Discovering what love is one day at a time
You know… when I was growing up, we would go to church and the priest would have everyone greet one another and offer peace. I always wondered what the significance of that was. When I went to church as a child my experience was that it was the day we dressed up. That was as deep as I allowed the words spoken to go. Also, when I was younger people would hold two fingers out in the shape of a “V” and say “Peace dude,” or “peace …man”… My brain never thought more on the subject besides the fact of either we are in war or peace, in relationship to the country we live in. Never thought more about the significance…yet it is so significant. People offered peace to one another, but how many really knew what they were saying. Did they really have peace? Webster’s dictionary defines peace as:
1: a state of tranquility or quiet: as a: freedom from civil disturbance b: a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom <a breach of the peace> 2: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions 3: harmony in personal relations 4a: a state or period of mutual concord between governments b: a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity 5—used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting or farewell Were they offering something to me, that I could have really received, but I judged them shallow? War is hell. Seriously, there are people in our lives that have actually experienced the realities of physical war, and yet the other reality is that spiritually we are all at war. First we are in a state of enmity with God without Christ… But God. The creator of this universe. He won the war. He conquered the power of death by His death and resurrection. He made it so that by surrendering our lives unto Him we would no longer be enemies of God. Sin is death. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We can agree with God and submit our lives to Him or we can live separate from Him and know that our eternity will be separate from Him. He makes it simple for us to understand. We get to choose. Choose life or choose death. So… you have chosen to live for Christ, but for some reason you do not feel like you have His peace…. Maybe you are constantly plagued by disquieting thoughts, or oppressive thoughts and emotions. My experience has narrowed it down to about 4 different areas that keep me from hearing Him, and sensing Him and knowing that peace. Basically, these are areas that when I cannot hear Him I have then chosen death instead of life. The first, and easiest one to recognize is not listening to Him. Usually , it is when you do hear Him, but you do not like what He is asking you to do…Definitely like when you ask your children to clean their room and they end up outside…They heard you but they did not want to….Yep this is also called ignoring…disobedience. Why on earth do we do this? His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His thoughts are for us, He loves us, and His plan and purpose for our lives is better than we could ever think up on our own. The second one is really a part of the first, because not listening to Him is rebellion. Rebellion is willful disobedience. God also calls this witchcraft. Ouch huh? Just not a good thing. We are led away from Him by our own desires. Things that exalt themselves over the knowledge of God. Sin happens when we are deceived… We believe a lie, and act on it. Lies only come from the enemy. God never tells a lie. The third one is hurts…past hurts or wounds. Relationship stuff, rejection, abuse…This basically is unforgiveness, and /or the pain left over from life stuff that we have not surrendered to Him. We all get hurt from time to time. Some childhood and adult situations have left wounds on our hearts. Wounds can be healed, or we can cling to them and try to keep them in front of us. We can change the bandages on them daily; we can relive the moment over and over, therefore sometimes even digging the wound deeper. Wounds leave scars. Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and crushed by our sins the punishment that we deserved was put upon Him; by His wounds we are healed. If you have past wounds that are keeping you in bondage, get help, talk to somebody, a counselor or a friend that will pray with you and for you. Do not leave things buried alive. They will resurface, and it will not be pretty. Areas of wounds keep us living in the past, and leave us feeling alone. He died for our wounds. We are not to carry them around all by ourselves; we are not even supposed to carry them. They do not belong to us. For me, pain is something from today, wounds are from yesterday. I have a choice to deal with pain today, or not. I can live each day for God, giving Him everything, or I can keep it to myself. No matter what it is, anything I keep for myself ends up hurting me. My life is His. His life is mine. And the fourth area that keeps me from hearing Him is business or toil. Scurrying, haste, not waiting for direction. Business, do, do, do and do some more. (Sometimes just because it would be a good thing to help with…) Definitely can be a physical thing, but it also is that mental rehash, or analyzing, reasoning on my own. Labor, trouble, blindness to who He is and what He is doing. Blindness to my sin, deafness to His voice. God calls us to surrender our lives to Him. He is not asking us to give only part. He wants our daily lives, our thoughts our emotions, our decisions, our relationships…. He can handle it all. He is not bothered by you talking to Him…even if you are angry…He can handle that too. In fact he already knows if you are angry, He is just waiting for you to get real with Him. God is never bothered, impatient, or tired of hearing from you. He desires to have deep intimate relationship with you. We are called to steward, or guard what has been entrusted to us. We have been given His peace. It puts us in right relationship with Him. We are adopted into His family; we are heirs in the Kingdom of God. We have been given all things that pertain to this life that we are called to. He asks us to walk circumspectly, to walk in a manner worthy of the calling He has placed on our life…we cannot do that if we do not have His peace. We cannot give what we do not possess. And the reality is if we do not have it, then His heart is not even on our grid. We are just then walking around doing our own thing. What are you offering to others around you? John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 2Th 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard [you] from the evil one.
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AuthorI have been married to my wonderful husband for 29 years. We have two young men ages 25 and 20.. This blog is somewhat of a journal and attempt for me to remind myself of my purpose and invite others to join me in keeping an eternal perspective as we move through each day. Archives
May 2023
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