Peace

Connecting the Dots

/ Jana / 1 Comment

God is about instructing us. “Instructing” comes from a Greek word, paideia — meaning faithful instruction of a believer for a whole person transformation.

I love that. No boxes to check. No stone unturned. Not selective grooming, but a total makeover inside and out.  God is after the transformation of the whole person.  Now look at this perhaps familiar scripture, and then let’s play “connect the dots.”

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  Philipians 4: 4-8 NKJV

What comes first?  Rejoicing or worship. Transformation is always preceded by worship because we have to get our hearts aligned with Who Truth really is. After worship follows gentleness. Worship has a way of softening hard hearts, watering hard soil. Once the ground has been softened and hearts become gentle, truth can enter in. Who is entering? The Lord is at hand.

He is here among us so that we don’t have to be anxious. This is confidence, that God is among us and for us.  So with confidence we can ask and believe. What comes next? His peace. A peace that acts as shield and covering for our hearts and minds, not our manufactured peace but the supernatural peace of Christ. And once the peace of God is in place, then comes focus. Focus of our thoughts, intentions and attitudes. God wants to instruct us to think about what we think about. Whatever is. . . true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue, praiseworthy, think on these things. This is God’s loving instruction to simply walk in truth, in God’s perspective on things.

Worship comes first, then gentleness, then confidence in Him, then peace, then focus. . . Meditate on these things.

Between Morning and Evening

/ Jana / 1 Comment

The Lord has me sitting in the story of Elijah lately. I must be a slow learner because it seems like we have been here a while. But I confess, the longer I sit in these couple of chapters, 1 Kings 17- 19, the more I see of God, and the more I see of me.

What I like about Elijah is his utterly honest humanity. He walked with God when things were really, really bad; when it didn’t look like things would be improving soon. But still he depended on God. And he trusted God to not only understand his weaknesses but to CARE about them.  This strengthens me. When all the wheels start coming off my life, it refreshes me to have a God that won’t despise my weaknesses but help me in them.

Look at Elijah as a flesh and blood example.  He had just declared to Ahab, one of Israel’s most wicked kings, that “as the Lord lives, the God of Israel lives,” there would be no rain or even dew until Elijah says so. Talk about gumption. That is serious confidence in God. Elijah’s whole accusation against Ahab was that the king had turned to false idols and led the nation away also. Elijah was constantly pointing back to the clear evidence God was alive and well and willing to be their Loving God.

Now look what follows. God sent Elijah to a remote place where there was a brook and told Elijah that He had commanded the ravens to provide for him there.  Draught on the land, provision for you. All through the Bible you see how God protects and provides for his own regardless of what is happening all around.

In this quiet place, equipped with fresh water, God sent ravens every morning and evening with meat and bread to feed Elijah.

This weekend in my own head, when the giants seem too big, the desert too hot, the needs too great, the bills too many — this weekend I was struck by the time between morning and evening for Elijah. Did he ever question that the ravens would come? Was he ever surprised day after day?  Why didn’t the Lord just give him a small oven and flour?  What was the Lord teaching Elijah (and us) in the space between meals?

Before every great battle and public encounter, there is a private battle and spiritual encounter. I think God used this time to teach Elijah that he could not take care of himself. Elijah had to look to God to provide, even for the food in his mouth. I think God was teaching Elijah how to faith in the space between meals. I think God was teaching Elijah how to Receive from His hand, in whatever way, by whatever means the Lord decided was best for Elijah. Even when that way was ravens. I think God was preparing Elijah in the quiet space for the battle that was on its way.

I am not going to rush through this story. But for today, I wonder, are you looking for the ravens? Are you receiving what the Lord is sending for your good?  Are you waiting by the brook for your God or are you bustling about trying to feed yourself?   “He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.”

Not as the World Gives

/ Jana / 1 Comment

Have you ever noticed how the Lord will direct your attention to something, and then He repeats the message again and again?  I love that about Him.  He is so insistent that I “get it” that He doesn’t mind repeating Himself.

I mentioned in a previous blog about God’s deposit of supernatural peace. Jesus said in John 14:26-27:

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.

The phrase, “not as the world gives,”  has been rumbling around in my head. Peace in God’s economy is radically different than the world’s. I have been thinking about how we look, strive, long for peace through the world’s ways but are always frustrated and denied. Why? The world’s peace usually comes by way of consumption. Think food, sex, power, money. We think if we have “enough” of one of those things we will have peace. Or we escape to one those places because we lack peace. There is no relationship, no intimacy, no trust. No God.

Jesus didn’t stutter when He said that what He gives is altogether unlike the world’s version. The peace that Jesus gives is rooted in truth. Earlier in this conversation, Jesus has just told them that He is “the way, the truth and the life.”

This whole passage is loaded, but for today, I notice that I am most at peace when I am at peace with God; when I am  conscious, connected and dependent on Him. For everything. I am most at rest when I am most leaning back on the God of Truth. His way, His truth, His life.

You can’t buy that in a store. Hear again what the angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” Luke 2:14

Mayhem in Bethlehem

/ Jana / Leave a comment

So yeah. I went to Walmart between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. with only eight days left until Christmas. Not smart. Then I came home to four piles of unfolded laundry and about ten gifts to be wrapped.  Then I sat down to make a grocery list for my holiday cooking: (background music swells)

4 yummy cakes,
3 pecan pies,
2 shrimp dips
and a partridge in a pear tree…

On top of this, our new Lab puppy named Lucy has decided that her wake up time is about 5:00 a.m.  Is there a Babywise for puppies??

Anyway, all this mayhem combined with the stress reflected in the faces of people I was shopping with made me think about Bethlehem.  With the influx of people coming in to town for the census, it must have been crazy.  Imagine game day in Tennessee multiplied by 100.  No hotels, standing lines at eateries, bumper to bumper traffic. Only there is no exciting game to anticipate, just more hassle from a hostile government.

And here He comes.  In the middle of all that commotion Jesus comes, quietly tucked into a stable but still in the middle of it all.  When we talk about the “peace that transcends understanding” think about the contradiction of God being born right smack dab in the center of town.  Peace that defies explanation, that goes beyond the ability to calculate or manipulate.

Jesus said, “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.” (John 14:27)

He came in peace, lived in peace, left in peace. Even today He gives peace and leads in peace. I mean to say, He pours something into us. Just like God placed His Son into the world, He puts His peace into our lives. So despite the laundry and the to do lists, reflect on peace. It really does stretch you beyond your understanding.