Keeping the Peace

We are in a battle every day to keep and maintain our peace.  Proverbs 14:30 says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body". Therefore, the enemy of our souls is always seeking to rob us of our peace. Jesus said in John 14:27 that he GAVE us peace. It is ours, so we must guard it.
I realised this after coming back from a God-ordained rest this past week.  What happened on that break was this--I found my peace!
I was not aware that I had lost it. So, a health issue I was having is being healed now that I have found it.
John 10:10 says that Jesus came to give us abundant life! It also says that the enemy is the one who steals, kills and destroys.
Be on guard for the attacks on your peace today. If you lose it, ask God to help you see where you lost it. Find your peace and move forward!

The Master's Business

In Matthew 25 we read the parable of the talents. Instead of being fearful of what the master would do to him, the wise servant took what he had and made more.
It's this way for us too--if we have something like money, time or resources we can make more if we will cultivate what we have been given.
If we decide to just let it sit-- it will be taken from us. Verse 29 states, "For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will be furnished richly so that he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away." (Amplified Bible)

I've seen the word "gamble" a lot recently, and reading this passage of scripture I see why. Sometimes we need to gamble. By definition gamble entails a "risk of loss, chance or profit or success". By God's design I am naturally a cautious person. Sometimes I need a little reminder to step out more, and have more adventure and risk in my life.

The guy that hid his talent thought that his master made no allowances for error. Here is someone who was not rooted in grace (rooted and grounded in love--Ephesians 3:17). So he hid what had been given to him. It was not being cultivated. Fear paralyses and stagnates, and love brings movement and multiplication.

Verse 15 in the same chapter said that the Master gave to each person according to his ability. God hasn't given you a resource that will be impossible for you to cultivate.

So today, cultivate, move and risk. It's all part of the Master's business.

This Season

Today while meditating I felt the Lord saying that it is very important to absorb what He is doing in the current season...fully appreciate it.

So many times we want to rush ahead to the "next" season, whatever that may be. Yesterday, I walked into Starbucks expecting the traditional fall decor (it is mid November) only to be surprised by Christmas drinks, stocking stuffers and the like. I told the young guy behind the counter, "I feel as if I am being robbed of the fall season!"

Maybe that is how God feels when we don't take time to relax and enjoy what He is currently doing. It's kind of a bad habit to rush ahead anyway. When we finally do get to the "Christmas" season of our lives are we going to want that to fly by as well?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that there is an appointed time for every event in our lives. Let's respect what God is currently doing and embrace it.

God Is Not Trying To Discourage You!

So many times in life we feel like we are failing and in a pit (take for instance the story of Joseph).
But Joseph made the best out of his "pit" and so can we.

There is a little voice that says, "You are always going to be stuck in this rut, don't even pray...it won't make a difference." That my friends, is NOT the voice of God.

Isaiah 42:3 says, "A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench."

The voice of our enemy says, "Oh this is the end. Things will never get any better...you are toast."

Satan can make his lies seem like our own thoughts (insert the word "I" instead of "you" in the previous sentence).

This was a revelation to me! When he begins his banter, get in the Word of God and remember His promises over your life and let Him reveal His great love to you.

There will always be a battle going on for our minds as long as we are on this earth and especially if we are God's child. Tell those thoughts to leave in Jesus' name and recite the Word of God over your situation.

There is hope.

Nothing Wasted

Today I was praying about something. A fear that I've had that time will be wasted, especially when doing something not so spiritual or seemingly fruitless at the time.

I renounced that particular fear and as I was waiting on God's peace I heard, "Nothing is wasted when done as worship."

Everything that we do can be worship! We can wash the dishes--worship. Some of my best times with God have been while loading the dishwasher. We should also carry this idea with us when we go to work or school. Colossians 3:23-24 says, "And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."

So today, go in faith and in peace knowing that NOTHING in your life is wasted when done as worship to Him.

True Bread

In John 6:32-33 Jesus tells the people, "...It is My Father who gives you the true heavenly Bread. For the Bread of God is He Who comes down out of Heaven and gives LIFE to the world. In verse 35 he says, "I am the Bread of Life.  He who comes to Me will never be hungry and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (Amplified Bible).

He told the people this, because they were only seeking after Him to get more food (he had just performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes). Here he is trying to re-direct their focus upward toward the true source of life--Himself! In verse 27 He told them, "Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food that perishes and decomposes in the using, but strive and work and produce rather for the lasting food which endures continually unto life eternal...".

In Matthew 4:4 the devil tempted Jesus with the same thing. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy and said, "It takes more than bread to stay alive.  It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth" (the Message).

Lord, we want to hear from You today. The steady stream from Heaven that keeps us filled and satisfied. Give us a hunger for your Word, and the Word and true Bread of Life --Jesus. 

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Acts 1:8 says, "But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you...". As I was reading this verse today I asked myself, "What am I doing right now that He has not given me POWER, EFFICIENCY and MIGHT to accomplish?"


We can get so busy that we forget the art of waiting on God and taking up His burden. In Matthew 28 verse 30 , Jesus says, "My yoke is wholesome (useful, good--not harsh, hard, sharp or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne."


We can have challenging circumstances in life where we need to work hard, press in and keep going. However, the issue here is the REST of God, and the peace of God that resides in our hearts.


If we are without those two things, we can do nothing (Jn 15:5).


So today let's ask the Lord to guide us and enable us to live in peace and His mighty power!