Peace 3

Peace 2

Hello Everyone,

Let’s do A Comparison of Peace

Worldly Peace                          Christian Peace
Security in this life           Inner peace
No needs unmet                        Confidence in God
No conflicts                                       Safety for the soul
No pain                                              Sense of direction and purpose

No demands                             Hope during conflicts
Long Life                                 Guaranteed eternal life

THREE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEACE

Peace with God
This kind of peace is found in salvation. It is found only when a person surrenders their will to God and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life

Peace of God
This kind of peace is seen in the character of God.

It is this peace that points a person to God as the true and only source of peace.

Peace from God
This kind of peace is what flows directly from God to the heart of a believer. Paul called this the peace that passes understanding.

It is an assurance that moves within the person on a daily basis.

THREE STATEMENTS ABOUT PEACE

This peace is an inner tranquility mediated by the Holy Spirit.

It brings with it a strong conviction that Jesus is near and that God’s LOVE will be active in our lives for good.

When we lay our troubles before God in prayer:

This peace will stand guard at the door of our hearts and minds.

And it will prevent the cares and heartaches of life from upsetting our lives and undermining our HOPE in Christ.

If fear and anxiety return, once again prayer and thanksgiving will place us under the peace of God.

There we are safe and are able to rejoice in the Lord.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!

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Peace 1

Hello Everyone,

  This week we are looking at Rediscovering Peace. Read with me Philippians 4:4-9.                                                                                                        

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

8 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. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

Every person wants to have peace, but we allow the world around us to steal it away from us.

Peace Stealers

 1. Worry
 2. Stress

 3. The general rush of life

 4. Lack of personal confidence
 5. Disobedience

 6. Sin
 7. Spiritual laziness

Jesus told His disciples is John 14:27

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 leads us to a very important question: what is peace?

“PEACE” – A state of rest, quietness, and calmness, an absence of strife, tranquility.

 

It generally denotes a perfect well-being.

  The root word brings with it the word “WHOLE” which means nothing missing, nothing broken. 

A.   The Greek understanding

The Greek word for peace literally means to bind together or to weave together.

It means that one person is joined together with another or more importantly joined with God

We receive peace from God through the “PRINCE OF PEACE” JESUS when we ask Him into our lives.

The Hebrew Understanding

The word used for peace in Hebrew is shalom.

This term has deep meaning and coveys a sense of being free from trouble, experiencing the best of life and spiritual prosperity.

Shalom’s basic meaning is the positive presence of HORMONY, WHOLENESS, SOUNDESS, WELL-BEING, and SUCCESS in all areas of life.

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Greater Things are still to come!                            

Faithfulness 3

Hello Everyone,

The characteristic of faithfulness needs to be cultivated in our Trustworthiness of Our Reliability

In Luke 16 we have the Parable of the Shrewd Manager. The concept of faithfulness is also demonstrated in this passage.

Interpreters disagree as to whether the discounting of what was owed was a honest move. Was the manager giving away something he himself did not own?

On the other hand maybe he was eliminating the interest payments his master may have overcharged the debtors.

Whichever it was, he was shrewd enough to use the means he had in order to plan for his future well-being.

The ingenuity of the manager was recognized and rewarded.

The important lesson for us here is that when an individual is given a responsibility, he must establish confidence.

Christ was not just addressing this parable to the 12 apostles or to the Seventy.

Through the inspiration of The Holy Spirit Christ is addressing all Believers then and Believers to come.

If we were not required to account for our actions, responsibility would be meaningless.

We must give an account of our time, talents, homes, bodies, speech, and possessions.

We must be accountable for everything God has entrusted to us.

Faithfulness in small things is taught in verse 10.

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10

Faithfulness is required in small matters as well as what would be considered to be important matters.

An office supply salesman noticed his sales of lead pencils seemed to triple in volume during the month of September. His comment about this phenomenon to several customers resulted in a close monitoring of the supplies. It was then discovered that certain employees repeatedly needed a larger supply of pencils during this period of time. Further inquiry resulted in an interesting discovery. These employees were all parents of schoolchildren; and school had resumed in September!

If our reliability (faithfulness) can be affirmed in small matters, it will stand the test of greater responsibility!

Some think ambition is sinful. Ambition when used to the GLORY of God is worthy of praise. The word comes from the Latin and means “canvassing for promotion.”

True leadership is achieved in selfless service to others and is wrapped in humility.

Some can have selfish ambition to control others, to enjoy power for power’s sake, and to be dishonest or manipulative in control of other people.

Jesus gave a different standard to His followers. The one who would be the greatest shall be the servant of all.

Psalm 126:5,6, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”

What a wonderful confirmation of faithful effort!

The full extent of our influence through faithfulness may not always be evident.

The story is told of the time an evangelist was schedule to preach on a wintry day, and only one person showed up. The evangelist preached as if he had a full house.

About 20 years later, a stranger in Ohio reminded him of that wintry day, saying, “I am the one person who was in that service. Your sermon saved my soul, and I too became a minister. The converts of your sermon, sir, are scattered all over the state of Ohio.”

How faithful ARE WE in example, in stewardship, and in reliability?

Greater things are still to come!   

Faithfulness 2

Hello Everyone,

The characteristic of faithfulness needs to be cultivated in our Trustworthiness of Stewardship

The idea of trustworthiness is further reflected in our concept of a “trustee” in connection with stewardship.

In 1 Corinthians 4:1 we are told, “Men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.”

A Christian teacher is responsible to be a good steward of the truths God reveals, and to teach these truths in a reliable manner to those who will be taught.

The Christian teacher must be faithful to the students of the Word.

In a larger context, a trustee is one who has received a trust.

In the secular world we generally see this through building a public image, raising funds, authorizing use of funds, and mediating personnel disputes.

The parable of the 10 minas (Roman pounds) also teaches our responsibility to provide proper care and use of the property or business of another.

In Luke 19:11–17 we see that each of the 10 servants received one mina, suggesting we all have some capacity to be productive.

¹¹ Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. ¹² Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵ “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. ¹⁶ Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’

But only “one pound”? This may seem a small amount. No one is entitled to say, “I have so little.” God knows how valuable each life is.

The appropriate emphasis is on the need for a proper accounting of that which has been entrusted to us—dependability!

One author suggests 10 basic principles for effective leadership. Dependability is viewed as one of these essentials.

This can be demonstrated by answering correspondence within a reasonable time, keeping appointments, avoiding excuses because of our weaknesses, and loyalty to the group or organization that we are associated with.

Let’s be faithful with that in which God has in trusted to us.

Greater things are still to come!