How To Be Peaceful

"Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14, ESV

Peace is something that everyone wants but not many have. The psalm quoted above clearly states that if we want to have peace in our lives we must be intentional in our pursuit of it.These two verses below are a good blueprint for how to seek and pursue peace in our hearts and lives.

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."Luke 6:45, ESV

"Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he 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." Galatians 6:7, 8 ESV

When I think about peace, three different aspects of my life comes to mind: the internal, the circumstantial, and the interpersonal.

The internal aspect of peace is what happens within myself. Specifically, it is how I think and feel about myself. It is important to accept who God made you to be. It is important to stop trying to be like everyone else and be yourself. God made you the way you are for a reason. He has a plan for your life: EMBRACE IT!! Similarly, it is also important to understand and accept that you are not, and never will be, perfect. Life is a journey of growing ever closer to God, of changing, of expanding your comfort zone, of continual learning. Embrace this aspect of life, and be gracious towards yourself for not being perfect. Adopt the attitude that Joyce Meyer expresses in the following quote towards yourself and your life.

“I may not be where I need to be but I thank God I am not where I used to be.” Joyce Meyer

The circumstantial aspect of peace has to do with life events. Whether it is a health condition, financial, or family situation, it is important to understand two things about external circumstances:

1. We all make mistakes and get into situations that eventually become overwhelming and require "rescuing" from. This is part of why we are called "sheep" in the bible. Sheep are continually getting into trouble from which they cannot save themselves. We do the same thing. So, trust that your Shepherd will come to your rescue, even when you get yourself in trouble!!

2. There are aspects of life that we cannot control. Things will happen that we cannot prevent and can do nothing to resolve. When this happens, you have two options. You can either freak out, stress out, and gain nothing from it, or you can accept them for what they are and trust that your Shepherd will rescue you from this one as well.

Either way, trusting in the wisdom, power, and loving kindness of your father/shepherd/rescuer/lover of your soul, is a fundamental aspect of living a life in peace. That is why He says that "the righteous shall live by faith."

The third aspect of peace, the interpersonal, has to do with our relationships with others. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers or classmates, difficulties will arise. Difficulties will even arise with complete strangers in unexpected ways. For example, have you ever been cut-off in traffic by a reckless driver that decided to do something dangerous and put you and your family at risk? This can be quite disturbing. People are imperfect, sinful, selfish, etc., and this will cause difficulties, disagreements, and strife. It is important to make love, grace, wisdom, and humility the centerpiece of the way in which you interact with others. It is just as important to trust that God will protect you from the poor decisions that others make, just as He will protect others from your (or my) poor decisions!!

Living in peace, at whichever level, always requires trusting in God and listening to His advice and wisdom. As we stated earlier, in order to obtain peace, you must be intentional about your pursuit of it. You need to start sowing seeds of peace into all three aspects of you life: the way you see and think about yourself, the way you perceive the world, and your relationships with others.

Are you sowing peace, love, and faith into your heart and life, or are you sowing something else?

Visualization

Visualization exercises have been around for a long time, and if you talk to talk to people in the business or fitness/sports world, they will testify to the power of this mental tool.

However, in the religious world, visualization exercises have been regarded as evil or demonic. I am not sure why certain people have taken this position. In my opinion, those that tend to take this point of view seem to be the overly "religious" people, and I mean "religious" in the negative and legalistic sense of the word. It seems to me that they blur the line between the mind and the spirit, as if there were no such difference.

The bible does not mention any particular way of meditation, but it does express that we should meditate on God and his word on a continual basis. If meditation is a mental discipline that we are commanded to practice, why are they so against this particular form? My answer is: they do not understand what meditation truly is.

Are visualization  Exercises godly?

Visualization can be just as godly or demonic as prayer.

If you are praying to Satan, then your prayers are completely ungodly and demonic. If you are praying to God, then your prayers are potentially an exercise in godliness  just as much as they are a means of intimacy with Him. It really depends on how you use the visualization exercise and what you visualize. Every human being has three parts: The Spirit, The soul (mind, will, and emotions), and the body (physical, physiological, and sensations). So everything a human being does needs to be analyzed according to these three aspects.

Visualization is mainly a mental exercise. The spiritual side of visualization varies depending on how you use it. If I use visualization exercises to discipline my mind to focus on God, be loving, patient, understanding, and so forth, then the exercise will produce godly fruit and can be judged as godly. If I use visualization to produce selfishness, pride, and depravity, then the exercise can be judged as ungodly. Ultimately, visualization is a form of meditation. It is a way of changing the way you think and perceive the object of your visualization.

As a matter of fact, everyone uses visualization. Think about the last time you got angry. I mean really, really angry with someone. What did you ? If you are anything like me, you probably sat around thinking about the offense, brooding over it. And you were not just thinking, you were imagining the situation, you could see yourself, what happened, how you would have liked to react, what you would have said or done, or what you were planning on saying and doing in the near future. This was visualization, of the wrong kind. 

I am no psychological guru, but it is my understanding that our minds work largely in terms of pictures, instead of abstract concepts or actual words. So visualization is not so do much something we do, but a way in which our minds works. When people talk about visualization exercises, the are really talking about meditation and psychological programming. There is nothing evil or abnormal about that. What makes the exercise evil is the attitude behind it, and how you use it.

The right kind of visualization can actually be a form of prayer. It can be a visual conversation with God, a way of sharing with him the desire of your heart, and ask him to change you to be more like Him.This is when visualizing becomes a powerful tool for growing closer to God, and sowing good into our hearts and spirit.

Video - Michael W. Smith - Awesome God

What an awesome God we serve!!!

The worship team sang this song on Sunday, and I wanted to share it with you today. I pray it is as uplifting to you as it was to me after missing church for about three weeks straight.

Be encouraged, we serve an awesome, beautiful, God. He loves you and will cause everything to work out for your benefit, even if it does not feel that way.

He is good, and He loves you infinitely!!!


 

I Really Wish We All Understood This

I had an interesting experience the other day. I went for a walk with my son, whom being obsessed with yard maintenance, wanted to go look at the neighbor mow her lawn. Naturally, I held him above my head so the two feet tall child could admire the coveted item over the privacy fence that separated this neighbor from our property.
 
Since this particular neighbor would probably find it strange that a levitating baby was looking at her from above her seven feet tall fence, I decided to say hello and strike up a conversation. Talking to someone else across a fence, without being able to see her or her face, was an interesting and extremely awkward experience. Have you ever had a conversation like that?
 
You might be tempted to answer "No," or "Rarely," but I want to challenge that answer. If I had to answer that question honestly, which is the way I try to answer all questions, I would have to say that most of my conversations are that way!! That is a sad truth.
 
By now you have probably figured out that I am not talking about a physical wall, but an emotional one. As a community group leader, this is one of the major obstacles I face.
 
Why do we hide our true selves behind emotional walls, or "facades" so often? Why are we scared to show our "true colors"?
 
I think the answer is simple. We are insecure. We are more scared of being rejected by men than secure in our acceptance by God.
 
If God, who knows the deepest darkest recesses of my heart and mind, has chosen to adopt me as his very own child, what does it matter what anyone else thinks about me?
 
Lets review this. God is infinite. He created the heavens and the earth simply by speaking a few words. He understands the most amazing secrets, some of which we don't even know exist. He can tell the sun, the moon, and the stars what to do, and they obey Him. He is more important, powerful and influential than all human beings combined.
 
If this God thinks that I am worth dying for, why do I care what some puny little soul thinks of me?
 
Today I want to challenge you to think about God and who He is! How awesome, powerful, infinite, and amazing He is. Truly meditate on how much He loves YOU!!!
 
Yes, GOD LOVES YOU!!! And HE CHOSE YOU!!!
 
You do not have to "earn" anything. You do not need to perform in order to be loved, accepted, or special.
 
You are special to God just like you are. Who cares what everyone else thinks?
 
Believe this, live by it, and BE AN AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN!!!

Enjoying You Life-Ride

I took my son to my neighbor's swing this weekend and started thinking about the way I push him. The first time I took him out there, I quickly decided that I would push my child from the front instead of the back. That way he could still see me smile at him, and I would get to see him laugh and enjoy himself. This way we would swing together instead of me acting like a simple robot. It is a little more difficult but worth the effort.

This time, however, I started swinging him faster and faster until he started getting a little scared, which at this point I slowed down. As I was reflecting on his fear, it dawned on me that we, as followers of Christ, go through very similar experiences with Him.

Lets analyze what went on. The swing was perfectly safe; I made sure of it. I could have pushed my child much harder and faster than he was going without any danger. He became scared because of two things. First, he did not understand what was going on; the additional speed was a new experience to him. Second, he did not trust me, probably because he was not aware that I had insured his safety through the activity.

How similar is that to our relationship with God?!?! I go through that process all the time. God will try to push me a little higher, and a little faster, knowing that I would enjoy the ride. All the while, I am terrified of the new height and speed simply because it is new to me, I do not understand it, and I do not trust that He has insured my safety!!!

Additionally, God is a relational God. He wants to go through the ride with us, looking at us, smiling at us, seeing us enjoy the ride while He pushes us and leads us through this life!!

However, unlike me, God will ask you ahead of time and give you the choice to refuse the "enhanced experience."

Do you continually refuse God's higher levels? If so, why? Are you afraid of something new? Do you trust that God has insured your safety?

Frustration, Impatience, and Control, Part 2

Impatience can be a source of great emotional distress. Dictionary.com defines impatience as "an eager desire for relief or change; restlessness," or "intolerance of anything that thwarts, delays, or hinders."

I got a flat tire on my way to a very important appointment. I had an hour to spare, but when I attempted to change the despicable item, I found myself unable to lift the car because my jack was missing parts! As if that were not enough, once I finally did manage to install the spare tire, it had low air pressure!!!

That was a frustrating experience. My level of frustration escalated as the time of my appointment came and went. My feelings could certainly be described as "intolerance of anything that thwarts, delays, or hinders" by the end of the experience. You could also describe them as rage.

In retrospective, I should have taken a few minutes to collect myself, connect, and talk to God about the situation and proceed to analyze the possible solutions in a systematic way. Instead, I chose to become angry. Anger is a natural enemy of common sense. By accepting the things I could not change (the flat tire, missing parts, and low air pressure) and trusting that God would see me through, I would have been able to resolve the issue much faster than I did.

Being content with your life requires trust in God, because we have to trust that He will take care of those things that we cannot.

Trusting God in difficult times helps keep us grounded and logical during those crises instead of reacting in an emotionally uncontrolled way that makes things even worse.

It is easy to have patience when you are not pressed for time; however, keeping your cool when time is of the essence and you encounter unforeseen delays is a completely different matter that requires a much greater level of spiritual maturity!!

I failed to accept the situation and trust God!!

In the end, it all turned out well. Event though I was thirty minutes late to my appointment, the meeting went on as planned and everything turned out fine. I could have prevented some major emotional distress by trusting God through those difficult couple of hours.

How often do you run into situations like this? How do you respond?

Frustration, Impatience, and Control

I have started to realize that there is a lot of frustration in my life that stems from impatience and the desire to control people and cituations that are well beyond my control.

Do you find yourself dealing with these issues?

Now, it is not a conscious decision. It is more like an attitude, something that happens automatically, in the background, and causes me to want to change things I could never change. The frustration arises from my inhability to change these factors.

The bible speaks about this issue in terms of contentment.

"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment," 1 Timothy 6:6 ESV

Contentment seems to indicate an acceptance of how things are in the present, specially of those things I can not control. It does not mean that we like the present condition, or that we resign ourselves to living in it, but it does indicate an acceptance of them and, at the same time, a release of our desire to control and change them.

Do your best in whatever circumstance you find yourself, and let God take care of the rest. Identify the things that you can do something about, and do it. Identify the things that you can not do anything about, and release them to God. Try to identify how you got to where you are and learn from that so you can prevent it in the future.

Join us next time as we discuss the relationship between impatience and frustration!