Peace

“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.” John 14:27 NIV

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? A pastor recently described the situation as bricks we feel we must carry. Do you ever feel like you’re buried under a pile of bricks?
I was awakened during the night by our cat wanting to cuddle. Fine, until my mind decided that 3:30 is a good time to stay awake and take a dive under that brick pile! Ah, I wish I could say I just handed it right over to our Prince of Peace.
Now that I’m wide awake, I think about the middle of the night strategy. When peace eludes us.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV

This is where it starts. We sleep with our helmets on! We wake up with it on! We need the helmet of salvation to guard our thoughts.
And where should our thoughts go? It’s so easy to think the worst, but Jesus offers us the best!

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV

Today we should pray that God will guide our thoughts. Salvation in Jesus! It starts with the truth of Who Jesus is and where we stand with Him. If we have truly repented and believe that the God of all creation loves us and has saved us, how can we not have peace of mind?!

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9 NIV