Peace

Peace, we all want it, we all actually need it, but how can we get it?  Maybe more importantly, how can we keep it in this world of business and commotion?  I, for one, might let others steal my joy at times or let my circumstances determine my mood.  That doesn’t have to be so, because our “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33).  Evil and satan seem to be in control of this world today, but they most assuredly do not have to be in control of our lives and our peace. 

The Psalms are always a source of peace for me, and are not short on messages about what God can do for us and the peace he provides.  Psalm 62:8 tells us to “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”  Psalm 46:1 tells us again “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”  Psalm 29:11 speaks of peace: “May the Lord give strength to his people!  May the Lord bless his people with peace!” God is there, and He is prepared to be our refuge and our help; we simply need to ask (pour out our hearts before Him). 

Prayer is one way that I am able to regain my peace when someone or something has tried to steal it from me.  Paul, in Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

We already see that prayer is one way to find the Lord’s peace, but what other steps can we take?  Job tells us to “Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.”  So walking in step with God is also a help for peace … it just puts things in perspective when we view things through the eyes of God.  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (Col. 3:15).  So, maybe, if we looked more at our blessings and less at the problem we might be facing at the time, we will focus more on the peace and less on the problem.  Jesus, in John 14:27, promised peace in some of His last words here on this earth.  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  So the next time you begin to worry or let this life steal your peace, just remember that you have “the God of peace” for you, Jesus the one who promises peace walking beside you, and the Holy Spirit who provide peace within you.  I will leave you with the blessing of Paul from 2 Thessalonians 3:16.  “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

God Bless!

Hope

Hope, we all need it, and without it life can be pretty rough.  Where do we search for our hope; where do we muster the strength to make it through another day?  Not all days are bad days, but all days require hope.  I ran across a verse in my morning devotion that jumped off the page at me today, and I wanted to share it, a few others and a couple of thoughts that might help us keep more hope in our lives.  The verse was from a version I don’t usually read, The Amplified Bible, but the way it expresses the thought in Romans 15:13 is so inspiring.  “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.”  I wanted to make sure you caught that last part, so the emphasis is mine; overflowing, or even better, bubbling over with hope.  I immediately thought of pouring a glass of cola (insert your favorite brand here) and pouring too fast, and it just bubbling up and out of the glass and all over the table.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a hope that was like that, unable to be contained within us, but bubbling out?  I think… well I know we can have that exact kind of hope and strength to boot.  We just have to remember the author of life and hope along with it, God.  “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand” (Isaiah 42:6).  God has us right where he wants us, in His hand.  To imagine that the Lord of the universe cares about me enough to hold my little, insignificant hand should be enough to give me hope, but sometimes I still wonder.  I bet you do, too.  I have read a book recently by Pete Wilson, Let Hope In, and it is not only a great read, but speaks exactly to this point.  Pete writes, “My hope is based on a God who can do and will do the impossible.”  What a great way to think about our hope.  But we can also look to God’s word itself for the same inspiration Pete used for his thoughts.  Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”  Isaiah 40:31, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” “Taste and see” that the lord will give you the hope you need not only for today, which might be the very day you needed to hear this… a rough day, but also for those days that are going ok.  We need hope all the time.  Pete says, “Hope changes everything,” and he is right.  Paul tells Timothy “we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people” (1 Tim 4:10).  I can see a trend to hope and what really supplies it, can you?  We sometimes look for hope in all the wrong places.  Maybe we go back to something that’s comfortable even though we know it’s not good for us.   Or, maybe we just place our hope in something here on earth like money, a relationship, a job, or maybe worst of all, ourselves.  There is nothing wrong with money, relationships, a good job, and for sure not you, but all these things are temporary and can ebb and flow.  God will always be there to give you that hope you need.  It may not always solve that problem as quickly as we want, and almost never seems to be here as fast as I would like, but it is always available.  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom 12:12).  So sometimes we have to just keep praying and be patient, but have hope all the while.  God is there.  He was waiting on you when you got to this day.  He will give you all the hope you need and have it bubbling over if you will let him.  “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you” (Eph 1:18).

God Bless