A Deep Seated Peace

Psalm 119:165 “Those who love Your Law have great peace, and nothing will cause them to hurt in their spirit.”

Isaiah 54:10 “The mountains may be taken away and the hills make sake but my loving-kindness will not be taken from you.  My agreement of peace will not be shaken…”

Luke 1:78-79 “Because the heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us, a light from heaven will shine on us.  It will give light to those who live in darkness and are under the shadow of death.  It will lead our feet in the way of peace.”

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not worry.  Learn to pray about everything.  Give thanks to God as you ask Him for what you need.  The peace of God is much greater than the human mind can understand.  This peace will keep your hearts and minds though Christ Jesus.”

Peace, as defined by Priscilla Shirer, is the “deep, inner, eternal stability the believer possesses by Virtue of Relationship with Jesus that is not subject to external circumstances.  It is also the quality that enables us to live harmoniously with others.”  This is not a peace that is easily defined or even to explain to a nonbeliever, but it can easily be displayed.

Have you ever seen a person who seems to have the world falling apart around them, but yet they seem to have a “supernatural power” for continuing to display a beautiful “deep-seated peace and confidence” that can only be founded by a relationship with Him?  Many of us reading this today, know of someone in our own school who have displayed this peace.  She fights a battle that seems to beat her down continuously, but is always smiling and gracious in all her actions.  She has that peace.  Even on her toughest days, she kept displaying that peace.

When in the midst of what seems to be the worst, if we are anchored in our relationship, he keeps us from crumbling.  He will respond by activating His peace within us.  This peace will “not only guard but also guide us by helping us.”

Blanca - "Greater Is He" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fht61vcBeIw

(Priscilla Shirer, The Armor of God)

Be Blessed!

Life Suckers

1 Timothy 6:11-12The Message (MSG)

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

Sugar is a sweet substance that many of us crave on a daily basis.   Take suckers for instance, the sweet taste, that curbs a craving for an instant.  Our taste buds jump for joy.  The simplicity of something so simple can change our mindset for a brief moment.  What if we left that sucker in our mouths for a long period of time?  What happens?  Nothing good, that is for sure.  A sugar rush and then a sudden crash.  Our immune system is effected.  Over time our teeth are effected, and even possible diseases could start lurking.

What about life suckers?  Things in life that tend to trick us into believing it is “normal” and “ok” to partake in for a brief moment.  What if that brief moment turns into a few brief moments?  Then what if those few brief moments start seeping into our “spiritual bodies”.  What harm is it doing to us immediately and eternally.  What are these life suckers?  Here are a few that I was able to come up with tonight as I brainstormed:  worry, anxiety, anger, gossip, fear, guilt, temptation, and hate.  Some intertwine with each other, most begin with one and roll into the next.  If we let these things sit on our heart and in our minds, they tend to dig cavities and disease in our thinking, way of life, and demeanor.  

I like sugar as much as the next “Sweet Tooth Queen/King”.   A little sugar doesn’t harm you when you enjoy it occasionally,  However, “too much at once is when the trouble starts, and clearly, your body will let you know when it’s had enough” (Vicki Santillano / Divine Caroline, 2009).  These life suckers are present every day and for some of us, myself included, can be suckers dealt with on a moment to moment basis.  What are some ways to make sure that they don’t eat away at our spiritual mentality?  Attending a church, daily devotionals, small groups, a Bible study, but most importantly opening the Bible.  If you don’t know where to begin, reach out and ask.  We all had to start somewhere, and it is a choice as to when and how you start fighting that life sucker.

Be Blessed!

Check Your Maintenance Light

Psalm 46:1-5, 7 "God is our safe place and our strength.  He is always our help when we are in trouble.  So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the enter of the sea, and even if its waters go wild with storm and mountains shake with its action.  There is a river whose waters make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most Hight lives.  God is the center of HER.  SHE WILL NOT BE MOVED. GOD WILL HELP HER when the morning comes...The Lord of All is with us.  The God of Jacob IS OUR STRONG-PLACE." 

Ok, so my husband and I notably joke about the “maintenance” lights that are on in our cars.   We have had them on in both our cars for as long as we have married, regardless of an old car or a newer vehicle.  Those lights tend to come on and flash in front of me.  The first moment of them coming on, my blood pressure seems to get a little higher.  Thoughts tend to run 10 different directions on trying to diagnose the problem MYSELF.  Yes, we do eventually get it checked out, but for the most part, they get ignored until we start to notice something that is “not normal” while driving.  

In our lives, we tend to run until we can’t stop.  If God sends us a signal, that we need to stop and do some “maintenance” do we?  Or do we ignore the signs, turn the radio up a little louder, or better yet, cover the dash board up with a positive quote card so that we don’t see the maintenance light (yeap…that would be me).  Thank goodness that I’m not the driver in the vehicle of life.  

God is always within and completely in charge.  Psalm 46:1 “God is our safe place and our strength.  He is always our help when we are in trouble.”  Do we notice the maintenance lights or do we ignore them until our vehicle starts to show signs of trouble?  If we become believers who maintain our faith engine, He will be within us and when He is, “She will not be moved.  God will help her…God is our strong-place.” (Psalm 46:5,7)

'More Than Conquerors" from Rend Collective 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p8_4NbrcKA

Be Blessed!

Reflecting His Light

John 8:12 “…I am the Light of the world  Anyone who follows Me will not walk in darkness.  He will have the Light of Life.”

Ephesians 5:13  “All good things can be seen when they are in the light.  Everything that can be seen is in the light.”

Matthew 5:14,16 “You are the LIGHT of the world.  you cannot hide a city that is on a mountain…Let you light shine in front of men.  They they will see the good things you do and honor your Father Who is in Heaven.”

Our main source of light comes from the sun.  Even the moon depends on the Sun’s light to reflect upon it for us to see in the dark of night.  Light can be so blinding at times.  However, it is what our planet depends on for survival.   

Now, visualize the Sun being our Heavenly Father, and we are the moon.  At night, when there is no moon, it is dark.  Complete darkness is scary to most.   We are the light in a dark world.  The people around us daily may or may not have a relationship with the Lord, but they do have a relationship with you.  Dr. Daniel Doriani states, “Many people find it hard to look at the Word of God, but they do observe the people who reflect it.”  

Are we reflecting the His light?  Are we letting our “Sundays” bleed into our Mondays with our actions and our words?  2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us that He is the one that shines in our hearts.  If we allow the light to shine through, regardless of who we are talking to or what we are talking about, “God’s shining-greatness” will not be contained.  Let your light shine today!

Be Blessed!