Do you want Peace in Your Life?

“Do you want Peace in Your Life?” This is what the Lord seemed to be asking me, today, as I listened to a Daily Devotional I try to hear each morning when I get up.  I put it on the computer and then listen while doing the “early morning, getting ready for my day,” type of stuff.  HERE is the link to the one I listened to today.

It talked about the belligerence that seems to be getting more and more common… road rage, etc. and what God says I can do about it to have peace in MY heart as I walk through this life.  He uses and IF – THEN statement.  This is common terminology in the computer world…  IF such and such happens, THEN this will happen.

The verses that “Our Daily Bread” gave are found in Philippians 4:4-9. (Scripture below) First, it says to Rejoice in the Lord, ALWAYS.  I thought, that means for me to keep my eyes on Him so that I can see all that He has done, and IS doing in my life… the blessings I have.  Each time I focus on those blessings, I can rejoice.

The next verse says to be gentle (that’s the only way others will see that gentleness IN me), and I CAN do that if I KNOW that He is “at hand,” and right there with me.

Then God tells me to not worry, but to be talking to Him constantly about everything… asking, and thanking Him because I know He is faithful to answer in the ways that are BEST for me.  That CAN mean “wait for HIS perfect timing…” but trust that He knows what is best better than I know what is best for me.  I am His child and like a little child that wants candy and THINKS that is BEST for him/her, the parent really knows what is best and that might be candy as a treat, but generally, it is more like vegetables or fruit. (Pout!)

IF I am constantly in communication with Him, AND trusting Him to be working everything out for my BEST, THEN the Peace of God, in times of crisis will flow over me, so that others that are watching won’t understand it.   This Peace (from a consistent relationship) will guard my heart and mind because I know Christ Jesus is with me.  After all, He loved me enough to pay for MY sins with HIS blood!

Lastly, in verse 8, God tells me that there are things I need to do to help my mind to stay healthy.  Another computer thing is GIGO.  Garbage In, Garbage Out!  I NEED to make sure what goes into my mind is NOT garbage, but things that lead to gentleness and kindness.

I need to put things that are TRUE (what God says is TRUTH), things that are noble, and just and pure into my mind.  Think about lovely, beautiful things and things that are good and happy, and virtuous… things I can Praise God for… THESE are the things I should be filling my mind with most of my day. 

When I see sad and awful things, I need to take them in through my senses, but let them go OUT again through the flow of my mouth and mind and into GOD’S hands, through prayer, because HE can handle them.  He may use me to handle some of them, but He doesn’t want ME to take on the weight of the world, just whatever tasks He gives me, and He promises that those things will be light and not terribly burdensome because He shares the load (taking most of it.)

Yep… He keeps finding ways of reminding me of these things all the time, as I walk this road with Him.  I wish I weren’t so forgetful!  :)

Philippians 4:4-9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Meditate on These Things

  
⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ⁹ The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Forgiveness is the key!

I was reading my devotional today, and this scripture came up talking about obedience and forgiveness. I know that we are to forgive those we have things against, and that Jesus said in his prayer example, that we should forgive so that we can be forgiven.

2 Corinthians 2:9-11 For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

So often I have made so many excuses about forgiving people that have hurt me, and in particular one situation where I blamed someone for changing my whole life that I’d had planned out. It took me a long time to realize that even if I didn’t FEEL like forgiving them, like in this verse, I HAD to forgive them to be obedient to God. 

It had become a habit after so many years to go over the bad things whenever the name came up in my head/heart, and I had to make it a HABIT to NOT go over the bad things, but to pray to God for help to forgive, and to pray for God’s Blessings on them, knowing only He can heal my hurting heart.

This scripture goes on to say to me that God forgives them AS I forgive them, and then it goes on further and says that it is for OUR OWN SAKES that He has forgiven them, because Satan can take advantage of us through our anger… at least that is what I believe this is talking about. 

At the time, I prayed and prayed for what I wanted to happen, but it didn't.  It wasn't that God didn't listen or answer my prayers, it was that He knew best and said, "No." In other situations, He has said "Wait."

As to that other situation, over the years, that person and I have again become friends, AND God has shown me that HE had a different plan for my life, for I wouldn’t have met and married Mike or had my wonderful kids and grandkids if things had gone according to MY plan… 

(Pic. from 1995)

A Good Scripture Passage to Keep in Mind...

While working on my Proverbs Bible Study, I remembered these scripture verses that I have hanging up on my wall.

They are said so well in the Amplified Bible, and I try to keep them in mind as I go about my daily living…

Ephesians 4:29-32 (Amplified Bible)

29 Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it. 

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).

31 Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind).

32 And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.

Lord, keep these thoughts close to my mind as I walk the daily path that You have chosen for me…

I Got An Email…

I got this email from a friend, and it made me stop and think for a few minutes…

The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, ''I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday-School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally....I assumed you had stolen the car.''

I need to remember that others, kids, grandkids, family, church family and even strangers I come in contact with, are all watching the things I say and do to see what kind of person I really am. If I’m going to call myself a Christian, then they should be seeing Christ in me even more than they see ME. If they DON’T know the Love and Joy of having a friend AND SAVIOR like my Lord, but still hear me call myself a Christian, then they will get a totally WRONG picture of Jesus, and God. THAT could send them to hell!

It is a HUGE responsibility, then, on my part to portray Him as He really is… Lord, Jesus, Please let me remember and DO what You want me to do and/or say…

The Truth Shall Set You Free..

I’ve heard this verse before MANY times during my life... and learned about it... and it has given me hope, etc. but I heard someone on TBN talking about it in a different (for me) way that gave me something to think about.

“You shall know the Truth, and the truth shall set you free…” One BIG truth that I need to remember is that God loves ME AND, has a PLAN for MY life.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV) says:

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.


God wants to be MY Father… my DADDY, and ADOPT me which makes me a daughter of the God of the UNIVERSE! A much loved Princess (somehow, I have a hard time seeing myself in that position.)

When I choose to follow Him and grow spiritually, THEN He will make ALL things work together for good… HE will help ME to grow because He has put HIS Holy Spirit within me and made me a NEW creation. As I am faithful in a little, and prove I can be trusted with that “little” (following His Word more and more) then He will add the MUCH—the POWER to do more and more to bring glory to Him and happiness and fulfillment to me!

How’s THAT for Truth that will set you FREE! Now… if I can just keep that in my MIND, heart and soul…

Faith and Thankfulness…

I heard someone last week, that said that “Faith is believing in a God that we can’t see AND deciding that HE should be in charge of our lives BECAUSE He is wiser than we are.”

It is true that I’ve never seen God’s (physical) face, but I have seen the work of His hands in the earth and in the sky, and in the things that He has done for me throughout my life. He gave me very special parents and Christian teachers and mentors, and though my wonderful Daddy died in 1969 when I was 17, I can see now that God has used that horribly wrenching experience to lead me into paths I never would have taken if he hadn’t been taken to Heaven. I KNOW that he loved God and I will see him again, too.

I saw how He worked in my Mom’s life and her faith as she struggled to raise me and my two younger sisters. I saw how He blessed that faith and took care of us over the years. I saw her faith in Him, even as she struggled to fight the cancer that finally sent her to Heaven, too, in 2001. Faith, Hope and Love are so much a part of each other, working together to help us grow in God's Kingdom!

I saw many miracles as I worked in a place called the Upper Room Drug and Crisis Center in San Jose during the time I attended San Jose Bible College in the early 70's. All of these things have helped to build my faith over the years.

I’ve seen God working in my children’s lives and the way that He has miraculously saved their lives over the years and helped them as they’ve followed Him. I’ll have to put in some of those stories here in the future.

The more I’ve seen, the more my faith has grown so that I can pray in faith and power, when it is needed. I’ve learned that FAITH is the opposite of worry (and vice versa), and that worry short circuits the FULL power that God can bring to bear on my problems when I DO trust in Him fully.



I am a truly “God Blessed” person, and I am so very thankful to Him for HIS Faithfulness to me. I know that He loves me, even though I have made some bad mistakes in my life, but through HIS mercy, He has forgiven me, and given me peace for the most part. I still stumble and have a tendency to not forgive myself sometimes, but He keeps reminding me of His love for me… and for THAT I am truly thankful!

Don’t straddle a barbed-wire fence...

“Don’t straddle a barbed-wire fence…” Matthew Hagee

I heard this from a preacher that was talking about today’s world and how so many are trying to straddle the fence on so many issues. He went on to say that out where he lives, most of the fences were made of barbed wire, so he had learned, early, that it isn’t wise to straddle the fence.

I thought about that and have noticed that over the past several years, as I’ve gotten closer to God, that things have gotten more Black & White in a lot of areas as I’ve held them up to God’s Word. I think, as we get closer to the time when Jesus returns, that those that are really seeking God and His ways AND searching out the real God from the Bible and not a god that they have made up in their minds from things they’ve heard, will also see things in a clearer light.

It doesn’t matter if Jesus’ return is tomorrow or 50 years from now, each day IS closer, and we need to be ready for when that time comes. He’s kept ALL His other promises, and I believe He will keep this one, too!

Back to straddling the fence… we need to be very careful which side we get off on, though, for BOTH sides may look, on the surface, to be beautiful pastureland, and if we don’t read the posted signs, we can get ourselves in trouble.

For example, if the sign says “Beware of Bull,” and we don’t SEE the bull ourselves, so decide to cut across that beautiful pasture to fish in that beautiful stream, we could find ourselves in some major problems. If, though, we follow the sign that says “Good fishing” on THIS side of the fence, we will find a wonderful place of blessing, rest and abundance.

As a Christian, God’s Word needs to be my sign post, or map of the area, and I need to believe it AND act on it. I need to get off the barbed wire fence where I can also end up getting hurt, and be sure that I get off on God’s side!

This Little Light of Mine...

While studying for my Proverbs blog today (Proverbs 11: 10 & 11), which was about the effects of people and their way of life on their towns and cities, I thought about the verses and what they had to say.

I took a break, in the middle of my research, to listen to the President speak about his healthcare program. One thing he said really caught my attention, in light of what I had just studied. He mentioned that the healthcare programs in Utah and in Pennsylvania were doing so well and he felt they needed to be studied to find out why.

I thought about that and the fact that so much of Utah is strongly of the Mormon faith, and many of them LIVE a Godly faith in most of what they do and in the way they run their cities and healthcare systems. The area of Pennsylvania that was mentioned is strongly Quaker, and they, too, life their faith. I hope that they DO research the reasons these places have wise healthcare systems that work, but it really made it clear to me that God’s Word has so much to say for every area of our lives.

Those verses say that if I am living righteously and following Godly ways, then I will be blessed, and be able to bless those (even my town/city) around me. It reminded me of that little song I sang in Sunday School… This little light of mine…I’m going to let it shine!

One of the verses said, “Shine all over my neighborhood, I’m going to let it shine…” I think that I need to remember that this is exactly what I can do in my words, my smiles, my service to others… I think that this would make my God happy, and after all He has done for me, I want to do whatever I can for Him that will bring Him happiness and joy. I want to remember, each day, that ALL I do, should be done to HIS glory…