I was reading my Bible recently when the idea of Jesus’ peace took hold of my mind. It is so wonderfully incomprehensible how invisible peace, from an invisible God and Savior can visibly meet our needs for peace during trials!
Have you known someone, who, even while in a terrible trial, praised the Lord? I have! Their faith amazes me! That’s visible peace!
What a witness to me that peace CAN be found in Jesus, no matter what. We may not face the same trials as each other, but we can turn our faces to the same Lord and Savior and He will meet whatever needs we have, for peace.
Jesus’ peace is a “One size fits all” peace! I say that because He is morethan enough for anything any of us face. God’s Word says so…so it’s true! Period. End stop.
Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
Because He has over come the world, overcome death, we know that He really CAN do anything. Right now, the world is in quite a state…pun not intended… but we do not have to be in a fearful state, personally.
God’s got this. Things may not be as we want and we may not feel our world is headed in a good direction, but…Jesus has left us His peace.
Though He has left us on earth , He has not LEFT us. The Holy Spirit is with us. Isn’t it so precious that the Holy Spirit lives in us to provide any and all guidance that we need?
Jesus cares that much. God cares that much. The Holy Spirit cares that much for us. (If I knew how to make a heart imoge here, I would do it!)
I can almost hear Jesus’ love in this next verse. Can 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.” John 14:27 NIV
That sounds like a great plan! Friends, I hope you have a great Monday, NOT being afraid, but peaceful. I will pray for that for you and myself, too. Remember…
God’s got us, all of our moments, our minutes. He also has our days, weeks, months and years in His hand. All we have to do is hold His.
Lord, Thank You so much for all the ways you encourage us to lean on You and not be afraid. Your peace is such a precious gift to us! We do not deserve and could never afford something so priceless. Though we may not understand how You can attend to all of us and our different issues or fears, we know You can. We love You and we will be witnesses of Your peace. Amen.
With love from the Father to you, have a great day,
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5: 8-9
Good morning, friends! I have missed writing, but it has been a busy season of life. Two daughters married since last April and a grandbaby is on the way, our first. My Dad has been staying with me for awhile too, which is another blessing! With all of these blessings, it is too easy for me to dwell on the busy-ness and move my alone time with Jesus lower on my priorities.
Yet, that time is needed more than ever, when I am busy, when WE are busy. Why? Because we may start to feel self-sufficient, which is NOT what the Lord intended. We are NOT enough, God is. We were not made to NOT need Him. He is our Father:)
We were also NOT made to listen to the enemy. He pats us on the back, figuratively, and tells us we can do things on our own, that we have made it where we are, on our own. Not true. Not a surprise really, that he tells us that, because the enemy thinks every day is “Opposite Day.” He tells us the opposite of what is true!
When we are busy, He lies! (He lies non-stop!) He attacks our thoughts, devotions, family time…anything that will take us a step from Jesus, and another step and another step. He tells us we can skip devotions just one day…or ten. We can make our prayers short, so we can get to our to-do list done first. We are allowed to skip reading the Bible, since we have been a Christian for so long and know the Bible well. Lies, lies, lies.
The enemy is in opposition to not just God, but US! Whatever He tells you is a well-crafted lie to draw us away from God. It may not appear to be a huge lie, but the little ones are often the most dangerous; because they are subtle and we kind of go along with them. Maybe we should pray about this:
Dear Jesus:
There are times I listen to the enemy’s lies. Would you please help me to recognize when I am being lied to? The enemy may use my busy-ness to let my relationship with You slide a bit. I may resent someone that hurt me and feel justified, because the enemy says so. I have been known to be a little jealous of others’ accomplishments, because the enemy told me I could never accomplish anything like that. Will You please nudge me when I get off track? Draw me back to where I was meant to be, leaning on You. Thank You for being my rock that never moves. All that I am and all that I accomplish is YOURS to decide and YOURS to guide and YOURS to get glory for. I love you! Amen
I hope you have a good week. I will pray for us, that we recognize the enemy’s words and schemes and are able to fight them with the Word of God.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 KJV
I came down to my office with a heavy urging to have God help me write something that matters, something that will encourage you and myself, too, something from the Word of God. Just saying those three words…Word of God…how blessed are we to have that resource of truth and hope?! Not only that, but we can have the Word and hope inside us, with us, every second of every day!
As humans, we forget that we are totally provided for and supported by God, especially when the enemy tempts us to fix things ourselves. We need to remember that God is our fix! We should also remember that our current sufferings are just that, current. They will not last forever!
We are on our way to forever and we need to suffer a bit, perhaps to appreciate God’s strength, Jesus’ teaching and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. It is too much for our brains to figure out all the whys of this world or life, but God has it all planned. Since we are on our way to forever, we can trust the One who made the forever plan!
Thank you for reading! I pray to the Father that you have a great day and holiday week and you feel the joy and hope of Jesus in your heart for now and always. He was born just for us! Love, Tina
Matthew 6:33 says, ” But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” NIV
As I was praying this morning, I felt led to write this poem down. When God puts a deep desire in your heart or mine, He will show us where to go with it, one step at a time.
What is your prayer today? Is it a desire or hurt? Let me know how I can pray for you, please. Find me on facebook or message here.
A memory just came to me that reminded me of our Father’s love for us. When I was five, I stole a pack of gum while in the checkout line with my mother. I remember I was so mad that she told me “no”, that I took it anyway.Then, as I tried to walk out of the store slowly so the gum would not fall out of the cuffed waistband of my jumper, I was sure I had a “bad girl” sign stamped on me.
What had I done?! I couldn’t put it back now. Everyone would see! All I could do was wallow in my “bad girl” situation that I created.
Later that evening, at bedtime, my mom called me down to talk about the gum. I do not remember getting a spanking, though I expected one. What I do remember…she gently told me…
“This is not something Jesus approves of so we can never do it again. We do not steal in this family.” The next morning, I had to go back to the cashier and apologize and ask her to forgive me.
She looked at me and said, That’s okay.” Her being so gentle with me when I did something wrong, made me feel worse. How could she be that way? I deserved punishment! How could my momma love me still and be gentle with me when I had gone against her rules?
The same way God does. He knows we are human and have a tendency to be selfish and sinful. But, like a loving Father, He made a plan to teach His, much better, way! He cares more about teaching us and having a good relationship with Him, than condemning us for our sin. He sent Jesus to die for the whole world. Let that sink in. That means He did it for you, me, all of us!
For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV
Father,
Thank You for Your plan to forgive me of my sins and teaching me the way to be with You forever. Even as an adult, I mess up when my selfishness takes over my heart. Please forgive me. I will do my best to learn from You, because You are my heavenly Father that I want to please. Give me opportunity today to tell someone else about You. I love You so much, Father God! Amen
Did you ever have Play Doh as a kid? Did you ever eat it? I have a couple friends, who shall remain nameless, that liked to eat it although that was not the purpose! For those who did not play with this “magical dough,” it was so fun! You pick your color of Play Doh, then pick a plastic shape you want the dough to become. When you press the plastic cookie-cutter shape into the dough, the dough is no longer a blob, it is the shape you intended it to be.
This process is much like our relationship to God because we get “pressed on” to become what He desires. We are the blob of dough! God chooses the plan for our life and presses us into what He wants us to be. He will use whatever tool or experience He deems necessary that will allow us to become something that pleases Him. Play Doh makes me think about God’s plans for us!
God makes us on purpose. We are not random creations. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like me. The One God made us uniquely one of a kind. Yesterday, in my She Writes For Him conference, our writing instructor, Cynthia Cavanaugh, made a simple statement. “There is noone else like you with your story.” Doesn’t that make you feel a little more important as a part of God’s plan? And doesn’t it make that thought more reverent, holy and special that God, our creator loves us enough to make us unique and different from each other?
Know ye that the Lord is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people, and the sheep of his flock. Psalm 99:3
God presses into us but sometimes we pull back. Yes, us, the dough, the blob! We try to pull back from what God may have for us. I have done it many times myself because it was too scary. I thought I could see what God was doing and I pulled back because I did not want to be what He seemed to be making me. I was too afraid to totally let Him have control. I mean, shouldn’t I approve His plan first? What if I don’t feel capable of doing a ministry that takes my time every single day? Oh, wait, that is what I am doing now and He is carrying me! He does that! I feel sometimes I am just along for a willing ride and He is taking me places I did not know I would like! Have you ever felt that way? Sometimes He allows life trials that threaten to make us lose our way. Even then, we can let Him have control. There is great peace in accepting His plan!
…In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalm 57:1-2
We do not know God’s purpose all the time. Play Doh sure does not know, nor can it make itself into what I plan for it to be. When God presses into us and allows things to shape us, when the Holy Spirit nudges us one way or another and when we see that God is impressing us for His purposes, we see that He is making us into what He wants us to become. Just as Play Doh is not nearly intelligent enough to know what we can may make of it…we are not intelligent or wise enough to know what God can make of us if we will just let Him do His work. But, we can ask Him for His wisdom!
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. James 1:5
How can we do that, actively let God do His work? We can willingly go and do what He is impressing us to do. The Bible says God made man in His own image, so we are like God already. Wow! (But there is a BUT…) But if we want to be more like God, we need His character. Jesus set the perfect example for us. He was a copy of God in human form. We see the shape we are meant to be by reading in the Bible what Jesus said and did. We can see His heart, the heart of God. So now, we can either decide to try and make ourselves into what we are determined to make of ourselves or we can put our trust in our Creator. The way that David does this is to take action! Notice the bolded words below as he delights and meditates and fixes His eyes on God’s ways!
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. Psalm 119:14-15
Have you, like me, determined that God’s ways and plans are scary at times? It is an “Adventure of Trust.” (Thank you, Lord for that wonderful thought, btw…) Do you have all things figured out or do you, like me, have some serious delighting and meditating and fixing of my eyes to do? As a fellow blob of dough to another, let’s allow ourselves to be shaped!
Dear Father God,
You are such a great Father! Where do we begin, to tell You how much we love You and why? You just have everything in control and are working in our own individual lives for Your own wonderful purposes. That makes us all feel so special to You! Thank You for making us uniquely qualified to do Your will for us. Forgive us, please, when we get scared of what You are asking us to do. We want to be more like willing dough. As You press into us, help us to remember You are making us that way for a reason. When our trials are too hard to understand, shine Your light into our hearts and give us hope. We will press into You too, so we walk away imprinted with the likeness of You. You are almost too wonderful to comprehend, yet we love trying to do so! A personal request… Please bless my conference mentors and friends with an amazing day of glorifying You through words that you give them and us. May we become what You intend. We love you so much! Amen
Love and prayers to all. Have a blessed day of being a piece of beautiful dough for God!
Glory in the Morning 