PERFECT PEACE

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on You,

because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

Did you know?

The Hebrew translation

for perfect peace is 

“peace peace.”

Be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

Peace I leave you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not let them be afraid. 

John 14:27

CONTENTMENT COMES FROM GOD

How great is the love the father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1a

I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances...I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4: 11-13

Seek the LORD and his strength;

seek his presence continually.

Remember the wonderful works he has done.

Psalm  105:4-5a

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied beholding your likeness. 

Psalm 17:15

HIS NAME IS GREAT AND WORTHY OF PRAISE!

...from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations...

Malachi 1:11

Thank you, Father, for the promise of your Word, your unchanging nature, your perfect love and your infinite wisdom. Turn my eyes and heart to you every moment of every day of my life. I worship you and I love you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

HOW WILL I WORSHIP TODAY?

When we finally realize that everything we think, say and do is an opportunity to worship and honor our God, we must then ask ourselves, 

“How will I worship today?”

THE LORD IS GOOD

The LORD is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble;

And he knows those who trust in Him.

Nahum 1:7 (NKJV)

Therefore I will look to the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation;

My God will hear me.

Micah 7:7 (NKJV)

EXAMINE EVERYTHING CAREFULLY

If you want to protect yourself from false prophesy and wrong teaching, READ THE BIBLE. 

Christians who step away to a quiet place and rely on the Holy Spirit to fill their lives do not have to worry about being misinformed or misled by the words of an errant pastor.

“examine everything carefully” 

1 Thess 5:21

Photographer's note: the crab in the above image is dead. What you are looking at is a very beautiful and well-preserved shell.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23 (ESV)

BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL!

Let my whole being bless the LORD!

Let everything inside me

bless his holy name!

The LORD is compassionate

and merciful,

very patient, and full of faithful love.

As high as heaven 

is above the earth,

that’s how large God’s faithful love

is for those who honor him.

The days of human life are like grass:

they bloom like a wildflower;

but when the wind blows through it,

it’s gone;

even the ground where it stood doesn’t remember it.

But the LORD’S faithful love is from

forever ago to forever from now

for those who honor him. 

selected from Psalm 103 (Common English Bible)

HE IS WITH YOU

You surround me --- front and back.

You put your hand on me.

Psalm 139:5

Earthquake. Tsunami. Radiation. Snow. The overlapping disasters in Japan should cause us all to re-evaluate the meaning of a bad day. 

God, 

I am thankful for the mercy and blessings that you have bestowed upon me. I realize that in an instant my life can change. Teach me not to fear the unknown, but to trust fully in your unchanging character and unending love.

I pray for the people of Japan, that Your comfort and assurance will find its way into their hearts. 

In Jesus name,

Amen.

THY WILL BE DONE

Thy will be done.

ALL I HAVE NEEDED, THY HAND HATH PROVIDED

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Lyric by Thomas O. Chisholm

I WILL LOVE THE LORD

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

Luke 10:27

JOB 1:20-22

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to the ground and worshipped. 

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Job 1:20-22

HEBREWS 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23

AMAZING GRACE, HOW SWEET THE SOUND!

What does Grace sound like? As humans, we relate to sound in a very real and immediate way. Imagine a relaxing sound: the sound of waves lapping gently at the seashore. Imagine a familiar sound, like the sound of your mother’s voice. Now, imagine the excited roar of a football crowd after a winning touchdown is scored. Sound memories make unforgettable impressions on our lives and shape our experiences. 

Imagine what it was like to hear the “sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze” (Genesis 3:8, The Message), like Adam and Eve did, after they sinned in the Garden of Eden then hid with shame in the trees?

Grace does have a sound. It’s called silence. It’s the Spirit of God moving in our hearts and lives; a moment of deliverance when peace envelops us and places us in God’s Divine presence. Can you hear it?

DISTURB US, O LORD!

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we posses

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope and love.

attributed to Sir Francis Drake - 1577

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

2 Corinthians 4:7

PERSPECTIVE

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

2 Corinthians 4:17

WHAT HAVE YOU TRUSTED GOD FOR TODAY?

Francis Chan, in his book, Crazy Love, asks: “What are you doing right now that requires faith?”

It’s a question that we must each ask ourselves.

WORDS OF WISDOM

If you don’t have a Bible, get one.

If you’ve got a Bible, read it.

If you read the Bible, believe it.

If you believe the Bible, live it.

from Life's Little Handbook of Wisdom