Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Real Peace

Conclusion:

If you consider every letter the Apostle Paul wrote – they all begin the same way – “Grace and peace to you through God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”   Peace is God’s desire for us.  But those who do not know Jesus will never know real peace.  And the R.I.P. on their tombstone will be just a hollow saying.  For followers of Jesus many will never know God’s peace in this world, if they don’t stop trying the world’s way and instead follow the way God has shown.   Choose wisely!


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Real Peace

The final letter of the PEACE acronym:

E          Excellence – verse 8 in Philippians 4 indicates  “if there is any excellence....” 
If we say we believe and follow Jesus and yet we live a life that is contrary to what God tells us in His Word, we will not know His peace in this life.   The Apostle Paul gives two action points  in verses 8-9 concerning excellence,  "whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good report, and excellent and worthy of praise:

verse 8  think (dwell on these things)  -- it’s not enough to know the right things...
        
verse 9 practice (do) them.   There is an old saying, "Practice makes perfect," but from God's perspective, practicing what God expects provides for Real Peace. 

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Real Peace

Continuing an understanding of Real Peace from Philippians 4:

C         The C reminds us that there is only one source of the peace that we are striving for.  See verse 7 “in Christ  Jesus.” Perhaps you've seen a billboard with the message, "NO GOD, NO PEACE.  KNOW GOD, KNOW PEACE."   The message is plain and simple.  Many people of this world are of the impression that all religions lead to the same God.  And they are absolutely correct, with one vitally  important and very misunderstood exception.   All religions of this world do lead to the same god, except Christianity. They lead to one who is described in 2 Corinthians  4:4 as the god of this world.  He’s also known as Satan. He’s a wanna be.  He’s wanted to be like God since his fall.  And many have been deceived into thinking they are worshiping and serving the true God, when in fact they are only pleasing a cheap counterfeit.  And the end result -- they will be just as miserable as he is and spend eternity with him .  Most do not realize that their sins separate them from God and that there is nothing that they themselves can do to end that separation.   That’s why God sent His Son, Jesus, to suffer on the cross and purchase for us the salvation that we could not deserve ourselves.   He loves each of us so much that He paid the price for us that only He could pay.   So the first step to Peace with God really begins with Jesus Christ.  Do you know Him?  

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Real Peace

The letter A of PEACE as described in Philippians 4:

A         Anxiety – v6 “be anxious for nothing”  George Mueller, a great man of faith once said,  “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of faith is the end of anxiety.”  Not just nice words - something he truly believed   He founded orphanages in England in 1800’s and one story tells of a morning when there was no food for the children. Those in charge told Mr. Mueller and were in a panic.  George said it was time to pray and trust God.  As his prayer finished there was a knock at the door.  They answered.  There was a baker with bread who said that he had been awakened that night with a strong concern for the children of the orphanage.  And that concern led him to get out of bed and to bake.  No sooner had the thanks been expressed and the bread received, there was another knock at the door.  This time it was a farmer on his way to market with his milk cans full of milk.  The wheel on his cart had broken by the orphanage and he couldn't get it fixed until the cart was unloaded.  And he decided to see if the orphanage could  use some milk.  

Anxiety is where we get ourselves caught up wondering what we are going to do, and forgetting that God has already or is in the process of providing what we need to face any challenge.   So instead of being anxious, our attitude should be one of Anticipation – wondering, looking forward to how the Lord is going to work in this situation.