March 29, 2024

This Week…PEACE (Advent, week two)

SHpeaceluke1

Here on the Seeking Him blog this past week, we have focused on the subject of PEACE as part of our Advent devotionals.  Jesus came to be our peace…to bring the peace that comes from redeeming us from sin.  Here are some excerpts from this week’s devotionals…

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Tina reminded us in Sweet Peace of the angels’ words to the shepherds.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom He is well pleased. And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this Child. And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.
Luke 2:13-20 ASV

In her devotional, Peace Which Passes Understanding, Ann encouraged us to remember the following promise.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7

 

Ahmee also reminded us of another of God’s promises…of great comfort in Peace, Be Still

Be still, and know that I am God!
Psalm 46:10a

 

Writing on the Prince of Peace, Cynda shared with us the prophecy that Isaiah spoke about the coming Messiah.

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 AMP

At the conclusion of their devotionals,Tina, Cynda, Ann, and Ahmee each shared a beautiful prayer or a blessing; and I thought it would be a joy to revisit them here at the end of the week.

May the Lord turn His face toward you
and give you peace this Christmas season and all year long.
2 Thessalonians 3:16

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:2

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Father, we pray for Your peace during the Christmas season.  We want to understand and learn about You and Your Son in a new and unexpected way.  Holy Spirit, open our eyes and hearts to receive You in a new and exciting way.  Let us have a new passion for Your word and Your ways, Lord.  In Jesus’ name we pray and ask these things, amen.

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Rest.
Be at peace.
Then ask the Lord what’s next so that you can tackle all you need to
…but at peace.

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Lord, I thank You for the peace that passes all understanding.  I thank You for the peace I have within that is moving me from one level of glory to another.  I really appreciate You, Abba Father, for this is not unto me alone, it is also to my friends who are reading this devotion.

May You give us the grace of increased faith in You which will bring peace into our hearts.  May our hope be in You as You are PEACE Yourself, Lord.  Blessed be Your name now and forever more.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Amen!!!

Prince of Peace

SHpeaceluke1

For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon His shoulder,
and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 AMP

Glory to God in the highest [heaven],
and on earth peace among men
with whom He is well pleased [men of goodwill, of His favor].
Luke 2:14 AMP

Peace can be very elusive this time of year.  In some ways this has been a rough year for us—we lost our darling granddaughter five days after her birth.  This time of year is particularly hard.  Perhaps you, too, have suffered the death of a loved one or a major loss…loss of a relationship, job, home.

Maybe stress is stealing your peace right now.  {I must admit I have let a little stress sneak in as well.}  Our daughters live in other states so we don’t get to spend as much time with them as we would like.  However, they will be coming here after Christmas.  I want to have the perfect gifts for them.  I want to make wonderful memories while they are here.  And that gets me a little frantic and a bit stressed out. When the cares of this world weigh me down Romans 8:6 reminds me that,

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace

So, how do we have this peace that seems so elusive?  The peace Romans 8:6 refers to comes only from Christ and passes all understanding.  There are so many wonderful scriptures that reiterate this.  Take a minute to read through these slowly and carefully.  And let their meaning sink deep into your heart and mind.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8 NASB

The Lord gives His people strength; the Lord blesses His people with peace.
Psalm 29:11 HCSB

You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace
Isaiah 26:3 HCSB

…The chastisement {punishment} [needful to obtain] peace
and well-being for us was upon Him,
and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.
Isaiah 53:5b AMP

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.
And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.
So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
John 14:27 NLT

In John 16:33 (HCSB) Jesus tells us “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  You will have suffering in this world.  Be courageous!  I have conquered the world.”  As I was writing this, the words of a Castings Crowns song came to mind – “It’s all because of the blood of Jesus Christ!”  Truth!  We cannot do it alone.

Christ IS our Prince of Peace.  His birth was a step towards peace.  He came voluntarily, knowing what lay ahead of Him.  I do not want to be guilty of rejecting His gift that cost so much.

*   ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Today, I would like to leave you with Philippians 4:7 as my prayer because God puts it much more eloquently than I can.

Dear Lord, please let Your peace, which surpasses all comprehension, guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen – It Is So!

~   ♥   ~

May the Lord turn His face toward you
and give you peace this Christmas season and all year long.
2 Thessalonians 3:16

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:2

GCH: What’s on Your Plate? – Food For Thought…..

Today, I want to take a little different approach to this blog, and share some food for thought for this holiday season.  I know the holidays can be a trying and lonely time for some, and I pray that my message today will speak right to your heart!  <3

Image from
www.bibleverses.com

Isaiah 26:3

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

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John 14:27

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I now give and bequeath to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.  [Stop allowing yourself to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]”

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Proverbs 16:7

“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies live at peace with him.”

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2 Thessalonians 3:16

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you His peace (the peace of His kingdom) at all times and in all ways [under all circumstances and conditions, whatever comes.]”

We can clearly see here that the Lord instructs us to live in peace, in all circumstances and conditions.  But what about times when “life” happens, and you just don’t feel like living in peace?  Or it’s hard to walk in peace because of the circumstances?

Sometimes we have things happen in our lives that are devastating.  They rip the rug right out from under us.  They cause much stress, anger, bitterness, and more.  How in the world are we to walk in peace during those times?

First, we have to recognize who or what is causing the stress, anger, bitterness, and lack of peace in our life.

John 10:10

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance to the full, till it overflows.

The “thief” is satan.  (I refuse to capitalize his name!).  His job is to cause destruction, steal and kill my life, and my joy.  He is the god of the world (for now).  He is a fallen angel that has set his ways against God and all that God stands for.  Anything he can do to turn us from God, or cause those who are not yet walking with God to think that God’s love is not real, he will. It’s his pleasure to try to ruin the children of God!

Cancer, adultery, rape, molestation, divorce, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and more, are just a few of the tactics that satan uses to destroy God’s children!

But what about hatred, grumpiness, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, depression?  How do we enjoy life, as God wants us to, if our hearts are filled with these things?

You wake up in the morning and you just feel this heaviness that has set its sites on you.  You just can’t shake it.  You feel numb.  You feel like a zombie.  Nothing looks or tastes good.  Even the sunshine outside looks miserable to you!

You feel fat, ugly, mean, nasty, miserable.  You don’t want to talk to anyone.  You just want to be left alone to work through this, if you can.

How do you get past these feelings?  How do you live beyond these things?

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I will say right here that I am absolutely NO expert in this area, but I have learned a few things over the last few years, that I would like to share with you.

I have a tendency to suffer from depression.  Moderate depression.  I’m not talking about clinical depression here, which is far worse and more serious than mild to moderate depression.  If you suffer from clinical depression, please seek counsel from your doctor and/or your pastor.

I do not have any degrees in counseling or psychology.

I am just a person who has struggled with these types of things in my life, and the Lord has brought me through it.  That is what I want to share with you today.  The how’s…..

People used to tell me “Christi, you just need to get over it.”  Yes, I could clearly see that.  But what I didn’t know was HOW!  How was I suppose to just “get over it”?  How do I get past the anger, bitterness, depression, unforgiveness, and even more emotions that sometimes can toy with people’s emotions and hearts?

Stay in the Word.  Stay in the Word.  Stay in the Word.

It can’t be that simple, can it?

When people would tell me this in the beginning, I would think “Right! I’m in the Word every single day! I’m still struggling!”  But you know what?  I had to keep on keepin’ on, as the expression goes.  My “cure” wasn’t going to happen overnight!  I had to learn how to be at peace with who I was and what God was doing in my life!  Without His peace, I struggled every day!!!

 I could only learn about His peace through His word!  

Staying in the word doesn’t always been reading the bible all the time!  It can also include good books by Christian authors.  Watching DVD’s from Christian evangelists.  Turning on praise and worship music to allow your mind to be filled with the word through music!  There is so much more to it than just reading the bible!

You will also notice that in order to suffocate the negativity in our lives, means that you actually have to get up and do something!

 Do something to fight the negativity!

You can’t just sit there and expect it to just go away on its own!  You have to actually do something to fight these emotions daily!  To read the bible, you have to get up, go get your bible, and turn the pages, correct?  To listen to music, you actually have to get up, go to the stereo, choose the music and then turn the stereo on, correct?  You have to ­do something first!!!

James 1:22 — “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it…”

To be a “Doer”…

means you have to DO SOMETHING!

So what are some things that we can do to remove the negativity out of our lives?  Below I have listed some tips that have helped me over the years.  If you have other tips, I’d love for you to share them in the comments section below.  The tips below are listed in no particular order.

  • Read the Word
  • Pray
  • Listen to Praise Music
  • Go for a walk
  • Go outside barefoot
  • Call a friend
  • Go to lunch with a friend
  • Take a warm soothing bath
  • Find a hobby that will take your mind off of problems
  • Seek Counsel
  • Go for a massage
  • Get a new haircut
  • AVOIDS NEGATIVE PEOPLE!
  • Try to find the GOOD in your situation
  • Stop saying negative things to yourself
  • Practice breathing slowly
  • Read a positive book curled up in bed
  • Ask someone to be your “vent partner”
  • Practice grace under pressure
  • Be responsible for your feelings
  • Learn to meet your own needs
  • Exercise every day
  • Learn the words to a new song
  • Write a note to a far away friend
  • Keep a journal
  • Practice a monster smile
  • Quit trying to “fix” other people
  • Get enough sleep
  • Talk less and listen more
  • Volunteer at a Shelter or Food Pantry
  • Freely praise other people
  • Have a support network of people, places and things

These are just a few tips on how to get past a negative attitude and walk in peace and joy!  But truthfully, it all starts with YOU!  What will YOU do to change your circumstances?  Choosing to do something means that you give God Glory for what happens in your life, and you have put satan in his place and he does not win!  He learns that you will not tolerate the weapons that he puts in your life, to keep you down!

I will also say that these tips are not for just a quick-fix.  These are not things you get from a drive-thru window!  They are things that you need to do on a consistent basis!  You can’t just expect life to change overnight, especially if you are dealing with some pretty tough situations!

Don’t just do something….Give it time to work!  Whatever you do, don’t give up!!  Let Jesus set you free!!!!

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I pray this message reaches at least one person!  I know for myself, things did not change overnight.  I had to be patient and allow God to do what He needed in my life.  I am here to tell you that the steps I have shared with you here today, WORK!!  But YOU have to put some effort behind them first!

Be Blessed & Be a Blessing to Others,

Christi