Hello my most Wonderful World Wide Family. I love you all so very much. You are awesome! I have been praying for all of you. I thought that today I could share with you the Bible study that I was honored to lead last week at the Mission. We talked about the peace that the LORD gives us verses the peace that the world has to offer. How many of us know that in this day and time which is sometimes perilous; we desperately need peace!
Dear LORD Jesus Christ, God the Father, Holy Spirit, our Triune God, the Creator of the universe, we come to you today with thanksgiving in our hearts. This may not be at all related to our present circumstances but it is because of Who You are and Whose we are. We praise You, we worship You, we love You Glorious Father.
Thank You that You are with us every moment of our lives down here on earth. We thank You that we can spend eternity with You when we choose Your Beloved Son Jesus Christ as our LORD and Savior. Thank You for always providing for us as Jehovah Jireh, the LORD our Provider. Thank You for healing all of our diseases and giving us Your Divine Health as Jehovah Rapha, the LORD our Healer. Thank You for protecting all of us and all of our generations and providing a covering over us as Jehovah Nissi, the LORD our Banner.
We need Your Peace which passes all understanding Jehovah Shalom, the LORD our Peace. We thank You that we can have this peace from You no matter what we may be going through. We need to keep our eyes stayed on You LORD. Please give us the wisdom and the ability to do this even during our most overwhelming storms of life. LORD please protect the persecuted and provide for their families. Give them Your Peace that is so tangible that they have no doubts that You are with them no matter what they are facing and You give them Your sustaining strength, Dunamis Power from Your Holy Spirit. We thank You in advance LORD. You are glorious! In Jesus’ Precious Name we pray. Amen!
We talked about the Bible Scripture:
MARK 4:35-41 ON THAT DAY, WHEN EVENING HAD COME, HE (JESUS), SAID TO THEM, “LET US GO ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE”. AND LEAVING THE CROWD, THEY TOOK HIM WITH THEM IN THE BOAT, JUST AS HE WAS. AND OTHER BOATS WERE WITH HIM. AND A GREAT WINDSTORM AROSE, AND THE WAVES WERE BREAKING INTO THE BOAT, SO THAT THE BOAT WAS ALREADY FILLING. BUT HE (JESUS), WAS IN THE STERN, ASLEEP ON THE CUSHION. AND THEY WOKE HIM AND SAID TO HIM, “TEACHER, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE ARE PERISHING?” AND HE AWOKE AND REBUKED THE WIND AND SAID TO THE SEA, “PEACE! BE STILL!”AND THE WIND CEASED, AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM. HE SAID TO THEM, “WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID? HAVE YOU STILL NO FAITH?”AND THEY WERE FILLED WITH GREAT FEAR AND SAID TO ONE ANOTHER, “WHO THEN IS THIS, THAT EVEN THE WIND AND THE SEA OBEY HIM?”
That is they type of peace that passes understanding that our LORD gives to us. Even in the midst of our storms in this life we can have peace from Jesus Christ. We may be experiencing overwhelming grief after the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, fractured emotions, relationship issues, financial needs, children or grandchildren that have gone astray and physical illness. I have had times in my life, (more than once), that all of the aforementioned catastrophes hit at once.
I certainly could not make it through by myself. I would not even be able to make it through one of the storms, let alone all that occurred at once. BUT GOD! I surely know by now Who to run to and Who to cling to during these times, (and every moment of every day). Jehovah Shalom. The LORD our Peace. Of course just like what occurred in the boat with the Disciples; Jesus was always right there.
JOHN 14:27 PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU; MY PEACE I GIVE YOU. I DO NOT GIVE TO YOU AS THE WORLD GIVES. DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED AND DO NOT BE AFRAID.
He never, ever leaves us nor forsakes us. He is our Shield and our Refuge, our Strong Tower and our Fortress. All we have to do is call upon Him. He is an Amazing God! This is what He wants us, His precious and beloved children to do. We are to call on our Abba Adonai. Daddy, LORD and Master. He always hears, heals, and He always rebuilds and restores. Praise God! Thank You LORD!
The world may offer us a different kind of peace. The world may say, buy more possessions. The more material possessions you have the more peace and happiness you will have. Save more money for your retirement. Work more than one job. Be greedy and don’t give anything to anyone because after all it is all about “Number One= You”, Right?
Well, I am here to tell you that there is no real peace in material possessions. We have seen catastrophe after catastrophe; earthquakes, hurricanes, fires that could not be quenched and tsunamis that have destroyed all material possessions. And far worse killed so many precious people. You may work hard and save for retirement and die before you get to enjoy any of it. We never know the day nor the hour in which we may die. We need to be ready to meet our God. Are you ready?
We may be so tired from working more than one job that we never get to see our children and we never think to spend time with the LORD. There are of course cases when we need to work more than one job just to make it. There was one time in my life when I had 4 jobs at once. (Challenging to juggle all of the full time, part time and per-diem jobs.)
And as far as being greedy; I personally cannot even fathom this. There are so many hurting, broken, needy and destitute people and families in the world. There is actually also an abundance of wealth and resources. If each one of us would just give something and if some of us who have a lot would only give a lot. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive. This brings health, healing and happiness into the lives of the givers as well as the receivers.
Well I’d better go for now because I need to prepare my “this weeks Bible study”. I love you all so very much and most importantly, Jesus loves you. God bless you and all of your generations until we get to talk again.