Peace

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 not your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

The peace that Jesus gives us is unlike any peace that the world can give. The peace of the Lord is true and everlasting. The peace from the world is false and temporary. The world tries to convince you that you will have peace if you buy this, eat that, do this, not that etc.. That kind of peace is temporary, but again the peace of the Lord is everlasting. 

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

God cares about every part of your life, even the little things. When you have a decision to make, whether its big or small, pray about it.  Ask God to bring you His wisdom and peace to make the right decision. If you don't receive God's peace, then it's probably not what God wants for you, at least not at that particular time. 

God wants to protect you from falling for false peace. The world will push their agenda on you, trying to brainwash you into believing their lies of doing what they want you to do, making you believe you will have peace. Worldly peace is false and temporary. God's peace is true and everlasting. 

When you feel uncertain about anything in your life, whether it's a decision to make, illness, financial, the future, seek God's face. God will never leave you. He loves you and wants you to seek him, when you seek Him you will find him. 

Matthew 7:7-8  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks the door will be opened."

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Passion

2 Timothy 2:22  "So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

Passion has different meanings. The first definition that I came across, surprised me. It was on the Merriam Webster Dictionary website. It states:

  1. a. the sufferings of Christ between the night of the last supper and his death

      b. an oratorio based on the gospel narrative of the Passion

Even though the definition surprised me, it was a good surprise! It was awesome to see that the first definition mentions the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Why would I say that it was awesome to mention the "sufferings" of Jesus Christ? Because, Jesus is the true example of passion. The passion that Jesus exemplifies is love. The love of the Lord, is unlike the love of humans. Jesus' love is unconditional, everlasting and there is no cap on how much He loves us. 

Ephesians 3:17-18  "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."

We tend to have conditions on who we love and how much we can love them. We are all sinners. That is why God sent Jesus to die for our sins. He knew we needed a Savior. Even though we sin, God still loves us. When someone sins against us, we need to continue loving them just as God continues loving us. Now, we are not to intentionally continue to sin once we have become saved, but when we do sin God still loves us. 

Romans 5:8 "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

We should strive to live our lives full of the same passion that Jesus Christ has for us. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be passionate about people and other things in our lives, but we need to be passionate for God first. We need to put our passions for worldly things below our passion for God. When we do that, then that will allow for God's unconditional love to flow through us to love others.

Sacrifice

   

Romans 12:1-2  "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. 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."

Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind. He died upon the cross. So, that we could be forgiven and have eternal life with God. Jesus lived his life on earth without sin. He sacrificed his perfect, sinless life for all mankind to be saved. 

At one time or another, you will make some kind of sacrifice. It may be to sacrifice your time to help someone else. If you are a parent you make many sacrifices for your children. Why sacrifice your time and things you want, for others? Why did God make the biggest sacrifice of giving His only Son Jesus to die for our sins? Because of love. 

1John 4:8  "God is love."

1John 4:16  "We love, because he first loved us."

In the first scripture above, (Romans 12:1-2), says to offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. What does that mean? It means to let go of your worldly desires (sacrifice), to serve and worship God. You need to give your whole self to God. Your thoughts, words, actions and your heart. 

It's a good idea to examine your heart everyday to see if there is any unconfessed sin in your life. Pray and ask God to reveal to you any sin in your life. Because you are human, you may not realize that you have been walking in sin.

Once you've examined your heart, then you need to confess your sins to the Lord, and ask for His forgiveness. Then your sins will be cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You will be purified from all your unrighteousness. So, you will be holy as God is holy. 

1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

It's Not Too Late...Until It Is

 

2 Peter 3:9  "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it's not too late. Jesus is waiting for you with open arms. Don't let your past mistakes take over your thoughts and blind you from seeing the truth. The truth that Jesus is the only way to have eternal life with God. 

Sin has separated you from God. God loves you so much, that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to take your place upon the cross. Jesus is the only person to ever walk the earth without ever sinning. He sacrificed His perfect sinless life to save you. By His blood you are forgiven, by His blood you are cleansed from all your sins. 

1 John 1:7  "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

John3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

In our world today its easy to be distracted. Distraction is a way that the devil tries to keep your focus away from God and on the things of the world. Don't allow the distraction and lies of the world to keep you from thinking clearly on the right decision for your life, now and for your eternal life.

If you are asking, "What do I need to do, to be saved?" The only way to salvation, is through Jesus Christ. The Bible says that if you repent of your sins, confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that Jesus died and God raised him from the dead. You will be saved.

Romans 10:9  "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

Acts 2:38  "Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Now is the time to make your decision, to choose Jesus (life), or to choose the world "death". It's not too late (now), until it is. (after you die without Jesus as your Savior)