Bible Studies Archives

Revelation

I find myself craving the deeper mysteries from God’s word and all it has to teach us and prepare us. Did you know that Jesus preached much more about the coming of God’s Kingdom than he did love? That is what, in part, made me realize Believers in Christ are called to be more and more diligent at sharing the gospel of the coming Kingdom (through belief and faith in Jesus), not to give false hope in worldly gain and reparations.

Peace Be Gotten: 5 Ways to Get Peace Today

In the last blog, we talked about the Jesus Kind of Peace and how it is different than the world’s kind of peace. We found out that it can put us back together; it is eternal, and it doesn’t depend on our circumstances. You might be thinking, yes, that kind of peace sounds DIVINE, but HOW DO I GET IT? Good question. There are five things you can do right now that will help you get the Jesus kind of peace. So let’s get started. Get in God’s Presence Bad days come and go, but our peace shouldn’t have to. At least not if we spend our day in God’s presence. It is only in God’s presence where we find true peace. Don’t wait to get with God. See Him first thing in the morning. Some say, “but I am not a morning person.” I hear you, but it doesn’t matter. No excuses on this one. Our day should start with God, honoring Him, thanking Him. After all, He is the reason we wake up every day. He is the reason we breathe. “In Him, we move, and live have our being.” Acts 17:28. Maybe we don’t have time every morning to get into a full-on prayer session or read half the Bible, but we can start our day worshiping Him, acknowledging Him, can’t we? Start by telling Him how you feel about Him. Turn on some worship music. Thank Him for all His blessings. Praise Him. But don’t stop there. Commit to practicing His presence throughout the day. Practicing His presence is beautifully described by Brother Lawrence in his book, The Practice of the Presence of God: “He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.” I am convicted, how about you? Pray Continually Approach your day with an attitude of prayer. The Apostle Paul advises us to “Pray continually.” 1st Thessalonians 5:17 God doesn’t need big fancy prayers. He only needs our heart. So stop worrying about your words. Just talk to Him. Make Him a part of your everyday life. Ask His opinion on whatever you are doing, no matter how important or unimportant the task. God, should I send this email now, or should I wait? God, would it be better to purchase this one or that one? If you get stuck and don’t know what to do or which way to move, talk to God. Say, “God, I don’t know what to do, help me!” Then expect an answer. God promises us that if we lack wisdom, He will give it generously without finding fault – we just have to ask. James 1:5 If stress and worry start creeping into your day or pesky thoughts try to invade your mind and threaten to steal your peace, PRAY. Paul tells us not to “be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” And then, guess what? The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 Peace comes with prayer. Give God Control Don’t let problems get away from you or stress levels hit the red zone before you seek God’s counsel. Keep in mind that seeking His counsel is meaningless if you don’t also give Him control. Yes, I know. Giving God control means we have to submit to Him. It means we have to die to ourselves and our way of doing things. But when we submit to God, we will have peace and things will go well for us.” (Job 22:21 ) True peace comes from knowing God is in control. So when you are tempted to go ahead of God before He gives you the green light because you are tired of waiting – don’t do it. Or when you know how you want things to look but don’t think God’s way will get you there – change what you know and what you think by renewing your mind in God’s word (Romans 12:2). The bottom line is that for true peace in your life, you will have to make a choice: will you surrender to the enemy who comes to steal, kill or destroy or will you surrender to Jesus who comes to give you life and life more abundantly? Your call. Focus on God’s Promises You can find true peace in God’s promises. God is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19). His word never returns without accomplishing the purpose for which it is sent (Isaiah 55:11). If God says it, it will be done. A few promises you can focus on to find true peace are: God is always with you. Isaiah 41:10 God is always in control. Isaiah 35:4 God is always good. Psalm 100:5 God is always victorious. Deuteronomy 20:4 Look these verses up. Memorize them. When you feel your peace slowly slipping away begin to speak these truths over your situation. The more you speak them, the more peace you will find. Seek & Pursue Peace If we look for trouble, we will find it. That is a given. The same can be said of peace. Jesus, on the cross, made it possible for us to have peace with God. Someday we will live at complete peace with all men too. In the meantime, the Word tells us to “if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace

Consider

God loves you. Ever heard that before? Consider for a moment that truth. Consider how at times we break His heart. And then consider again His love.

The Jesus Kind of Peace

Peace and quiet. If asked, most people would probably say they seek it, long for it, and even need it. A peaceful life. A peaceful home. And the big one, (drum roll, please……..) world peace, we all want that, right? Peace. It often seems just out of reach – something we can never quite get our hands-on. But that’s not true. Peace is within our grasp; it can be had by us. Before Jesus left the earth to go sit at the right hand of the Father, He said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27 In this statement, Jesus doesn’t promise us just any kind of peace but the Jesus kind of peace. But what does His kind of peace look like? And how is it different from the world’s peace? The Jesus Kind of Peace Puts Us Back Together Many of us know a bit about the Hebrew word for peace – “shalom” but probably haven’t heard much about the Greek translation of peace, eiréné. Eiréné comes from the word eirō which means “to join or tie together into a whole.” Interesting. A peace that ties us together into a whole, a peace that binds us… If peace in our lives binds us together, then the lack of peace must break us apart. Without peace in our lives We fret. We fear. We fixate on the problem instead of the Promise. Peace in our lives keeps us from falling apart, from breaking. Whenever I think of brokenness, I think of that famous egg – Humpty Dumpty. You may have heard of him. You know, the one who sat on a wall then had a great fall. Poor Humpty…all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put him together again. As a child, I loved that rhyme. But I never entirely understood it. But now a few years wiser, I think I have it figured out. Humpty Dumpty asked the wrong king for help! Yep, that’s it. Humpty was left in pieces because it wasn’t the world’s kind of help he needed; it was the supernatural assistance of the King of kings, the Lord of lords, King Jesus! Humpty needed Jesus to put him back together again. We aren’t much different than Humpty, are we? We fall and we need to be put back together. But instead of trusting, and relying on Jesus, we ask the wrong king for help. Sure, we may find a short fix but that fix belongs to the world, not to eternity. Only Jesus can find our broken pieces and make us whole again. Only Jesus can offer us His kind of peace. The Jesus Kind of Peace Is Eternal Worry, worry, worry. Fret, fret, fret. It can be like you are on a merry-go-round that just won’t stop, a merry-go-round that makes you dizzy with fear for the future. Worry troubles our hearts. It makes us feel like we are losing our minds. But Jesus says, don’t do it. Don’t worry. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1). Ok, Jesus. Easier said than done when that bill remains unpaid, when that family member is still sick or when that child continues to be wayward. The good news is that Jesus doesn’t leave us stuck in our worry. He takes us by the hand, sits us down, and reminds us of this truth: In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 And this truth: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.” John 14:2-3 We don’t need to fear for our tomorrow nor fret about our future. We can have peace in knowing that it doesn’t matter what we are walking through today, our tomorrow is covered. Jesus made a way for us. But more than just a way. He made a place for us with Him in Heaven. A place where worry, fret, and fear don’t exist. A place where every tear is wiped away (Revelation 21:4). A place of perfect peace – the Jesus kind of peace. But that peace isn’t just for tomorrow. It is for today too. We can have that peace right now because we know what is waiting for us on the other side. The Jesus Kind of Peace is Not Dependent on Our Circumstances It is easy to find peace when all is well. But finding peace when all is not well tests us. What happens when the paycheck stops coming, the marriage starts breaking, or the health begins failing? Do worry and fear start to creep in? Do you begin to crack like Humpty? The Apostle Peter did. He walked on water until He took his eyes off Jesus. Then he began to sink. (Matthew 14:22-33) Jesus rescued Him, but Peter could have avoided the whole “help me I’m sinking” routine in the first place if He’d just kept his eyes on Jesus. Isaiah 26:3 tells us that God keeps in perfect peace those “whose mind is stayed” on Him because they trust Him. Notice it doesn’t say “because they trust Him only in the good times”. Nope, our trust must be constant. It must be in all circumstances. If we want to live in perfect peace, we should never take our eyes off Him. That’s tough; yes, but, Jesus didn’t leave us hanging. He showed us how to have that kind of peace. Remember when Jesus was sleeping on the boat in the middle of a storm? The disciples were freaking out. They thought they were going