Having the Peace that Surpasses all Understanding

With Christmas only a week away today’s sermon at church was on Luke 2:1-14, the birth of Jesus. Our pastor decided to talk about what the angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Going into the Christmas season peace is always a huge thing on people’s mind, even day to day. We all live for peace and happiness. We live to find what fulfills us and makes us feel content and at peace. The world strives for peace. Whether it’s from wars, strife, pain, financial instability, loneliness, or circumstances too comprehensive to understand; everyone seeks peace. It is one of our greatest desires as a human. But unfortunately we look for it in all the wrong places. Yes, many things can bring peace but it always will only be short lived.

Peace is not a place. No place can fulfill your desire to be at peace. Yes, maybe the perfect sunset or stars in the nights sky can make you feel at rest or at peace. But that will slowly dwindle. Or maybe just being home and in a safe environment gives you a sense of peace. Or being with your family and friends. The peace of a place will only last for a season.

Peace is not a position. Often times we think if we just reach that certain age, or get that job, or get married that we will finally find that peace we have been searching for. But no position will ever fulfill that peace. Often times what we thought would cause us to be happy and give us peace only makes us work harder and give more. Granted all those things are amazing to have and will bring much joy, but could never satisfy complete inner peace. True peace could never be found in a position.

Peace is not a possession. This is one that the world struggles with most. If I just had this or had those designer name brands, or got that car that I’d be happy and be at peace. Too many celebrities and people who have everything in the world they could desire find themselves lacking true peace and happiness. A new car, or a new house can certainly give peace for a season. But that is all it will be for.

When we place our peace and happiness in places, positions, or possessions it will always end in despair and no fulfillment. It means we have to find something greater than all of those things that are fleeting and passing away.

Peace IS in a person, and that is Jesus Christ. True peace and happiness will only come from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The world is filled with heartache, pain, frustration; nothing gives us the peace we need but Christ. Everything must be firmly anchored to Christ. His peace is the only one that will help us in every situation. God promises that He will protect and love those who are His children. He will never abandon or forsake us. The trials of this life are in His perfect plan for our lives. Don’t forget it. Everything happens for God’s reasons. May we trust in Him and seek that true peace that can only be found in His son Jesus Christ. Loneliness or any other trial can all be taken care of in Christ. May we seek Him and cling to Him with all we have and give Him our everything. Only then will we find peace. Reading God's Word and constant prayer to Him are the essentials on the road to true peace.

So in this season of Christmas may we find that much needed complete peace and joy in our Savior. He loves us and will never forsake us.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has an incredible story behind his song, “I heard the bells on Christmas Day” about his experience with suffering and a much-needed peace. Please read it, as it will be such an encouragement to you as it was to me. God can give us the peace that surpasses all understanding. Philippians 4:4-9 http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Fellowship/Edit_I.Heard.the.Bells.html

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Psalm 29:11

“The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.”

Psalm 119:165

“Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.’

Isaiah 9:6

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 26:3

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

Isaiah 26:12

“LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.”

John 16:33

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Romans 15:13

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 4:20-21

“Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”

#you

Blessed is the Man

Life continues to be full of surprises in a world that is ever changing around us. This semester has brought about more change than I ever thought possible, one thing after another. But as Christmas draws closer and school winds down God continues to work. It’s been ruff but God has started to graciously give me some light from the end of the tunnel. God has worked perfectly in two big situations that I was dealing with in just the spam of three days (Dec.1-Dec.3). God’s timing is always perfect. He will always be gracious and loving towards His children. He knows what we need and He will provide. He always brings about glory and honor to His name. He calls us to be patient and trust in Him. In both of these situations I felt like there were things that I could do to fix them. But God showed me yet again that I can do nothing and that He will do everything. Of course God doesn’t call us to sit back, but sometimes He does. That takes the form of prayer, pray hard. Pray as if that’s what we can to do to fix things. And isn’t it? Prayer is the MOST important thing we can do in ANY situation, may we never forget it. I fall short too often and forget more than I should to pray to my Savior who seeks that from me. God wants to know our requests! He wants to hear our voices! I look forward to the workings of God in everything else in my life :)

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Seeing how God has been working in my life just reminds me of how blessed I am. I have a Father that would do all these things because He loves me so much and only wants the best for me. I am a very blessed man. The Bible has 17 verses that say “Blessed is the man…” These verses give a clear representation of what it means and takes to be a blessed man and woman. If we want God’s blessing in our lives then lets take a look at what God says a blessed man is…

Psalm 1:1-2 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

Psalm 32:2 “How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!” 

Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”

Psalm 40:4 “How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”

Psalm 84:5 “How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion!”

Psalm 84:12 “O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

Psalm 94:12 “Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O LORD, And whom You teach out of Your law;”

Psalm 112:1 “Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments.”

Psalm 127:5 “Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”

Proverbs 3:13 “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding.”

Proverbs 8:34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.”

Proverbs 28:14 “How blessed is the man who fears always, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.“

Isaiah 56:1-2 “Thus says the LORD, Preserve justice and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Jeremiah 17:7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD.”

Romans 4:8 “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

Romans 14:22 “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself in what he approves.”

James 1:12  “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

A key theme throughout is TRUST in the LORD. A blessed man and woman is someone who trusts God. Easy to say but not always easy to do. Our actions too often show that we don’t trust Him. May we strive more than anything to place our whole hope and trust in Christ. God will bless us. It may not always be in the ways we want but it will certainly be in the ways we need. Which ultimately will always work better than what we ever could have imagined. God wants us to cling to him and persevere. He will always bring us up and into a stronger relationship and love for Him. What an amazing God we serve! Praise Him and thank Him everyday for the numerous blessings He has given us! We are blessed, don't ever forget it!

What other themes can you see that define a blessed man/woman?

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Matthew 21:22 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

I am a very blessed man. Thank You Lord for loving me so hard. May I always love you more than anything and prove it.

God's Ever-Abiding Mercies and Love

Yesterday was a perfect example of God’s mercy and love in my life. It was another coin scenario where I could have been confused and asked God why, or just full heartedly praised Him because of His mercy and protection. We serve a mighty God. I know I’ve said it before, but God is always worthy of our praise, no matter what the situation. And why you might ask is God worthy when something unpredictable, wrong, or unfair happens? For one it’s because God has given us salvation from hell, which everything after that is just an incredible blessing. But for two, it’s because no matter what happens we know from God’s Word it is all in His perfect plan for our life and that He WILL use it all for His honor and glory and for our benefit. What is our purpose on this earth? Our purpose on this earth is to live for God's glory and serve Him with our lives. Right? Then why don’t we do that more? Why don’t we find ways to do that better? It’s because we are selfish and sinful. I pray with all my heart that God will continue to open up my ears, my heart, and my mind to the things of God. What is better in the world? When we feel that we are at our closest with God, isn’t that when we have the most joy and happiness? Isn’t that when we feel like everything is under control no matter what the situation? We were made to sing praise to God and give Him honor and glory and rest in His ever-abiding care. John Piper does a better job than I ever could to explain that we were created for God’s glory --- http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper80/072780m.htm

We get so wrapped up into our little world that we forget the big picture. The big picture that God paints using all of His creation. We are just a tiny part of that. How amazing is it that even as little as we are God loves each and every one of us uniquely. God is so big that He can work in each person’s life to the fullest and give everyone the attention they need. Often times we don’t want to give that same attention back to Him. Our God is a jealous God and that is something to take pride and joy in.  He is jealous for what rightfully belongs to him, and that is our time, thoughts, interests, and life. We owe God our life for what He has done for us and He deserves to be jealous for that. We serve such a magnificent God that He gets jealous when we give our attention to lesser things. How amazing is that!? Our God only wants us to use our time to the best of our ability. He pushes us towards godliness, righteousness, love, patients, etc. And many times He will use our situations to help us do that. How wonderful is that!? Praise God! How shameful is it that we too often waste our time… or waste the opportunity He gives us to praise Him and be an example of His love and instead look like a fool who doesn’t know God.

1 John2:3-6
"By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."

It’s not a hard concept to understand that God only wants what is best for us and does so accordingly. But when trials and temptations come it is much harder to apply and have the right perspective. May we never lose focus! God always has a reason. We may never know why, we may never understand. But knowing God knows should always be enough for us. If it isn’t then may we pray we always take it up with God and that He will give us peace and hopefully understanding. And don’t forget to thank Him!

Colossians 3:15
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful."

2 Thessalonians 3:16
"Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!"

Yesterday, someone ran a red light going around 50mph and totaled my car. I was turning left onto the 14 freeway and I was hit on my back passenger side. It caused my car to do a complete 630-degree spin. Yes, almost 2 full rotations. My airbags deployed and the passenger side air-bag hit my windshield and smashed a huge bulge in it. The other car, which was a midsize Cadillac, hit me then went to the right off onto the curb, hit the power box for the light and completely destroyed it. The power is still out for the light. One of the crazy things was when the Cadillac hit my car my trunk flew open and a crate with emergency supplies and other stuff flew over 30ft away and landed straight up. I also had many papers and books fly out. It was quite the mess of academia. Haha Thankfully no one was hit by anything from our cars. I’m so blessed to have a Savior who looks out for me and protects me. God has a wonderful plan from all this and I will be faithful to be patient and lean completely on His Word and promises. God’s love is enough. My God is huge and I pray I always completely trust in Him. 

Hebrews 10:23
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;"

2 Corinthians 9:8
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

It’s hard to give your life and situations completely over to God and let Him take care of them for you. We always want to feel like there is something we can do, that we have some say or power. But the truth is we can’t and that we don’t; and there is a peace we can gain from that if we choose. To know God will work out everything perfectly in our favor without us doing anything but relying on His Word and trusting in Him is an amazing blessing that we too often don’t take hold of.  May we live a life that gives all we have to Him! May we live to give God the honor and glory He deserves in every situation! Praise God for his ever-abounding love and thank Him!

John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Romans 5:1-5
"1Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Praise God continually for all His blessings! What a loving Savior.

The Right Perception of God's Mercies

To all who find life as fascinating as I do in the midst of a loving Savior,

I started this blog because just as there are an infinite amount of moves, sequences, and orders to a Rubrik's Cube, so there is to life. Every person has his or her own arrangements and phenomena to the same ever-changing puzzle and I want to talk about mine. 

Life gives everyone a much different experience than the next. Its God’s way of showing us we all are special and that we have our own strengths and weaknesses. I can see very clearly from my own life there are many things other people would probably not be able to handle or understand. Then I look at a friend who lost a family member or some other incident they went through and I wonder if I could ever go through the same thing. That’s what is amazing about our Lord; God only gives us what we can handle. But when I say that I mean we can do nothing on our own anyways but with Gods help and mercy. Why else would we need God if He gave us only everything we could handle? It’s more of the fact that life weighs us down too much that the only way out is through our Savior's embrace. What a comfort. Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

There are two sides to every coin and two sides to every situation. You can either get depressed, go into constant questioning, worry, doubt, what-ifs, and many others, or you can look at a situation and feel blessed to know that God only gives you something you can handle (remember, you can only handle anything through the Lord’s help and grace!). If it’s “that” big than you should feel blessed that God has/will grant you that much more mercy, grace and strength to overcome it. God is loving and only works in ways which will cause us to further love Him more. I have never gone through a situation that was too traumatic or too great where God wasn’t able to give me peace. And what is that peace? It’s the peace that lets you know that God is in control, that He loves you dearly, and that He will always be your comfort and protection in the midst of adversity and despair. God is the ruler of the world. He loves His children; He loves those who seek Him, His kingdom, and His righteousness. Don't ever downplay God's love. 

God ONLY works in ways that will benefit us. We think of benefit sometimes as in a physical sense, or God giving us some type of thing in the world. But many times what God gives us is a stronger love for Him, a dedication to His word, and a deeper desire for His kingdom. When you think about it what would be the best thing God could give us apart from salvation? That’s right, it's more of himself. More of His love, mercy, grace, peace, strength, humility, etc. Wow. What a loving Father we serve! He allows things to happen and uses them for our own benefit to draw us closer to His loving arms. How desperately we need the reminder to daily pursue after our God. What if the trials of this life are His mercies in disguise? How merciful is our God to take a wretched sinner and make him his son and love him beyond the rest of creation? What an amazing God we serve! Yes, we should always be like Paul when he was in prison praising our Savior all the daylong. 

This life is full of mysteries and “random” crazy events, but when put into the perspective of God’s sovereignty and love those trials only turn into a way for us to better love and follow our Savior. Praise God! He has our best interests at heart, always. No matter how dark or dim it may appear, God is constantly at work and we can take comfort and peace in that. May the joy of the Lord always be on our faces and in our hearts. How big do we think our God is? And do we trust Him?

Psalm 119:50 “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me.” 

Phil. 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”