MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU; Not As The World Gives You Peace.

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.

 

“What If” You Turn Your “If Onlys” Into “What Ifs?” (continued)

Hello again my most Wonderful World Wide Family. I love you all so very much. I am finally getting back to writing to you. I have been so busy lately. I have been attending a wonderful Bible study during the week. I am continuing to attend an awesome grief counseling group,and I have started teaching a Bible study at the local Mission in my area. This has been a really amazing privilege. I love it!

Dear LORD, Thank You for this awesome opportunity to come to You in prayer, praise and worship. We love You LORD. Thank You that You are not only the Creator of the entire universe and everyone and everything in it; but You are also our Abba Adonai. Our Daddy, LORD and Master. Thank You that You love to have an intimate relationship with us, Your children. You are present with us in this journey of our lives.  Thank You that You protect us and guide us and all of our generations.

We ask that You use us LORD. Help us to fulfill the purpose and destiny that You created us for. Help us to love our fellow brothers and sisters no matter where they live in the world.  Help us not to turn our heads away and close our eyes and hearts to the pain and needs of others. Instead give us a burning desire to reach out and be Your Heart and Hands extended to a hurting world. We love You and Praise You LORD. In Jesus Precious Name we pray and Thank You in advance. Amen. Glory to God!

The title of this letter was the title that I used for one of my Bible studies. My thought process was as follows:

“What if” instead of instead of saying, “If only” I had more money I would be happier; we would be grateful to our LORD for what we do have. What if we meditated upon the Bible verse in:

PHILIPPIANS 4:19  MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL OF MY NEEDS ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES AND GLORY IN CHRIST JESUS.

“What if” instead of saying, “If only” I wasn’t so sick, I could do more with my life; we would trust in God’s WORD of TRUTH that supercedes fact, that states:

PSALM 103:2, 3  PRAISE THE LORD OH MY SOUL, AND FORGET NOT ALL HIS BENEFITS-WHO FORGIVES ALL YOUR SINS AND HEALS ALL YOUR DISEASES.

“What if” instead of saying “if only” these emotions of depression didn’t overwhelm me, I could be a better parent our spouse; we felt inner strength take over us as we focused on this verse:

ROMANS 8:37  I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR IN CHRIST JESUS WHO LOVES ME

“What if” instead of saying “if only” I didn’t feel so inferior and suffer from low self esteem; you believed deep in your spirit and soul the following verse:

1 JOHN 4:4  YOU ARE OF GOD, LITTLE CHILDREN, AND HAVE OVERCOME THEM; BECAUSE GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN YOU THAN  he who is in the world.

So sorry, I have to go for now. I love you all so very much. You are forever in my prayers. Most importantly Jesus Loves you!

 

 

“What If” You Turn Your “If Onlys” Into “What Ifs”?

Good morning my most Wonderful World Wide Family. I love you all so very much. You are awesome! I haven’t been able to write recently because I have been re-acclimating myself to returning to work again after being off of work for almost 8 months. I really enjoyed my time off of work, even if I did have to have the surgeries to get the time off. The first part of the time off was amazing! I was able to recover, relax and re-discover the importance of “simply being” and basking in the Presence of the LORD and not always rushing and accomplishing my own goals.

Of course goals are great, and accomplishing them is awesome! However after a lifetime of setting and succeeding in goals, (and sometimes failing); I enjoyed not setting any goals. I enjoyed spending time with my different family members/my children and grandchildren in their different homes/cities. I enjoyed having many hours/days/weeks to study my Bible and read multiple awesome books written by powerfully anointed Christian authors-so inspirational! I basically just enjoyed life; God’s birds chirping, His flowers, trees, people; my Chihuahuas and all of God’s creation. I mostly enjoyed spending time with God Himself!  This is actually God’s desire, to spend life with us. We serve a Mighty, Awesome God! He is our Abba Adonai, Daddy, LORD and Master.

Dear LORD God Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, Jesus Christ of Nazareth Who gave us Your Holy Spirit, we come to you to worship You LORD. We praise Your Holy Name. We love You LORD. We come to you with thanksgiving for Who You are and Whose we are. Thank You LORD that You, being Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent; want to do life with us, Your creation. Thank You that You protect us and lead us and guide us with Your Holy Spirit.

Thank You for Your WORD, the Holy Bible. Thank You LORD for freedom here in America to worship You and serve You, to study about You and to go to church to learn more about You. Thank You that You have entrusted us, Christ followers in all nations, Your people, to be Your Heart and Hands extended to a hurting people. Please help us to take this responsibility seriously LORD. We pray for Your other nations to be saved LORD, to come to know You Jesus. Set them free LORD. Send Your people to evangelize for You LORD. (SEND ME!) Bring Revival and Regeneration LORD.

Thank You that You protect us with Your angels and give us Your Wisdom LORD. Thank You that You give us strategies and You are our Provider, Jehovah Jireh and our Divine Healer, Jehovah Rapha. You heal us completely; spiritually, emotionally, physically, socially, financially, mentally. Let all of Your people know that they are not here by accident LORD, but that they have destiny and purpose from You. Help us to fulfill our destiny and purpose and bring You glory, honor, pleasure and precious souls LORD. We thank You in advance LORD. In Jesus Precious Name, Amen! Glory to God!!

The latter part of my time off from work was spent in deep grief and mourning. My soul has not felt such intense, overwhelming pain. BUT…I serve the GOD Who is Greater than any pain. I have His Holy Spirit living inside of me and Jesus promises me that He will never leave me nor forsake me and He surely didn’t. In fact, He has been healing me every moment of every day since the tragic loss of my son-in-law. He also heals all of my family members. We are more than Conquerors in Christ Jesus! Totally because of Him!

Well, I have to leave for now and fulfill a time sensitive obligation that I made prior to writing to you. I will return to this letter to you after I return home. Until then, please remember that I love you so much, you are always in my prayers as well as all of your generations. And most importantly, Jesus loves you! God bless you always.