Peace in the midst of chaos

John 14:27New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ 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.

This time of year can be very stressful. We worry about so many things, especially things that we have no control over. But we don’t have to. God promises us His peace. I sometimes worry about things that are happening in my life, my kids, my job, my career, and finances. I would really worry about the kids and finances around the holidays. I bought into the hype of the commercialism. Now we know the real reason for the season and even though I still sometimes struggle with these things, I’m not as bad as I used to be. Now when I feel the worry coming on I don’t let it overcome instead I turn to the Word of God and I speak it over my life. The peace I feel after talking to God is unmistakable and indescribable. I just feel all the weight lifted off. That peace only comes from God. Nothing and no one else in this world can give you that kind of peace.

 I encourage you today to not let this season stress or worry you. Instead enjoy your family and Jesus. Time with them is the most precious gift. My birthday is Christmas Eve, and I can’t imagine a better place to be than at church for our Christmas Eve candlelight service. That’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten.  

No excuses

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.31 The second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Earlier this month I was invited to speak at an event to raise awareness to abuse, bullying, racism, and suicide. Unfortunately for me I've been personally affected by all of these things. The woman who put on the event called No Excuses was herself a victim of domestic violence, and it was such an emotional day. On the up side you have hope. Hope that events like this will not only bring awareness, but will help people overcome these awful things when they occur. Hope that someday people will believe that they are good enough, and no matter what anyone said and they believed that, and would not take their own lives. Hope that people who are physically abused will have the strength to walk away. Hope that those kids who are bullied are strong enough to take a stand and not allow those cowardly bullies to win. On the other side you have pain. I felt real pain for the mom who got up there and told the story of how her daughter was bullied on the ballfield and was so distraught that she took her own life at 12 years old! 12!! She had her entire life in front of her, and now she doesn't. She just wanted it to stop. She just wanted to play softball, have fun, make friends and be a typical 12 year old girl.

Now we have cyber-bullying to deal with as well. I believe it is such a cowardly thing to do, but so many people are victims of it. Not just kids, but adults as well. When I wrote my book Live Fearless, one of the testimonies in the book is about someone who had to overcome her fear of bullying. Not in the traditional way that we would believe, but she allowed negative things that people said to her to keep her in bondage. That's a form of bullying. People are extremely bold when they are sitting at a computer. I don't think that 98% of the people that cyber-bully would dare to say that if they were standing in front of you. But when you are attacked at every angle, everywhere you go, it can be really hard to try and deal with. As adults when we’re struggling with things, there are times when our faith waivers. I can’t imagine being a teen today and being cyber-bullied, bullied at school, on the ballfield or other event, and even sometimes at home by their own parents. Even the strongest of people would have a hard time trying to overcome that.

God says that the second most important thing is to love your neighbor as you would love yourself. If we as a society would live up to that more often than not, I can see a big shift taking place. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Be the hope that someone needs.

God your comforter

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

Some of us always have to be in control. We feel like if we're not in control, something will go wrong or we're going to miss something. We all want to feel needed and always being in control helps us feel needed. No matter what the situation good or bad, we worry, we stress, and we do everything in OUR power to fix it. That's part of the problem. The Bible says in Matthew 11:28 to give our burdens to God. What does that mean for you? It means that you don't always have to have it together. You don't have to have the perfect life. You never will. Being in total control can be very tiring. If things are not happening the way you want, you get tired of waiting, and trusting and believing. That's when it's time to let go and give it to God. Especially if it's something you have no control over anyway. I used to worry myself to distraction about issues in my life that I had no control over. Why was I doing that? My worry isn't going to change anything. I finally figured out that I needed to not only pray about it, but surrender it. That means truly releasing it to God and NOT picking it back up. (I'm still working on this part). I hate when I pick it back up. Especially when I didn't even realize that I've done it. I want to smack myself in the forehead like the V8 commercial! 

If you find yourself like me, always trying to be in control, and letting your burdens overpower your thoughts. I want to encourage you that you're not alone. We all struggle with this issue. The great thing about God is that you can surrender it back to Him anytime! You don't have to wait until Sunday. God is always with us. He's forgiving, and He wants to take our burdens. Let Him!  

The Worst Trouble the World Has Ever Seen

It will be a time of trouble, the worst trouble the world has ever seen. But your people will be saved from the trouble, every last one found written in the Book. Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame. ~Daniel 12:2 The Message (MSG)

Things are happening very quickly today. There are many signs and wonders that Jesus is coming back very soon. Our world is in trouble. A lot of trouble. It seems as though everyday we’re hearing about some type of attack. A few weeks ago, it hit really close to my home. A man with a history of mental illness attacked people at a movie theatre. Thankfully, a very observant and perceptive police officer was able to handle the situation. For us Christians, this is a call to action. We need to save as many lives as possible. There are many ways to do that. You don’t just have to be in a pulpit. We’re all the light of God, and it’s our job to let our lights shine as bright as possible to bring people to Christ. This is not a difficult endeavor. All you have to do is live a righteous life. Being righteous doesn’t mean being perfect. It does mean being nice, by being a blessing, be forgiving and being encouraging. There are enough miserable people in this world. Why do you want to be part of that? I know I don’t! I’m going to enjoy this life! I’m also going to save others in the process. Not by my will, but by The Holy Spirit who lives in me. 

The last verse says “many who are long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life and others to eternal shame.” Which do you want for the people you love? I want to see my loved ones with me in heaven. 

The Lord Our Shepard

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace. — Micah 5:4-5

Be strong! Be independent! You don’t need anyone! You can do it alone!

These are things some of us may have heard growing up. I know my mom and dad taught me to be strong and independent, and not to “need” anyone for anything. Which is good in theory, however, God did not intend for us to be this way without Him. He doesn’t want us to conform to this world. Yes – he wants us to be strong, but He wants us to get our strength from Him. He wants us to have faith in Him, when tough times hit, and they will. If you feel like you don’t need anyone, you will try and fight the battle alone, and most likely will become discouraged, or bitter, or angry because as much as we want, we can’t control everything. 

Being independent for the right reasons is a great thing! Please don’t misunderstand that. But if you feel like you can do it without God, you’re wrong. We need Him; we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You can get rich and get all the material things you want, but you will never be satisfied, and you will always feel like you’re missing something and you are. God. If you question that, look at all the celebrities, athletes, and rock stars that stay in trouble and even take their own lives. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can do this without Him. You can’t. 

We all want things to go our way, but God is our Shepard – He is here to lead us, guide us and be secure in Him. 

Coming soon my new book Live Fearless! Check out the website and pre-order your copy today!

www.livefearlessbook.com 

Timing is everything

ECC 3:11 NIV ~ He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Timing is everything. How many times have we heard that? Being patient is not something most people today are willing to be. We live in a society of right now – this minute! We don’t want to wait for anything. As I write this, it brings back one of many memories regarding not only being patient, but trusting God while you wait. This may sound silly but it’s true. I have a thing about my bananas not having any brown spots on them whatsoever! My mom used to always tell me that if there were some brown spots, the banana is ripe and therefore sweeter. She said we needed to wait for them to ripen. It didn’t look perfect on the outside but on the inside it was just the way it was made to taste. She used to drive me nuts when she wanted to make banana pudding. They would be so brown! But her banana pudding was always great, and it was one of my favorites.

While we don’t like waiting, God has us where we are because we may not be fully ripe yet. He wants us to be that sweet delicious and perfectly ripe piece of fruit so we can handle all He has for us. I encourage you today not to give up if you’re in the “ripening” phase. God will bring you out better than you were before!

Sometimes I look back on my life, and I think about the times that I’ve begged, pleaded and cried out to God to bring some of His promises to pass and I would get so discouraged, but now I understand God’s perfect timing and His perfect will for my life. So I don’t get discouraged or upset as much. Instead I pray and let God do His work.   

Staying in peace

Peace. What does it mean? The definition of peace is: freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety an obsession, etc. tranquility, serenity. What your ideal situation be like if you were in total peace? What does that mean for you? For me it means a lot! Being in peace means even though my world may be crashing around me, I know whose I am. I know it's just temporary. Our mind and emotions play such an important role when it comes to having true peace. You can't have peace in your heart if you don't have it in your mind. It's easy to say I can do that, and of course it's easy when nothing is going wrong. But what about when it's not? What about when your world is crashing in, and you don't feel like you can go on? This is when our faith comes in. The key is to remember that God is here. He's always with us, even when it feels like He's not. He can keep us in perfect peace in every storm in our life if we let Him. Part of our problem is that we want total control. Relinquishing control means total surrender. Then the peace comes, because no matter what happens, you know that God has already gone before you. 

When Peter walked on the water, he asked Jesus if he could. Jesus said yes, and Peter was doing great at first. But he took his eyes off Jesus when the water got rough, and he got scared and took his eyes off Jesus. He started sinking, he wasn't sure if he could fully put his trust in Him. Peter cried out, He put his hand out and caught him. You see, the wonderful thing about God is even when we don't trust Him completely, He's still there.

God is Jehovah-Shalom - our peace.

John 14:27 (MSG) ~ I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.