"And You've opened the door for me
And You laid down Your life to set me free
All that I am will serve You Lord."
Oh You Bring ~ Hillsong United
God's opened the door for us. The door to healing. The door to His presence. The door to freedom. The door to worship Him in spirit and in truth. The door to everything - everything He has for us. All we have to do is walk in. Push through all the debris that's in the way. Push through the distraction, the doubt, the worry, the fear. Push through the apathy, the lack of passion for God, the idolatry - the love of this world instead of God. Present it all to God. It's okay to admit to Him where you're at, 'cause He meets us where we are. He gets down on our level where we've fallen and helps us back up again; helps us back to the path again. Give Him your life. Worship Him - with your life. Do everything as unto the Lord, with excellence.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Perfect Peace
"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! 4 Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock."Isaiah 26:3-4 (NLT)
For several years I've dealt a lot with fear... mostly at night. I don't know what it was, but I used to get so scared at night that I couldn't go to sleep. I won't go into detail, but a lot of the time there was no reason for it. God's brought me SO far from where I was all those years ago when it was the worst. If I knew the Scripture and promises I know now back then, I would have had more peaceful nights. Thank You, God, for delivering me from fear and the effects thereof.
Over the years, God has shown me things in His Word about peace and dealing with fear. Every time I heard a sermon about peace, I'd jump at the chance to learn more about it. My favorite Scripture I've found over the years is Philippians 4:4-7."Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."-NKJThese are the instructions God's given us to walk in peace! Start out with praise. Sing a worship song to Him, delight myself in God, read a Psalm to God, etc. Then I'd examine my life, and if I'd done anything to someone that day that wasn't gentle or considerate I'd repent and make it right with them. And I brought every one of those worries to God. Every time I started getting in fear, I'd give it over to Him. I would pray about what I was scared about, and thank God for answering my prayers. And then I took hold of His promise. That HIS peace would guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
So God has come through in so many ways over the years. He's given me His perfect peace; about the near and far future. The theme for church camp this year was Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." This is my last year of high school and college is coming up fast. I do not at this time know what to major in. I've considered a couple of different things, but... yeah. I've learned to trust God and realize that He has got my whole life mapped out, and He wants me to know the next step exactly when I need it. He'll let me know at the exact right time, and I WILL know His voice when He speaks.
So I want to encourage you today that no matter what you might be facing that God has a GOOD plan for you - to prosper you and give you hope - a great expectancy of what is to come. Maybe you've been dealing with fear too. Get in the Word. Find out God's promises for you about that area. Keep your mind stayed on Him, and He will keep you in PERFECT peace. With no weak points. Rely on His strength and grace, and He will carry you through it. Follow the wonderful instructions of Phil 4:4-7. And trust God through it all. When your mind is stayed on Him, your problems don't look as big. Magnify God and watch the problems shrink in comparison. God will carry you through.
For several years I've dealt a lot with fear... mostly at night. I don't know what it was, but I used to get so scared at night that I couldn't go to sleep. I won't go into detail, but a lot of the time there was no reason for it. God's brought me SO far from where I was all those years ago when it was the worst. If I knew the Scripture and promises I know now back then, I would have had more peaceful nights. Thank You, God, for delivering me from fear and the effects thereof.
Over the years, God has shown me things in His Word about peace and dealing with fear. Every time I heard a sermon about peace, I'd jump at the chance to learn more about it. My favorite Scripture I've found over the years is Philippians 4:4-7."Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."-NKJThese are the instructions God's given us to walk in peace! Start out with praise. Sing a worship song to Him, delight myself in God, read a Psalm to God, etc. Then I'd examine my life, and if I'd done anything to someone that day that wasn't gentle or considerate I'd repent and make it right with them. And I brought every one of those worries to God. Every time I started getting in fear, I'd give it over to Him. I would pray about what I was scared about, and thank God for answering my prayers. And then I took hold of His promise. That HIS peace would guard my heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
So God has come through in so many ways over the years. He's given me His perfect peace; about the near and far future. The theme for church camp this year was Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." This is my last year of high school and college is coming up fast. I do not at this time know what to major in. I've considered a couple of different things, but... yeah. I've learned to trust God and realize that He has got my whole life mapped out, and He wants me to know the next step exactly when I need it. He'll let me know at the exact right time, and I WILL know His voice when He speaks.
So I want to encourage you today that no matter what you might be facing that God has a GOOD plan for you - to prosper you and give you hope - a great expectancy of what is to come. Maybe you've been dealing with fear too. Get in the Word. Find out God's promises for you about that area. Keep your mind stayed on Him, and He will keep you in PERFECT peace. With no weak points. Rely on His strength and grace, and He will carry you through it. Follow the wonderful instructions of Phil 4:4-7. And trust God through it all. When your mind is stayed on Him, your problems don't look as big. Magnify God and watch the problems shrink in comparison. God will carry you through.
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