’t go somewhere or do something because we didn’t have peace. There were times we walked away from what appeared to be good business decisions because we didn’t have peace. And quite frankly, there have been times that we made decisions without that peace and regretted it.

“So My Word which goes from My mouth will not return to Me empty. It will do what I want it to do, and will carry out My plan well. 12 You will go out with joy, and be led out in peace. The mountains and the hills will break out into sounds of joy before you. And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress tree will come up. Instead of the thistle, the myrtle tree will come up. It will cause you to remember the Lord, something special to see that will last forever.” Isaiah 55:11-13 NLV

We can always rely on God’s word and His peace to lead us in the right direction.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NLV

Let God’s peace stand guard over your hearts!

The Choice is Yours

Have you ever sat alone with your thoughts? Wondering how things are going to be in the future or what you could have done differently to change the past and shape your present?

Maybe you’ve been going over and over the dynamics of a relationship; your education or lack thereof; your financial situation or your health. Too often, you begin to follow rabbit trails in your mind and come to a place of discontentment or disaster.Before you know it you are angry or depressed.

You know how it goes, you have a bad dream where you fight with your spouse or a friend or a co-worker and when you wake up, you’re madder than blazes and it spoils your morning and maybe your day.

I know none of you have had experiences like that but some people have. Some people let their imaginings become real and they are hurt by them.

But what has any of this got to do with anything. Glad you asked because it takes me to this morning’s devotional thought.

“We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5 ERV

One version of this verse tells us to cast down vain imaginations. That’s what I was talking about above. When those thoughts of failure, death, desertion, and humiliation come you need to take them captive or cast them down. But how?

“Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.” Romans 12:1-2 CEV

and how do you change the way you think…

“Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.” Philippians 4:8 ERV

The news you hear everyday is mostly bad; most of you have a tendency to run “the worst case scenario” when you think of doing something new. But that needs to change.

Yes, it’s that simple. If you don’t like the way the red shirt looks, you change to the blue. If you don’t like the brown boots you change to the red ones. If you don’t like the fishing lure you’re using you change to live bait.

Your thoughts are the data that you input to your mind’s hard drive. They dictate your prejudice, your approval,  joy, and your sorrow. You can make wrong assumptions and be destroyed or you can choose to consider God’s word, his thoughts and live in victory.

 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Change – renew your mind to God’s way of thinking instead of your own. Think about what’s good, honorable, pure and true. When those bad thoughts and imaginings come, change them! Change them immediately! Replace them with what God has said about you and your situation.

When you do, the word of God will rule in your heart and God’s word brings peace and light!

Time for a change!!