How To Be At Peace

How To Be At Peace
lifeandfaithbydeb.org

Published by Deborah Negron M.A.
Centro de Vida Iglesia de Dios
Center of Life – Church of God
Bridgeport, CT.

We hear so many ideas and strategies these days about how to cope with life. We hear some say to sit in a quiet space and breathe.
Others say to speak out all the feelings that may be pent us inside. Others tell us to speak out in vain repetitions wirds that eill center us.

The Bible says that we are to renew our minds daily. This is a practice of meditating. But meditation for the sake of meditation is useless. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Some say meditate on some imagined place, to be able to relax. Breathe in and exhale and repeat. To be honest, I do not enjoy meditating on some imagonary place. I do not personally live in some bubblw where I can escape mentally. Not to mention, the Bible tells us to think on whatsoever things are true… not imagined. Whatsoever things are honest, just, pire and lovely… Philippians 4:8.
Tells us to look to the hills from where our help comes from, our help comes from the Lord (Psalm 121:1).

Jesus had a lot to say that would help us find peace in the midst of the storms of life.
In Mathew 6:33 He said, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be added to you.
That is to say, focus on the heavenly things, the things that are eternal. Those actions that will bring us closer to God, will bring us peace. We will not walk as if we do not know peace but rather the Lord will be the one whom we are grounded in.
We will not walk without knowing where to go because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life… , the way to the Father is only found in Jesus. (John 14:6).

Knowing Jesus means I do not walk alone. I have a specific path, he is the way. I know what to believe in, he is the truth and I can be secure because he is the life. So knowing Jesus makes us whole.

Jesus taught us how to love in peace. His greatest achievement was not healing the sick, but rather being the payment and sacrifice for our freedom. His love shown on the cross sets us from from our past failures and our sins. He taught us the act of forgiveness. He did not give mankind what they deserved. We deserve punishment for our wrongs but Jesus gives us his pardon instead. He took our place.

He teaches us to forgive others. In Mark 11:24-25 Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

This means in order to be at peace I must forgive those who have hurt me, mistreated me, ignored me or rejected me. I must love my neighbor as myself. This means cut them some slack. Allow them to fail, to be human. ‘To err is human’, this is better stated in scripture in Roman’s 3:23 where it states,
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

None of us is perfect. That is okay. We can even forgive oursleves. We can be merciful not only to others but to oursleves. The past sins are forgiven when we come to Christ. Even our current mix ups and our poor choices he will forgive when we acknowledge them.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We can take a breath and consider how greatly we are loved. 1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us,
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

We can seek the Lord daily, humble oursleves knowing he loves us. We can put our burdens on him. We can give him all the baggage we so often carry oursleves. Our insecurities. We can place on him our worries, our doubts, our fears. He will sustain us. He is our burden bearer. As we acknowledge our weakness to him, the Lord will provide his Holy Spirit to strengthen our hearts and keep us in peace in spite of all the issues of life we may face.

Jesus said, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28‭-‬30

Serving the Lord means we do not go at this thing called life on our own. We do not have to struggle through each day by oursleves. He promised never to leave us and never to forsake us.

The burden he gives us is light. It is clear cut and precise. He wants us to love one another and share his love with others. He wants us to form bonds of love and bring others to this peace he gives us.

When he was about to go up in to heaven he told his disciples the following,
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19‭-‬20

He wants us to love and tell others of his love for them.
Our peace and hope comes when we acknowledge we are sinners and need God to save us. When we accept Jesus, since he is the Prince of Peace, we are guaranteed Peace.

No I am not saying we walk around with harps and feeling free. I am saying that as we go through the hard times life has to offer each one of us, as we face the issues of life; illness, job loss, rejection, mistreatment, failures and more, we will Have Him With Us.
He will be our strength and hope, our wisdom and the one who will give us sufficient grace for each new challenge.

We can be assured that we have a God who has forgiven our past, loved us unconditionally. He will forgive our shortcomings and give us the wherewithal to make it through each new day.

Because of the Lord ’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22‭-‬23

Let’s meditate on his word. God’s word is what will give us the truth we need to face life’s unexpected circumstances. His presence in us and through us will be the ticket to knowing peace that surpasses understanding.

During this quarantine time. Find yourself a place to read his word. Meditate on how much he has done. Think on his great love and forgiveness. Be quick to forgive and slow to anger. Be kinder to others and be kind to your self too.

Practical Reading:
Roman’s 8
Psalm 121
Psalm 91
John 3
1 John
Hebrews
Roman’s 12
1 Corinthians 13
Psalm 46
Psalm 23
Psalm 37
Psalm 73
You can also do a Google search and search scripture for specific words.

Faith
Hope
Love
Mercy
Forgiveness
Redemption
Heaven
And the lost goes on.

Make it a practice to read God’s word and pray. The Lord has loved you with an everlasting love Jeremiah 31:3.