The God of Peace

When we are not enveloped by the peace of God, which has nothing to do with human reasoning or our circumstances (Philippians 4:7), we cannot abide in the rest of God (Hebrews 4:10). Entering His rest is imperative and quite easy (more to come).

Stress is often called the "silent killer". It destroys our body, soul and spirit with its relentless, negative bombardment. We control stress by what we eat, drink, think about, and the kind as well as the amount of activities that we introduce into our daily schedule.

Anxious situations and thoughts keep us in continual turmoil. Our Father God speaks to this issue in so many places in His Word. He used Paul to remind us not to allow anxiety to permeate our thoughts and activities (Philippians 4:6).

Jesus taught us that worry and anxiety cannot change any aspect of our life (Matthew 6:25-26). He taught us that the antidote for the poison of stress is to enter God's rest by seeking first the Kingdom of God. Then, the Trinity will supply all of our needs (Matthew 6:33).

When we focus on the Lord (Isaiah 26:3-4), regardless of the situation going on around us, we allow the peace of God to rule in our heart. Gratitude and forgiveness are two characteristics that help us to access that peace (Colossians 3:15).

When we live in mindfulness of the moment, we view God working out everything for our eventual good (Romans 8:28). By finding items for which to show gratitude, we live in constant praise to our Daddy God, and our inner joy grows incrementally.

With joy in our heart, we have less of a struggle with negative thoughts, stress and worry. We have faith in our Heavenly Father, because of His faithfulness to us in every area of our life. We live in incomparable peace and joy each moment of the day.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to limit our activities to only those in which You lead us to participate. Help us to put Your will above our own and above the constant needs of everyone around us. Remind us to put all of our concerns in Your heart, through turning them over to You every time we find our mind obsessing about them.

Give us the courage to follow Your direction for our life, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us feel. Remind us to love our self, so that we will have the emotional, physical, mental and spiritual energy to love other as You love them - nonjudgmentally, whole-heartedly and with Your unconditional Agape love.

Thought for the Day:

Living in the moment, fully engaged in and abiding in the rest of God, we realize that He has everything in His control, and nothing can harm us, or invade our life without His knowledge; He works out even negative issues for our ultimate good. - Romans 8:28

Authentic Devotion

God calls us to a place of authentic devotion. He desires worshippers who sincerely come to Him through His spirit (John 4:24). He honors those who love Him by keeping His Word (John 14:15). He always provides a way to escape temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). God promises that, as we humble our self before Him and resist temptation, Satan will have to flee from us (James 4:7-8). We abandon our heavy burden of self-imposed labor; and, instead, enter into God’s rest (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4:10).

God is always faithful and He keeps His promises (1 Thessalonians 5:24). We have no need to waiver in our faith, because He is worthy of our trust. He desires nothing less than our whole-hearted devotion to Him in every area of our life. God does not wink at sin; He is appalled by it. He cannot look upon, nor dwell where sin resides (Psalm 5:4). We grieve the Holy Spirit with every compromise we make in our life (Ephesians 4:30-31). Therefore, do not break God’s heart by sinning.

In our modern society, we spend more time serving God on our own terms, than in obeying God’s direction. We rely more on our self-effort than on God’s strength within us. We also grieve Him when we plan our life to the minute and have no time for fellowship with other Believers or even reserve a few moments for Him in daily devotion. We frantically pray for God’s blessing on our plans as we rush from one event to another throughout the day.

Instead, God wants us to yoke up with His Spirit and do only those works, which He prepared for us before we were even born (Ephesians 2:10).  In this way, we find rest for our mind and heart, which are wearied by the demands of the world (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4:10). It is only as we return to the center of God’s will that we find complete rest. In this place of quiet confidence, we find our strength (Isaiah 30:15). He is always present to help the humble that depend only on Him (Isaiah 5 7:15).

Prayer:

Father God, You love us with Your everlasting love and draw us with Your kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). You offer us a place of repose, a resting place for the weary to find solace (Isaiah 28:12). The righteousness of Christ in us offers us peace and brings with it the quiet confidence we need to face the issues of life (Isaiah 32:17). Therefore, we walk in the Spirit, so that our soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions - can find rest in the Lord, who is always good to us (Psalm 116:7).

Thought for the Day:

We remain calm and do not lose heart, when we circumspectly walk by the direction of God’s Spirit. - Isaiah 7:4; Ephesians 5:15-20