The Blessing of Peace

Colossians 3:15 says: “…let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.”

What comes to mind when you hear the word “peace”?
Serenity, quiet, calm, freedom from disturbances, no problems?
Yes, peace can be all that, but it can also be much more.
In fact, the Peace that Jesus gives us believers, can be found in chaos.
His Peace is not dependent on outer circumstances, for it dwells within us.

A good example of this would be in some events that unfolded in my life recently.

I was awakened early one morning by a text message from my bank. It said my account was over-drawn.
My half-awake mind tried to process the validity of this as I got up to find my checkbook.
Not being an early morning person, my day already had the tendency to be off to a bad start.
Then, my grand-daughter, who was spending a few days with me, woke up and said “Happy Friday the 13th!”
Now, I am not superstitious, but under the circumstances I was a little bit tempted to be swayed towards negativity.
In looking over my checkbook, I could not find any reason that my account should be overdrawn, but because I and grand-daughter had
a busy day planned, I decided to just deposit some money from my savings into the account and deal with going in to talk with the bank
on another day.
After an un-eventful breakfast we drove to the ATM where I planned to withdraw some money from my savings.
The ATM had a sign “Out of Order”.
Going inside, I told the teller, and she said since I have e-banking only, I would have to drive around and use the drive up ATM because
if she processed my transaction she would have to charge me a fee.
Trying to keep my cool, I left and proceeded to the drive-up ATM, which of course, had two cars ahead of me.
Then it started to pour rain, on what was supposed to be a bright warm sunny day.
What did I do? Did I lose my temper? Did I let frustration overcome me? Did I get discouraged and blame it on “Friday the 13th”?
No! Because something inside of me said “enough is enough” I was not going to let the enemy steal my joy and destroy my peace.
Right then, I prayed out loud—“In the name of Jesus Christ, I will not be tormented! I will not be oppressed! In Jesus’ name I have peace!”

As I claimed the day for Jesus, a peace came over me and the enemy retreated. Instead of just going to deposit the money in the supposedly overdrawn account I decided to take the time to go inside the bank and talk with them. I prayed for God’s favor.
I ended up being greeted by a very pleasant young lady banker who reviewed my account and finding no errors, credited the overdraft fee back into my account and got everything all straightened out for me very easily.

When I went outside the rain had stopped and the sun was shining. My grand-daughter said “Well, I guess that prayer worked!”

That gave me an opportunity to witness to her about faith, belief and the peace that believers have in Jesus. It is not just about saying a prayer “that works” but living a life where we are in constant communication with the One in whom we believe—receiving His peace as we abide in Him.
Do things always work out easily or with out problems? No, but Jesus’ peace can be felt in the midst of the chaos  or problem, for His peace does not depend on circumstances.
In John 16:33 Jesus said: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  2 Timothy 1:2 NKJV

The Blessing of Abundance!

Christmas Village 2011

My three grand-children were visiting for the weekend and even though it was still two weeks before Thanksgiving, we decided it would be a good time for all of us to set up our Christmas Village.  It was early, but since we were all together, the Christmas spirit and excitement was in the air to get “The Village” set up.  

For the past 12 years,  usually the day after Thanksgiving, I and the grand-kids have set up our Christmas Village.  When the tradition started my youngest grand-son was 4 and the the Village, like him, was pretty small.  Each year we would add one or two new things to our Village and so it has greatly grown over the years.  What started out as a tiny village, this year seems to have become a mighty metropolis!  And, as the Village has grown, so have the grand-children.  However, each still wants to have a part in “setting up the Village”.  This year as the boxes were brought out from the closet, my grand-son asked what was new and I replied that I had only purchased one small item as an addition, since the Village was really too big now and I wasn’t sure there would be room to fit it all in my small apartment. I announced that we had an Abundance of houses and people!    We had a “more than enough” Village !  

As Believers we have been blessed with Abundance.  God has given us “more than enough” blessings to use in our daily lives.  

The dictionary defines Abundance as: an extremely plentiful or over sufficient quantity or supply or overflowing fullness
To me that simply means “more than enough”.  God has blessed me, and all believers, with “more than enough”.
We have an infinite daily supply of all that is needed to succeed. We just need to know what we have been blessed with and then how to use it in our lives.

Think about what you feel you need to succeed in your daily life.  I would say I often need Strength, Wisdom and Power, coupled with Boldness, Confidence, Hope and Favor.
That’s just a few things I can think of off the top of my head and I have often prayed that God would give these things to me.  

However, I have come to realize that the book of Ephesians tells me that when I believed and received Jesus as my Savior, I received all those things and more.
  Ephesians 1:3 says I was blessed “exceedingly abundantly” beyond all that I could ask or think.  

So now, each day whatever my need might be I just thank God that He has already given me more than enough to handle it, then I ask Him to bring it into being through His Holy Spirit Who dwells within me.
 Strength?  I am abundantly supplied.  Wisdom?  I have all I will ever need.  Power?  God’s Power, the Holy Spirit, dwells within me.  Boldness?  Confidence?  I have an over sufficient quantity.  Hope?  I have more than enough.  Favor?  I am blessed to overflowing.    These are but a few of the Blessings believers receive in Christ.

Just as the Christmas Village keeps growing each year, because my grand-son and I want to add just one more new thing to it,  so does our Abundance in Christ.  We have a never ending supply of blessings we can use everyday, we just need to decide what we need for the day and the best place to put it into action.  

So let’s begin each day by thanking God for blessing us exceedingly abundantly with everything we need to succeed and then ask Him to manifest whatever we need to walk in that day.
I think we will be amazed at the change we will begin to see in our lives as we walk daily in  the Blessing of  Abundance!

The Blessing of Enough

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and He [God] will give you everything you need.  –Jesus  (Luke 12:31 NLT)

Do you you ever think that perhaps you need something more in your life?  Perhaps you feel that you are not good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, or wealthy enough?  Well, I want to let you know today that we  Believers, are blessed with more than enough!

One of our riches in Christ is Abundance.  God abundantly gives us everything we need to fulfill His plan and purpose for us in this world.  Paul says in Ephesians 3:20 that God ” is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power [Holy Spirit] that works in us, “ If we are seeking His kingdom above all else, we will be walking in His Abundant Blessings!  And, Abundance is more than enough!

So the next time you start feeling that you aren’t doing enough, or that your life doesn’t amount to enough, remember that in Christ you have been blessed with more than enough to accomplish the plan and purpose God has just for you!  All you have to do is start walking in what you have already been given.

The book of Ephesians lists 54 Spiritual Blessings in Christ that you have received and Abundance is just one of those blessings!   A Devotional Book titled “54 Spiritual Blessings in Christ” will soon be published.  It lists each Blessing, Thoughts on how to walk in that Blessing, a suggested Prayer and a Journal Page to record your thoughts on it all.  If you would like to be notified when this book will be available for purchase just EMAIL ME and I will add you to the Book’s Notification List. 

Here, in future blog posts, I will be discussing each of the Blessings we have received and how we can claim and walk in them daily.  I hope you will visit often or subscribe so you don’t miss out on learning about all the Riches you have received in Christ!

I also invite you to check out Holley Gerth’s Blog post:                   You Are Enough!   Holly shares that in God’s Heart YOU are ENOUGH!  http://www.holleygerth.com/heart-to-heart-with-holley/2011/10/4/you-are-enough.html