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Don't miss this Life-changing Word
...Let him search for peace...and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]
1 Peter 3:11
When Jesus said, Peace I leave with you... (John 14:27), He was talking about a special kind of peace, not a worldly kind of peace. The special peace that Jesus was talking about is the kind of peace that operates all the time in every situation.
The believer who is experiencing God's peace through his relationship with Jesus can have peace even in the midst of the storms of life.
First Peter 3:11 says that we are to search for peace, to pursue it, and to seek it eagerly. The word seek means "...strive after, endeavor...desire." "Inquire." "To require or demand." It means requiring something as a vital necessity, craving, or pursuing something.
This verse mentions three areas in which we are to seek peace: (1) with God, (2) with our fellowmen, and (3) with ourselves.
Learn to love peace and to desire it earnestly. Seek peace, for without it you cannot enjoy life and the blessings of God. The Lord has said that if you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13.) I believe if you seek and search for peace with your whole heart, you will find what you are looking for.
Say This:
"I have the peace that passes all understanding. I have the peace that operates in the midst of the storm."
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And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will..., He listens to and hears us.
1 John 5:14
We are to walk in confidence in every area. Prayer is one of the ways we can show that our confidence is in God. If we pray about things instead of worrying and trying to work them out ourselves, we say by our actions, "Lord, I trust You in this situation."
I believe many of us pray and then wonder if God heard. We wonder if we prayed properly or long enough. We wonder if we used the right phrases, enough Scripture, etc. We cannot pray properly with doubt and unbelief. We must pray with faith.
God has been encouraging me to realize that simple faith-filled prayer gets the job done. I don't have to repeat things over and over. He hears me the first time. I don't need to get fancy in my wording. I can just be me and know that He hears me and understands.
We should simply present our request and believe that God has heard us and will answer at the right time.
Have confidence in your prayers. Believe God hears even simple, childlike prayer coming from a sincere heart.
Pray This:
"Father, I thank You that You hear me when I pray. I believe I have the petitions I request of You. In Jesus' name, amen." |
Be blessed by this also!
| Discipline and Self-Control |
For we are...recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined...for us...that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
—Ephesians 2:10
Everyone wants the good life; not everyone wants to live a disciplined and self-controlled lifestyle. Without discipline and self-control, we will never enjoy the good life that God has prepared for us.
To live a disciplined life we cannot do what we feel like doing. Discipline and self-control require denial of the flesh, but they lead to the good life, the kind of life in which we find peace, joy, power, and many other good things.
You and I don't have to live a disciplined life. God will still love us with or without discipline on our part. But if we want to live the good life He desires for us, we must choose discipline and self-control. Neither of these things is easy on the flesh, but the victory we enjoy is worth the suffering we must endure to obtain it.
Discipline is a choice, not a law. It is a tool we believers use to lead ourselves into victory.
I exhort you to be a disciplined person who operates in the fruit of self-control.
Do This:
Practice self-control in every area of your life. Discipline the flesh, then enjoy the good life that comes. It's a choice. |
You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].
-Psalm 27:8
If we want to truly know the Lord, we need to choose to be where He would be, think what He would think, go where He would go, treat people the way He would treat people.
We must seek after the right thing. We need to take an inventory and be sure we are seeking God and not just the things He can do. We must seek His face, not just His hand!
Have you ever spent a lot of time, energy, prayer, and faith on a project only to discover it was an empty well and you were still just as thirsty as before?
I spent many years as a Christian with one faith project after another I thought would surely be "the thing" that would make me feel fulfilled, happy, and contented. I have finally found the one thing that satisfies my soul__The Lord.
Our quality of life does not consist in what the world has to offer, but in God's presence, in His will, in knowing Him and knowing His ways.
Do This:
Take inventory: Are you seeking God and placing His desires first in every area of your life? |
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