Jesus’ Peace

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (Jn 14:25-27)

I think I can safely say that most of us would like to have peace, we would like to have great peace, all the time. Jesus has said that He has given us this peace, so how do we appropriate it into our lives?

First of all , through the Holy Spirit. If we belong to God, the Holy Spirit is within us, and Romans 14:27 says “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This is a relationship that must be developed through time spend with God, through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor:13:14).

Also as we do this the fruit of the Holy Spirit will begin to develop and mature in our lives and “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22-23)

Secondly, through applying ourselves to the Word of God, and applying the Word of God to ourselves. Psalm 119:165 says “Great peace have they who love Your law; nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.” This is not just reading the Word of God, but also letting it speak into our lives and change us and our behavior, being obedient to it, and speaking it over our lives and circumstances.

Thirdly through prayer. Philippians 4:4-7 says “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Fourthly, this is followed very quickly with what we choose to think about. Paul suggests in Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

And let’s not forget Isaiah 26:3 AMP “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

Fifthly, it take faith. Hebrews 11:65 says “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

If we think our faith is too small, the doing of these things will bring about increased faith, and it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to get a mountain into the sea or to do the impossible. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] (Jn 14:27 AMP)

Intimacy With God

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel (Ps 103:7)

The people of Israel were content to know God by what He did. Moses was not satisfied with that level of knowing. Moses wanted a more intimate relationship with God. He requested of Him “teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you”. God’s answer to Moses is the same as to any who request to know Him, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."

The choice is ours as to the depth of our relationship with God. Some have no interest in nor desire to know God. Some have a shallow knowledge Him, not being rooted and grounded in love, and fall away at any resistance. Some have lives crowded with worry, are attracted by the lure of wealth, or desire other things more than God and have an unfruitful acquaintance with Him. Some fully embrace God’s call, submit to the transforming power of His Word and His Spirit, are passionate about their relationship with God, and pursue Him.

As we begin to nurture our relationship with him we will hear the call to come away, to spend time with Him, in fellowship, worship, prayer, adoration and the Word. We will a enter into intimacy with Him.

God not only desires that our relationship with Him have first priority in our lives, He wants to have intimate communion with the believer. The Amplified Bible words Proverbs 3:32 as … His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him). (Prov 3:32)

A secrete life with God will empower a daily life lived for Him. Prov 3:32 in the NASB says "... He is intimate with the upright." God both desires and enables us to have an intimate relationship with Him, but we must spend time with Him for it to be developed.

One of my daughter’s projects for school this year was to make a notebook on the state of North Carolina. I was quite taken by the NC State Motto which is found at the bottom of the State Seal. It is Esse Quam Videri which is latin for “To be, rather than to seem”. I was quite taken with it.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia says of this motto: It is found in Cicero's essay "On Friendship" ("De amicitia", chapter 98). ("Virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse quam videri volunt." roughly "Many are not so endowed with virtue as they wish to seem.")

We do have a tendency to want to appear more virtuous than we really are, and for the sake of this post, we also, but not limited to, like to appear to be better, more spiritual, more in touch, more together, farther along, than we in actuality are.

God says we are play actors when we pretend to be something we are not. Actually, He uses a stronger word … hypocrite.

Dictionary.com defines a hypocrite as a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

Mark 15:7-8 says: You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

These folks were saying one thing but living another. Their mouths said one thing, but their hearts another. They said they were in allegiance with God, but their lives said they were in allegiance with another. Their mouths said they belonged to God, but their hearts belonged to another, and their lives proved it.

The oblivious message for us as Christians is don’t be a hypocrite, don’t put on an act, be sincere, be who you appear to be, be real, be in reality who you are in presentation, don’t be a pretender, a play actor. Our hearts, our affections, are to belong to God and are to be evidenced in our lives.

Worry Wart

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?" (Mt 6:24-25 NIV))

To worry about what we are going to eat, drink, or wear is to make Money the one we serve, the object of our worship. We will serve it because through it we are provided with food, drink, remnant and housing. We have to be careful not to get caught up in the needful things of this life, having a negative effect upon our spiritual lives. Mark 4:18-19 says “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. (NIV)

• What we worry about becomes the center, or center cluster, of our lives.

• Worry makes its subject the focus of our attention and our lives.

• Our priorities becomes rooted in and identified with the object of our worship .. er .. worry.

• Worry captures our thoughts and drives our emotions.

• Worry strangles the root of Life found in the Word of God.

• Worry causes the Word to be fruitless in our lives.

• Worry stagnates our spiritual life.

• Worry impedes our spiritual growth.

Worry causes us to view the future through “eyes of fear“. God has told us in Is 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' (NASB)

God’s remedy for this kind of worry is found in Mt 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (KJV). We have to re-focus and re-prioritize. We are called to be citizens of the Kingdom of God and are now to live our lives guided not by the basic principles of the world, but by the underlying principles of God’s Kingdom. This principle is God‘s the King, put Him first, make His purposes your priorities, do things His way, and as you trust Him by doing these things, He will take care of you and yours.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (Col 3:1-3 NIV)

Simple Obedience

I was reading to my son Zachariah today. It was a little book called "When We Grow Up" from the Before Time Began Series. The little prehistoric creature friends wanted to camp out in the woods, but their parents wouldn’t let them. One of them decided they would anyway and manipulated the whole group into following them.

It wasn’t long before they were in trouble. The ring leader of the group had gotten into some quicksand and they couldn‘t get her out (I’m pretty sure it was a female). As things started getting desperate, the grandfather of one of the group of friends appeared and got the one stuck in the quicksand out. He then said to them:

“Until you learn to follow simple rules, you’ll never see or understand all the secrets of the Great Valley.”

Now that was a good line. I didn’t expect to find God speaking in the pages of Zach’s little book … but there, unmistakably, was His voice. It is amazing the times, the places, and the unexpected ways we can hear God speaking to us. It seems to also usually be when we least expect it.

It would be easy at this point to say, “What a great lesson for my son!” But I realize that while this is a great lesson for my son, God was speaking to me.

May we learn to recognize and respond to His voice every time He speaks or reveals Himself to us.

He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. (Lk 16:10 NASB)

The Simple Truths of Service

Inspired By Johnny The Bagger
By Ken Blanchard & Barbara Glanz
Found at simpletruths.com




My sister forwarded this to me and I thought it was great!
(It is about a 3 minute clip)

Our principal sent it to all of us for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Click Here To View The Movie!
http://www.simpletruths.com/simpletruths/a.aspx?af=219&mo=stsr

Getting Over It

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
(Jn 10:10)

There are two spiritual forces exerting influence in our lives, one the essence of evil, and One the essence of good. We can love and belong to Jesus Christ, and yet still be under destructive influence in some areas of our lives. From this spring board we could dive into many different areas, but today I am thinking of negative things in the past that we can’t seem to get over.

I recently responded to “You can pray for God to bless you, or you can pray for God to mess with you until you’re not a mess any longer.” It took three days before I figured out what was happening to my life. I knew I was a mess, but I quickly became an over achiever in it. I was even an offence to myself.

It all centered on some things and some people in the past that I had not gotten over yet. Being in the mood for a sad country song, I listened to “He Stopped Loving Her Today” sung by George Jones and found at http://www.homestead.com/LOL2/hestopped.html, if you are so inclined. I almost immediately turned into a basket case

If I haven’t lost you yet, and you are still hanging in there, here are the words to the song:

HE STOPPED LOVING HER TODAY

Lyrics and Music By
Bobby Braddock and Curly Putnam

He said, "I'll love you till I die."

She told him, "You'll forget in time."

As the years went slowly by

She still preyed upon his mind

He kept her picture on the wall

Went half crazy now and then

He still loved her through it all

Hoping she'd come back again

Kept some letters by his bed

Dated 1962

He had underlined in red

Every single "I love you"

I went to see him just today

Oh, but I didn't see no tears

All dressed up to go away

First time I'd seen him smile in years

He stopped loving her today

They placed a wreath upon his door

And soon they'll carry him away

He stopped loving her today

Spoken:

You know, she came to see him one last time,

We all wondered if she would

And it kept running through my mind

This time he's over her for good

This man’s life became defined by that which he couldn’t get over. It played and preyed upon his mind like a stuck record. It influenced how he lived out the rest of his time, as it forever discolored his perspective of life. He never got over it until he died.

In the middle of my weeping and wailing, I came to a decision. I didn’t want to wait until I died to get over some things that were bothering me. I did not want my life to be defined or determined by things I hadn’t gotten over.

Now, I did not know there were some things I hadn‘t really dealt with lurking in me. I thought I had already dealt with, forgiven, and was moving on past them. Come to find out I was just trying to get around them.

I wasn’t telling God anything He didn’t already know, but I told Him they were there, and I couldn’t get over them, didn’t know how to, and didn’t even know if I wanted to. I asked His forgiveness for hanging on to some hurts, forgave the hurters and disappointers that I had been blaming for the way my life has turned out so far, and asked Him to do a work of grace in me. He is.

If we are going to live the life that Jesus came to give us, then we are going to have to get over some things. We can feed upon what we can’t get over or we can feed upon the Word of God, but we can’t do both. The devil feeds us the bitter bread of the past, and uses it to paint our future. God makes bitter water sweet and fills our lives with his presence and purpose.

Now it is your turn. Will you wait ‘til you die to get over the things you may need to get over? Will you view life through the filter of what you cant get over, or the filter of God’s grace? You say you don’t know if there is anything you haven’t gotten over? Have I got a prayer for you!