Tag: peace

The Comfort, Power and Strength of Resting in the Hands of Our Creator

2 Kings 2:12
And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Elisha had been forewarned that his master, Elijah, was going to be taken from him. Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted from him before he was taken away. Elisha asked for a double portion of the anointing that the Lord had placed on Elijah. Elijah said that this was a huge request, but if Elisha witnessed his master being taken away by the Lord then his request was granted.

Having gone through his final lessons from Elijah, Elisha saw Elijah taken away. Elisha now stood alone. In a show of extreme grief of having lost his master, he tore his clothes in two pieces. He knew that he would no longer have his guide and leader to rely on. But because he had asked for it, he was granted a double portion of the anointing that was held by Elijah. Elisha would now rely on God, not on his master.

As Almighty God prepares us to spend eternity with Him, He may allow the people around us who we have relied upon to be taken from us. It may be through death or through a broken relationship, but they will be removed in some manner. Our Lord may also allow our finances or our possessions that we hold dear to be taken from us. During these times, we must learn to rely on the Lord and not on the world around us. Until we come to the point that we are totally reliant on God, He is likely to continue to allow the removal of people and things from our lives until we totally surrender to His reign in our lives. Through it all, we will learn the comfort, the power and the strength of resting in the hands of the One that created us.

Let us turn to the Lord for the peace and the strength that only He can provide when a person, place or thing has been taken from us. Let us find our new direction under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we struggle with our change. Let us boldly ask the Lord to replace what we have lost with a double portion of His blessing on our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to rest in the comfort of Your hands as we go through our journey of surrendering completely to You. We praise You for Your loving kindness and Your mercy as You never forsake us as we struggle to find our way. We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we may begin to see all that You have prepared for us. We beseech You, Father, to grant us the fullness of the power and strength that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of Our Ever Present Lord, Jesus Christ.

Under the Divine Care of Almighty God

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

It is very easy to become frustrated, concerned, depressed, or even angry, when things seem to be piling up against us. We must recognize and celebrate that God works in all things. He is not absent during the bad times. He is taking every element of our circumstances and using them to sculpt who we are. As we mature in our relationship with God, we learn to understand that the work that He does in us during the times of trial defines who we are in Jesus Christ. Even more so as we grow in Christ, we learn to find comfort, even joy, in every step that we take under the divine care of Almighty God.

This supernatural joyful comfort that we come to experience in the face of the pressures of the world defies the emotion that our flesh demands. Through our trials, our faith carries us and builds us up where carnal men lose hope and are broken down. We come to learn that God has allowed us to be where we are and even though we cannot see it at times, He is controlling all things in our lives. Ultimately, regardless of what external ministry to which He may call any of us, He calls each of us by His special grace from darkness to light and from bondage to liberty according to the eternal purpose that He has set aside for us.

Let us find peace in the Lord when the world offers none. Let us rejoice in the victory that is ours even though we don’t see it yet. Let us hold firm to our faith which carries us through all trials and ultimately builds us up.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your sovereign rule over our lives. We rejoice in knowing that we can find peace in You no matter what is going on around us. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will will strengthen us when the world tries to weaken us. We pray that the Holy Spirit will turn us back to the light of victory when the world is trying to turn us to the darkness of defeat. We pray that through it all our trust in You will be complete as we are delivered into Your will and plan for our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

The Supernatural Power to Rise to the Occasion

John 14:31
But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

This passage represents the culmination of what could be considered the last will and testament of Jesus given to the His disciples before He left them. In the prior verses of John 14, Jesus promised many things to comfort His disciples. He also revealed a number of truths critical to their faith.

He encouraged His disciples as He told them that He was leaving them to prepare a place for them with Him in heaven. He emphasized the He is the way, the truth and life and that the only way that anyone enters into a prepared place in heaven is through Him.

Jesus confirmed the Triune Godhead to the apostles as He commanded them to “believe in Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” Later He comforted the disciples when He told them that the Holy Spirit would be sent in His name by the Father to be their Helper in His absence.

Jesus provided the disciples with more encouragement as He told them that they would do greater works than He had done because He was going to the Father to represent them. He emphasized that anyone that believes in Him will also be able to do greater works than He did.

Jesus promised them His peace and commanded them not to be troubled or afraid of the evil that would come against them. He emphasized that the victory was theirs because He has power over the enemy.

Jesus’ final command to them was, “Rise, let us go from here.” This is our command as well.

Let us receive the supernatural power that we are promised through the presence of Our Savior in our lives. Let us live a life without trouble in our hearts because of the promises of Our Redeemer. Let us rise from whatever circumstances that we find ourselves and let us show the world the peace that we have in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the peace that reigns in our lives. We thank You, Jesus, for the peace that You brought us through Your shed blood. We praise You, Lord, for providing the supernatural power that we need to live our lives without fear of any man or any circumstance. We pray that You will equip us, embolden us and strengthen us so that we may be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect peace. We ask all these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Resting in the Joy of the Lord

Matthew 6:34
So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God has a perfect plan and purpose for our lives. He commands us not to fret or worry about our circumstances. He promises that He will work out all things for our eternal good if we seek first His kingdom. It is His plan that we come to Him daily with our prayers so that He may give us the strength we need to overcome our trials and so that He may set a hedge for us against the temptations that will be flung our way.

We must seek to find hope and joy in our circumstances as we learn to trust in God to fulfill His promises in our lives. We should avoid seeing ourselves trapped by our worldly trials. Instead, we should seek the comfort and peace of seeing ourselves gripped firmly in the hand of God – the only secure place in the universe.

Let us rejoice in the Lord Our God. Let us trust in His promises. Let us seek all that He makes available to us through His Son, Jesus. Let rest in the joy that is provided for those that trust in the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for being the author and finisher of our lives. We rejoice in knowing that Your hand is always upon us as long as we abide in You. Teach us, Father, how to look past our troubles in this world and look to the source of our solutions, Jesus Christ. We pray that our focus will always be on Our Savior and not on our problems. We ask all these things in the name of Our All Sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Becoming the Mighty Warriors We Were Created to Be.

John 15:4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

Where do we find ourselves today? Are we happy with our circumstances? Are we challenged by our trials? Are we frozen by our fears? These questions are irrelevant if we are abiding in Jesus. If we follow His command to abide in Me, we will not have a care about where we are, what we are doing or what is going on around us. In this place of abiding, we will find our lives filled with the perfect joy, strength and peace of the Lord. Whatever we find ourselves doing will be completely satisfying and will bear much fruit. What freedom and power we find when we abide in Our Savior!!

On the other hand, if we are leaning on the world or on our own natural abilities, we soon find out how fearful and impotent we are. Just as the passage suggests, we are destined to experience a withering away when we separate ourselves from the True Vine. We are sure to enter into a poor, fruitless condition. Why would we ever consider living in any other way except fully dependent on the True Vine?

Let us bring our fears to the Lord and let Him deal with them. Let us vanquish the giants in our lives in the name of the Lord. Let us bow in awe and wonder before Almighty God, acknowledging His great power and might. Let us become the mighty warriors that He has created us to be.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we bow in awe and wonder before You. We acknowledge and thank You for the fullness of the joy and the power that we receive when we abide in Your Son. We pray for the strength to place all of our fears and worries at Your feet. We ask for the courage to move forward knowing that all things are possible when we place our trust in Our Savior. May we always seek the grace, nourishment and strength that we need from our all-sufficient source, Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in His precious, holy and mighty name.

Having Faith in the Victory That is Ours

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Jesus spoke directly to the apostles before He left the earth. He wanted the apostles to know that even though He would be leaving them in the flesh that He would still be with them in spirit. He wanted them to understand that He would be with them always as He is with the Father always. He wanted them go forward in peace, without fear, having faith that the victory was theirs through Him. He wanted them to be empowered by knowing that He had already overcome all the tribulation that the world and Satan himself had to offer. Through His indwelling with them, they would have the power that they needed to endure all things.

And so it is with us. When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, His Spirit indwells with us. We become one with Him as He is one with the Father. We receive all that the apostles were told that they would receive.

Unfortunately, one facet of the things to come for us is the fact that we will face tribulation. We will encounter the fierce opposition of the evil one and of those who represent him. And we will certainly face the persistent opposition of our own flesh. But Jesus wants us to be of good courage and hope for He promises to provide all that we need to overcome anything that is thrown at us. When we surrender to Jesus, we have all that we need to overcome the temptations of Satan, the infirmities of our own flesh and the carnal offerings of the world.

Let us allow our faith to override our fears as we are swamped by trying circumstances. Let us face every trial in life with the peace, the comfort and the confident hope that Jesus has promised us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we humbly come before You in thanksgiving for the power that You have granted us through Your Son, Jesus. We pray that You teach us how to develop and enjoy our relationship with Jesus. May we find our strength in Jesus, just as Jesus found His strength in You when He was in the flesh. May our victories over our tribulations bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit. We pray that our victories become living testimonies that will draw others to Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of the Upholder of All Things, Jesus Christ.

The Invitation from the Servant King

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

In days of old, the yoke was used to pair field animals together. The yoke enabled the pair to work together more efficiently. In this passage, Jesus invites us to join Him in His yoke. He then points out that He is gentle and lowly in heart. Thus, He is telling us that He is a willing servant that welcomes us along side, where He will teach us about His demeanor and bring us rest. How could we pass on such an offer from our Servant King? How could we pass on the opportunity to learn from the only man who ever lived in perfection? How could we pass on being paired side by side in all things with the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ?

And consider this…to make the offer even greater, Jesus places no limits on the time He will allow us to come along side of Him. Nor does He place any limits on the burdens that He would share with us. His invitation to be at His side is available 24-7 regardless of the burden we are carrying. He is always along side us to bring us comfort when we are under the greatest level of stress or experiencing pain at the limits of our ability to endure. Truly He offers us the endless joy that He shares with the Father. When we surrender to the yoke of Our Lord, the joy of the Lord is our strength when we would have none otherwise. When we take up His yoke, we take on His meekness, His humility, His lowliness and, most of all, His complete subjection to His Father.

Let us free ourselves from being yoked to anything of this earth. Let us humble ourselves and seek to be yoked to Our Servant King. Let us join Our Savior in His complete submission to His Father.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to get through our troubles. We rejoice in knowing that we can find joy in the heaviest of burdens when we accept the yoke that is offered by Your Son, Jesus. We pray that You teach us how to be lowly in heart so that we readily accept our place in the yoke. We ask all these things in the name of Our Comforter who rescues those who are crushed in spirit, Jesus Christ.

The Cost of Not Accepting the Call of God

Luke 19:42
If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

As Jesus weeped over Jerusalem, He spoke the words in Luke 19 to the Jews, who He knew would reject Him and His offer of salvation. Because they rejected His offer, He transferred His offer to the willing Gentiles.

This principle is carried out in a different way in our daily lives. Jesus prepares us to do His work and asks us to be obedient to His calling. Sometimes He will give us simple urgings in the spirit to do something nice for someone, to pray for someone, to forgive someone or to ask forgiveness from someone. Often His urging may be for a simple act to bring a smile upon the face of another. At other times, His bidding will have much more significant impact. Whatever He asks of us, if we accept His call, we will be given greater things to do for Him. We will experience the peace and comfort that flows from serving Him. If we do not accept His bidding, we will miss the peace He offers and we will miss a portion of the bigger plans that He has for our lives. Sadly, He will move on to find the one who is willing serve Him readily.

Let us not miss the satisfaction of living in the peace and comfort of the Lord. Let us eagerly accept and carry out any task, big or small, that the Lord is asking us to do. Let us discover how simple acts of obedience bring complete peace and comfort into our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to serve You. We rejoice in knowing that You are pleased when we are obedient to Your urging. We pray that You make us sensitive to the work that You call us to do. May we find joy in even the smallest tasks. May it all bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the One that gives us peace at all times and in every way, Jesus Christ.

Receive the Holy Spirit

John 20:22
And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

It was the evening of the first day of the week. The disciples, fearing the Jews after the crucifixion of their Master, were meeting behind locked doors. With the appearance of Jesus, they were at once at peace. But then a greater thing happened, Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit. All that had been gathered in the room in fear suddenly began a supernatural life which is unique to Christians alone. They were sent forth to continue the work that Jesus had been sent to do by His Father.

As the New Year begins, how many of us are sheltering ourselves away from the world? How many of us are letting our fears hold us back from doing the work that Jesus was sent to do? Do we not recognize that the same power that was given to the early disciples is also given to us?

Let us begin our new year under the guidance of Our Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He has been given to us to instruct us and empower us to do the work of the Father. He has been sent to supernaturally strengthen us. He comes along side of us to provide the power and protection that we need to overcome the enemy, the world around us and even our own flesh, all of which are trying to bring us down.

We can be sure that we will encounter some failure. In all likelihood, our failures will come from the fact that we have turned once again to rely on our own strength. We must be continously aware that our own strength will never be enough to meet the demands and challenges of this world. Our strength must come from the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that He gives us.

Let us take hold of what has been promised to us. Let us surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us commit to joining Our Precious Savior in doing the work of the Father in the new year.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Holy Spirit to come along side of us to be our counselor. We praise the name of Jesus who defeated all evil when He died on the Cross so that we could defeat the evil that comes against us. We pray that you will teach us to accept our utter failure without Christ. Help us to realize our best will never be good enough until we are cleansed by the blood of Our Savior and receive His Holy Spirit into our lives. Help us Father to build our lives on the Rock that is Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embolden and strengthen us to do the work of the Son. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

Be Fearless for Christ

John 20:21
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

In one brief statement, Jesus gave the disciples the peace that they needed to overcome the fear that had them gathered in a hiding place and the power and authority that they needed to be successful in their calling. So it is for us.

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by all that the world throws at us. It is so easy to become discouraged, even fearful of the outcome ahead of us. It is so easy to withdraw to a hiding place where doing nothing seems comfortable. Yet the words of Jesus, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you,” are just as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago.

Are we giving back to the Lord as He has given to us? He has given us the peace, the power and the authority to do what He has called us to do. Much has been given to us. Are we doing all we can do with what we have been given? Surely we will not leave on the table the feast that He has set before us.

Let us set aside all fear and uncertainty. Let us claim the power and authority that has been promised to us. Let us go out boldly and proclaim the Good News of the Gospel.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to be good and faithful servants. We rejoice in knowing that there is nothing in the world that can stop us from bringing to harvest the seeds that You have given us to plant. Father, we pray that You give us the wisdom to see the bounty that You have planned for us. We ask for the grace and the strength that we need to thrive under the power and authority that we have through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.