Peace Will Be With You

 

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11

Paul’s encouragement still applies today.  We all want to live in peace.  How do we do it?

We can become more resilient by changing our attitude about how we respond to life’s little aggravations.  Getting into a frame of mind where we can say  “So what,” when little things go wrong, can change our whole outlook on life.  It might not be easy at first, but given a little time the habit of letting the small stuff slide, becomes easier.  And, we will find a more peaceful existence. 

So, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

 

Save Us, Jesus

 

They cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distress.

 

Psalm 107:13

One night I was driving home with my teenage daughter.  I was clipping along at 50 mph.  Then on the road right in front of us, I saw a three foot high pile of dirt.  I screamed, “Save us, Jesus.” 

I swerved and missed the pile of dirt.  When I regained my composure, I said to my daughter, “Don’t scream in the car.”

She said, “Mom, you were the one who screamed.” 

That’s the way God is, even when we are not really paying attention to Him, He is paying attention to us.   When we cry out to Him, He saves us. 

 

When you are distressed, call out to God.  He is waiting to help you. 

Born Again

 

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3:1-8

It was not too many years ago that the media and even some mainline Christian church leaders tried to dismiss talk about being born again as being too simple  and indicated that an intellectualized faith was the right way to approach Christianity.

While intellectualized faith fosters much good doing, it can miss the heart of the Gospel, that being that Jesus calls on each of us to have a personal relationship with Him, which begins with making a personal commitment to Him. This personal commitment contains an element of recognizing that we can do better and confessing and repenting of our sin. This is a spiritual experience or, as Jesus said, it is like being born again.

Being born again is not just Evangelical lingo; it is the foundation upon which our salvation is built. It is the key to the kingdom of God.

Jesus calls us to come to Him, to repent, to be forgiven and to be born again.

Mercy, Peace And Love.

 

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

Jude 2-3 

If you know someone whose life is in turmoil, these are the perfect words of comfort. We cannot solve their problems, but we can offer the salve of mercy, peace and love. 

And, maybe we can buy them a coffee and sit with them.  It is when we give our time to be with those who are hurting, that they can see the love of God.  We come seeking nothing, but giving mercy, peace and love.  

Let us be open to opportunities to share God's love. 

Pray For Those Who Would Lead Us

 

First of all, the, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

I Timothy 2:1-3

It is political campaign season here in the United States and this year’s political advertisements are devoid of godliness and dignity.  Accusations, complaints, ugly photographs, and lies are rampant.  It makes me wonder if these people will be able to kiss and make up when it’s over so they can work together for the good of the nation.  

If anybody needs prayer these candidates do. Therefore, we might do well to follow Timothy’s directive. We serve a living God who hears our prayers, and making mention of our leaders and potential leaders before God is honorable.

Now, let’s pray for those irritating politicians and all the world's leaders.

The Omnipresence of God

 

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Psalm 139:7

Omnipresence is a fancy word for everywhere.

God is everywhere. To believers it is a great comfort knowing that God is with us no matter what we are going through. He rejoices with us when we are happy and He comforts us in our sorrows.

To non-believers God’s omnipresence is uncomfortable because it is the unseen hand of God which helps keep sin in check.

God is present with us all, believers and non-believers, because He loves and cares for us all.

(With Acknowledgement to Henry Clarence Thiessen, Author: Introductory Lectures in Systematic Theology. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI. 1949.)

Be Kind To One Another

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32

I think one of the keys to good human relations is the ability to overlook and forgive those things which rub us the wrong way. It is easy to get mad because we are snubbed or slighted or not invited. What is more difficult is to understand is that we have all done this to someone sometime, either intentionally or unintentionally, and if we allow these things to rule our emotions and relationships, we will be too busy being sorry sacks to do anything else.

Therefore, I propose, if we think we have been slighted or that we have slighted someone, we overlook the former and apologize for the latter, so that we can get on with working together for the Kingdom of God.

Go on now; say something kind.