Category: Tranquility

A Life Strong In Storms of Life

Sometimes the people you least expect will suddenly fail in life. Most people have a fear of failing. Is there anything that you can do to build a solid life that endures the hardships and storms of life? Trouble comes to all of us and many of the struggles will test us and either strengthen or destroy.

Job 5:7 For man is born for trouble,
As sparks fly upward.

If storms and hardships are inevitable then what can be done to ensure that our lives, marriages and children will make it through safely. Just as in areas where storms and hurricanes come at intervals, there are people who prepare and there are people who do not prepare. The time to prepare for the storms are before they come just as in real life, it is too late once the storm is upon you. The Lord tells the story of two men who built their houses. One house lasted and the other was destroyed.

Luke 6:47-48 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

The first man came to the architect and designer of the house to be built and listened to Him. Then the builder did what He told him to do and then built his house according to the blueprint that was given to him. He did exactly according the instructions that he was given and his house stood strong during the good times and the bad times.

Luke 6:48 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

The second man did not come, as noted of the first man, but he did hear but did not do according to what he heard. He did what he thought was best. When the storm came and the torrent burst against that house then immediately it collapsed. The ruin of that house was great. Great will be the ruin of your life if you do not listen to the Master Designer and build your house according to His plans and on the right foundation.

I Corinthians 3:11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

There is only one correct foundation for any life and that is Jesus Christ. Then we must be careful that we build upon it according to the Word of God.

I Corinthians 3:10b But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

We need to build our life on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This means that before we can correctly build our life we must have Jesus Christ in our life as our Lord and Savior. Then He will instruct us each day how to build our life. What decisions to make and how to get to where we need to go. If we will do this then we will not fear when the storm comes and we will not have regrets. He will give us the grace for what we need to do so that we do it right trfg.

I Corinthians 3:10a According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation

Be wise and do it right and you will be blessed. Your spouse will be blessed if you get married and your children will be blessed if the Lord gives you children. You will be a blessing to many and your life will bring comfort and joy to others.

Proverbs 24:3,4 By wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
And by knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

Don’t live your life in vain. Let the Lord build it and you be faithful to do exactly according to what He says.

Psalm 127:1a Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;

Just as Job said earlier that man is born for trouble, you too will be able to say as Job said that the friendship of God is over your house, that is, if you build your life on God’s Word.

Job 29:4b When the friendship of God was over my tent;

 

A Life that Loves Life

Do you want to love life and see good days? The Lord gives us clear instruction on what we need to do if we want to love life. So many people just “get by” or if they are honest with themselves then they don’t really even enjoy life but just live in survival mode.

Psalm 34:12 Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?

The Lord says that there are four things that you must do if you want to desire life and want to live many days that you may see good.

Psalm 34:13,14 Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

The first thing that you must do is to keep your tongue from speaking evil. In other words, don’t let your tongue cause anyone grief, since the meaning of the word “evil” is to cause grief. Don’t have an edge about you or feel that you need to get in the last word. Another aspect of this is to keep from arguing. If you want to desire life then you don’t have to always win in your discussions with others. Arguing only leads to grief so stay away from it. Jesus is our example of one who did not return evil for evil but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. Jesus refused to argue.

I Peter 2:23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;

The second requirement is to keep your lips from speaking deceit. There was no deceit in what Jesus said. Deceit was never found in His mouth because His heart was pure. Keep a pure heart and you will keep deceit far from you.

I Peter 2:21,22 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;

The third requirement is to depart from evil and do good. Again, the meaning of evil is to cause grief so the Lord wants you to do good to others rather than to cause others grief. We can only do this in the power of the Holy Spirit because it is not in our flesh. No good thing is in our flesh and the only good that we can do is what the Lord does through us. Stay filled with His Holy Spirit and you will depart from evil and do good. The secret to staying filled with the Holy Spirit is to not quench the Holy Spirit through sinning. Fear the Lord and you will hate sin. Be quick to confess so that you do not grieve the Holy Spirit and you will see Him live through you. Only God is good and the good that we do is the Lord doing the good through us.

Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

We must pursue peace with all men so that they may see the Lord in us.

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

Finally, to sum up, this is the way the Lord has called us to live. You will be giving a blessing and you will be blessed “the eyes of the Lord will be toward you and His ears will attend to your prayer”. Can it get any better than this? No. However, life can certainly get quite miserable for those who do evil for the face of the Lord will be against them.

I Peter 3:8-12 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For,“The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.
“He must turn away from evil and do good;
He must seek peace and pursue it.
“For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears attend to their prayer,
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Learn to do good and to be kind to even ungrateful and evil men and you be will called sons and daughters of the Most High.

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

A Life that Knows God is Real

Can someone really know that God is real? God is probably the most discussed topic through the ages. Is God real and if He is then can a mere human know Him in a personal way? Yes, God is real and His ways are just as real as the law of gravity. You can not see the law of gravity but you can feel its effect on your life. The law of gravity does not change according to your opinion of it. It is a law and and it can be counted on to be true. Actually, knowing the law of gravity is what makes you feel secure. Since it is always true here on earth then you can count on it not changing. When you wake up in the morning you don’t have to wonder if your head will hit the ceiling. Your feet will stay on the ground because of the law of gravity. In the same way, God is real but you can not see Him. However, you can feel the effect of His laws. They are just as real. God is not mocked by whether someone believes or agrees with Him.

Galatians 6:7,8 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Just like one of the best ways to experience the law of gravity is to test it and jump off of a high place. You will fall every time. If you want to know if God is real then take one of His laws and act on it and see the consequences. If you do what His law says then you will be blessed but if you don’t do what He says then you will experience the consequence. God is not mocked. We are the ones who are deceived. If you are hurting in some area then look in God’s Word, the Bible, and see what the Lord has to say about that certain area where you are experiencing pain or frustrated and do what He says. If you are hurting then you have nothing to lose if you seek the Lord for help. You have tried it already your way and it did not bring the desired result so try to live God’s way. He will help you if you are sincerely seeking to do the right thing.

Isaiah 64:5 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved?

The Lord will meet you and help you. He will save you from the error of your ways and show you His ways.

Psalm 25:8-10 Good and upright is the Lord;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Being humble is bring honest with yourself and with God. Tell Him that you failed and ask Him if He will teach you His way. His ways are perfect and not only do they not bring any frustration or pain but they bring healing and restoration to your soul.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Just as someone experiences pain when they go against the law of gravity so also a person will experience pain when they go against God’s ways. Just as the pain with the law of gravity is to teach you to go with the law, in the same way, you will experience pain when you go against God’s laws but it is to put in you a healthy respect for His laws and ways. The Lord wants you to get back on His path so that you will experience good. If you were to continue in the path of not doing right then you would only experience more pain. His wrath is poured out on unrighteousness to get your attention to seek Him and His ways. His love draws you to Himself and His wrath pushes you away from unrighteousness so that you will not continue in it.

Romans 1:18,19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

The Lord wants you to believe in Him and know His goodness. He is good and He is love. If you do not obey Him then you will experience His wrath, which is the pain of not doing life His way. It is not a personal thing just as the law of gravity shows no partiality to anyone. His ways are laws that are to be respected and obeyed.

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Seek Him and His ways so that you might experience life indeed and flee from His wrath by learning to obey Him. It is the foolishness of man that thinks he knows better than God. It is the foolishness of man when he lives as if there is not God.

Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

He who comes to Him and believes in Him receives life. He will experience and know that there is a God and that He is good. It is when you turn away from Him that you experience His wrath and then you will either try to not believe in God or you will be angry with God.

Proverbs 19:3 The foolishness of man ruins his way,
And his heart rages against the Lord.

Seek Him while He can be found. Call upon Him while He is near. You will see that He is very real and that He is good.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.

As you learn to seek the Lord and walk in His ways then you will grow in your understanding of the Lord and you will understand more of His ways.

Proverbs 28:5b But those who seek the Lord understand all things.

 

 

A Life that Has Forgiveness

There is one thing that we can not live with and that is guilt. We will do anything we can to get rid of the guilt. It is for this reason that people try to deny that there is a God because if there is no God then there can be no guilt, or at least this is one of their faulty reasonings. We hate guilt and man was not made to live with guilt. He was made to have fellowship with God, but his guilt caused him to hide from God and we have been hiding ever since. After Adam and Eve sinned the first thing they did was try to hide.

 

Genesis 3:8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

The Lord came looking for them and He has been seeking us out since then and planning a way to bring us back into fellowship with Him. He wants to forgive us and how sweet that forgiveness is when we receive it. God sent His Son to give us salvation by the forgiveness of our sins.

Luke 1:77-79 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
By the forgiveness of their sins,
Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

When we receive the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of our sins then we realize that we will and can never be good enough to deserve it. It is a free gift from the Lord but we must receive the gift to experience the gift of forgiveness. If we do not receive the gift then we still have our guilt and will continue in our sin and the guilt will pile up more and more until we can not bear it. If we do not go to Him for forgiveness then we might do all sorts of things to block out the guilt, such as work, drugs, therapy, alcohol, religion and anything else we can think of that might cause us to forget our guilt or appease it. However, because guilt is of the conscience we can not rid ourselves of the guilt. Only the Lord can take it away and He does through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins and to remove our guilt.

I Timothy 1:15,16 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

There is no one who has done too much to be forgiven or who is too bad that He can not change. If you believe in Him for eternal life then you will find mercy. His mercy forgives and cleanses you from all of your sins, including the past, present and future sins.

I Timothy 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Jesus Christ came into the world to be the Savior of all men but it is only those who believe in Him who will experience His salvation. Do you have guilt in your life? Is there anything that is troubling you? Come to Him and He will forgive those who repent and come to Him as sinners. He did not come for those who are righteous but He came for those who have messed up.

Mark 2:17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

 

A Life that Overcomes Depression

Depression is a struggle for many people and if we can not overcome depression then it can easily overcome us. The Lord wants us to have victory in every area of our lives and depression is one area that we can see His power and His love. First of all, He helps us in our depression.

Psalm 143:7,8 Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul.

Depression can begin in our spirit and then go to our soul, which is our mind, will and emotions and then finally it can affect our bodies. Depression can begin in our emotions after an emotional high, (having a baby etc.) or physically (after physical exhaustion) and then affect us spiritually. Either way, when we are depressed then we are down and are struggling to get back up again. Just as our blood sugar can fluctuate and give us feelings of lethargy and tiredness so depression can do the same for our spirit. However, just as protein will keep our blood sugar more level if we eat protein in the morning, so the meat of the Word of God will keep our spirit more level and less prone to ups and downs if we spend time in God’s Word each morning. Just as when Elijah was depressed the Lord had the ravens bring him protein to nourish him. The meat of God’s Word will nourish our spirit and strengthen us spiritually.

I Kings 17:6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.

When we spend time in the Word of God in the morning then we will have a good measure of God’s lovingkindness and truth in our spirit and soul to begin the day so that we will be more ready for the trials throughout the day and the unexpected surprises.

Psalm 59:16 But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;
Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For You have been my stronghold
And a refuge in the day of my distress.

When you learn the discipline of spending time with the Lord every morning then you will see that He is your strength and will be your stronghold all day long and your refuge in distress. Distress brings depression if there is no place that we can go to with our distresses. We need a refuge that we can run to anytime.

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous runs into it and is safe.

Learn to come to Him in the morning and you will find yourself running to Him throughout the day. He will lift you up and you will know His secure arms around you holding you up.

Psalm 27:5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.

If you are a new Christian then long for the milk of His Word each morning and fill your heart up with His Word.

I Peter 2:2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Then as you grow in Him then start learning to chew on the meat of His Word. He will teach you and lead you in the way you should go.

Hebrews 5:13,14 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Most people struggle at times with depression. It is not a sin but it is when the body, soul or spirit is depressed or down. However, it is not healthy spiritually to remain for a long period of time in a state of depression. The Lord will lift you up but He has given you His Word and His Spirit to strengthen you in Him.

 

A Life with a Savior

There is no sweeter knowledge than to know without a doubt that you have a Savior who cares for you and will save you from downfalls, danger, destruction, distresses and depression. He came to save you and to be your Savior forever.

Matthew 1:21  She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Some of the first words that were spoken of Jesus Christ is that He would be a Savior and that He would save His people from their sins. Your failings or downfalls are your sins. They are how you have failed yourself, others and God. We have all sinned and failed in one way or another. We all need a Savior.

I Timothy 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

However, before He can become our Savior He must become our Lord so that we can become one of His people. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our original sin of wanting to be our own God must first be repented and forgiven and then He will save us from our many sins that destroy us. We need to come to the place in our life that we surrender control to Him. The original sin deceived us and we thought that we could control our life. We can not and will only make a mess. We need a Lord.

Romans 10:9-13 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Whoever will call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved and receive not only a Lord but a Savior. When you receive Him as your Lord and Savior then He also becomes your Shepherd.

Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

Distressed is another word for being stressed out and dispirited means that they were depressed. When you have the Good Shepherd then He will have compassion on you and save you from what distresses you and will life you out of your depression.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The thief, which is the devil, comes only to steal, kill and destroy you. He will bring destruction to your life, your marriage, your family and your children but the Lord Jesus Christ, if He is your Savior then you will be an overcomer of these destructions through Jesus Christ.

I John 5:18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

Nothing and no one can touch you that does not first come through your Savior if you have been born again. The Lord will keep you and the evil one does not touch you, if Jesus Christ is your Savior.

I John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Have you believed yet in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you surrendered your life to Him so that He might be in control? If you have already done this then are you living as if you don’t have a Shepherd and allowing life to stress you out and depress you? Trust Him today. He is the Lord of lords, the God of gods and Savior of the world. He is the Good Shepherd and He wants to love you and lead you in His way which is good. He will never leave you or forsake you.

 

 

 

A Life that Waits on God

The soul that learns to wait on the Lord will experience great peace and learns to rejoice in Him. Also, those who learn to trust in Him will experience His lovingkindness. A human is made up of three basic parts, the spirit, soul and body. We become spiritually alive when we become a Christian. When we become a Christian our soul experiences His love and our soul is made up of our will, mind and emotions.

Psalm 33:20-22 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You.

Although we become spiritually alive after we become a Christian, our soul can experience either life or death. Death to the soul is that sick feeling that we have when we sin, the guilt and the regret in our mind and emotions. We can also grieve the Spirit of the Lord, who lives within us and we will experience sadness because we have grieved the One who loves us. Christianity is a relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ our Lord. His Spirit comes and lives within us and we commune with God through His Spirit and His Word.

James 5:19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

We need each other because all of us have a tendency to stray from the truth, which is God’s Word. We need to constantly be pointing each other to the Lord through His Word. His Word will keep us from straying from Him and often when we stray then our sin will keep us from getting back into His Word.

James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

When we learn to abide in His Word and let His Words abide in us then we learn to wait on Him. When we wait on Him then we learn to soar like the eagle. The eagle can fly the highest with the least amount of effort. The eagle is majestic in its flight.

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Do you get tired in your journey or do you ever become weary? Learn to wait on Him. Learn to abide in the Lord. The Lord’s favor will be on you as you learn to wait on Him.

Psalm 147:11 The Lord favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness.

The Lord is good to the one who waits for Him.

Lamentations 3:25,26 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.

As you learn to wait on the Lord then you will see that what He will do for the one who waits for Him is more than what you could have preceived, seen or heard. He will do far more than your highest dreams.

Isaiah 64:4 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

What is the opposite of waiting on the Lord? It is being anxious and fretful. It will only lead to grief.

Psalm 37:7-9 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

The land is another word for the promises of God. Your inheritance is a rich one and is all of His promises to His children. Trust Him and wait on Him. He loves you and is waiting to show you His compassion and love. How blessed are those who learn to wait on Him and long for Him.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.

 

A Life with Peace

When we become a Christian then we come into a relationship with the Lord and we are at peace with God. He forgives us, our guilt is removed and He gives us His peace.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Peace, how sweet it is when we have it and when we don’t have peace we long for it. The Lord promises us peace that no one else can give us.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

There is nothing else that can give us peace but there are several things that can disrupt our peace and two of them are fear and anxiety. For this reason the Lord tells us not to be fearful. You can take courage for He has overcome the world.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Are you anxious? When you are anxious then you will not experience His peace. The Lord tells you that you don’t need to be anxious anymore but let Him know what your requests are. Be sure and thank Him for meeting your needs when you make your requests known to Him. Thanksgiving is an act of faith. His peace will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

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.

Don’t allow the devil to rob you of the peace that the Lord gives to you. The Lord is a God of peace and He will crush Satan under our feet.

Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Let Him know about your concerns for He cares for you. Cast all of your anxieties on Him.

I Peter 5:6,7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

The Lord wants us to be at peace with each other.

Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

When we live in peace with one another then we will know the God of peace and He will be with us.

II Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

We must be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We must persevere at living in harmony with each other.

Ephesians 4:1-3 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Finally, the Lord wants the peace of God to rule in our hearts. When we sin and do something that is not pleasing to the Lord then His peace is one of the first things that leaves us. Learn to be sensitive to His Spirit so that His peace rules in your heart.

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

Confess your sin to Him and allow Him to cleanse your heart and restore your fellowship with Him.

I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

His peace will return as your fellowship with Him is restored. You will see that the God of peace will be with you as you learn to dwell on Him, for He is true and honorable. He is right, pure, lovely, of good repute and excellent. He alone is worthy of our praise.

Philippians 4:8,9 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 

A Life of Quietness and Tranquility

What is the home of your thoughts? In other words, when you have nothing to think about then where do your thoughts go to? Where your thoughts go to is where your heart abides. For some their thoughts abide in anxiety. They always have something to worry about and when one worry is taken care of then they will just go to another worry. They live in a state of anxiety. The Lord wants you to live in a state of quietness, tranquility and peace. It is precious to the Lord and it makes you beautiful to others. It is true beauty that clothes, jewelry and makeup can not produce.

I Peter 3:3,4 Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

It will be life to you when you learn to live in tranquility. Once you learn to abide in this kind of life you will not want to go back to the restlessness of your soul.

Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.

Prayer is a necessary requirement for a life of tranquility. Do you pray for your leaders, the righteous and the wicked? The Bible says to pray for all and does not distinguish between the good and the bad, for no one is good but God alone.

I Timothy 2:1,2 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

It will be your strength and will give strength to others.

Isaiah 30:15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,

It comes when you do life right. If there is drama or a lack of peace and quietness then there is a lack of righteousness.

Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

Do you listen more to God’s servants or more to the news?

Ecclesiastes 9:17 The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

What is your home like? If you have a roommate or if you are a young wife do those who live with you look forward to coming home? Many a man will think of an excuse of “things” he needs to do just to get away from the strife of a contentious wife or constantly fussing kids. A mother needs to teach her children that there is a time for quietness as well as a time for play.

Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it Than a house full of feasting with strife.

You will not be able to enjoy any of the good gifts that the Lord gives to you if you do not have quietness within. There will be no rest, security, peace or delight.

Job 3:26 “I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”

Job 20:20 “Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.

How can we live in the peace and tranquility that the Lord has for us? There is only one way and that is the way of the Good Shepherd, for He leads us beside quiet waters and restores our anxious soul.

Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

You will be glad when you come to that life of peace, quietness and tranquility. You will live in security and confidence and will be a comfort to those around you.

Psalm 107:30 Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven.

Your spirit will be precious to the Lord and you will radiate the beauty of the Lord as you follow the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for you so that you might live life to the fullest.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Don’t let the thief rob you of your peace, kill your quietness or destroy your tranquility. For the Lord Jesus has overcome Him.

 

 

 

A Life Free of Guilt

One of the things that man can not live with is guilt. Guilt is a horrible thing that will cause us to do anything to get rid of it. The love of God draws us to Him and it is the guilt of man that drives us to Him. If we refuse to come to Him for forgiveness then we will either try to deny the guilt, bury the guilt, hide the guilt, forget the guilt or try to deny the existence of God in hopes of being free of guilt.

Genesis 3:9-11 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

The Lord told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but man ate of it. He knew that he had done wrong and felt guilty.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

The Lord made man upright and to have fellowship with Him but man chose to go his own way. The word for wanting to go your own way is iniquity. It basically means that you want to run your own life, or in other words, this is what man says in his heart, “nobody is going to tell me what to do”. We see this in toddlers as soon as they can exert their own will. We sometimes will call it the “terrible twos” but really it is our “terrible lives”. A toddler just has not learned to cover it up yet.

Proverbs 21:8 The way of a guilty man is crooked, But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

It does not say the way of a crooked man is guilty but the way of a guilty man is crooked. We are all crooked in our ways. When we see someone that makes us feel guilty then we will change our path to avoid them. Our path is no longer straight but crooked.

Psalm 18:26 With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself twisted.

When we are crooked because of our guilt then we will have a twisted view of God. He will seem harsh or mean or unfair. We will not want to come to Him or obey Him. However, your view of God is not a revelation of who He is but an indication of the state of your heart. If you disagree with the Bible and your view of God is, “My God would not…” then you do not know Him correctly. He is who He is and He is a just and loving God. Sin and guilt has distorted the correct view of God in man’s eyes. How can we see who He is clearly? Everything we do is a response to our view of God. Our biggest need is to have the right view of God.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

We need a pure heart. The Lord is the only One who can cleanse our hearts.

Psalm 51: 1-4 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak
And blameless when You judge.

It is against the Lord first of all that we have sinned. He can and wants to cleanse us from our iniquity, that is, wanting to be our own God, and then from our particular sins, that is, the particular sins that we have committed against ourselves or others. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who took away our sin and His death on the cross paid the price for our sins. It is because of His blood that we can have total forgiveness of our sins but we need to ask Him to forgive us. He wants to forgive us and cleanse us and restore us.

Psalm 51:10-13 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.

Are you struggling with guilt? Go to Him and receive His forgiveness and by faith claim what He has done for you on the cross. If you have given your life to Him then He has forgiven you of all of your sins and longs to have fellowship with you once again. Once we become His child then we are always His child but our fellowship with Him can be broken. Allow Him to restore it. After you have been restored and know the joy of your salvation once again then you will want to share Him with others for you will again see that He is good and loving and kind.