Peace peace wonderful peace
Peace Peace Wonderful Peace
Don’t we all desire that peace? I do. I like what Beth Moore wrote at the end of chapter 6. “He directs us only in the way we should go. Obedience to God’s authority not only brings peace like a river but righteousness like the waves of the sea. Not righteous perfection. Righteous consistency.” Ooooh, did she say consistency? Isaiah 48:17-18 says, “This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” It doesn’t say that if we paid attention to His commands that we would get everything we want or we would have all the riches we want. It says that our peace would be like a river. A continuous river. One of my fondest activities as youth pastors is white water rafting. If we could, we would plan two big trips in a summer. The water was freezing but it was so fun. I don’t know about you but when I hear the phrase peace like a river, I forget that there are rapids and bumps. That is what makes it exciting! Wouldn’t it be boring if we all decided to go rafting and we picked this nice calm river that went about 2 miles an hour. Yea for about the first 5 minutes I would be OK but I would go crazy after an hour of not going anywhere. I want the action and excitement. Do we fall off the raft? Of course. Do we hit a couple of obstacles? You bet. But that is why we need fellowship (the church, chick stuff, Bible study, etc…) to help get us back in the boat and back on course. Don’t look at the fast flowing river with bumps and obstacles as failures, rather look at them as excitement and what are we going to learn through those struggles. 1. A river is a moving stream of water. (like our white water rafting trip) 2. A river is a body of fresh water fed by springs or tributary streams. (We must be feeding our relationship with God) 3. A river begins and ends with a body of water. (John 15:4 “Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” We have to stay connected to our upland source…Jesus Christ!)
Which now brings me into the Obstacle of Prayerlessness! “PRAYERLESS LIVES ARE POWERLESS LIVES, WHILE PRAYERFUL LIVES ARE POWERFUL LIVES!” This should be our motto. Need I say anymore? Are we praying like we should? When do we have our prayer time? Do we realize how important prayer is? I know sometimes I allow myself to think, oh someone else is praying for that I don’t need to. Eew not good! Doesn’t it say that if “ two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them”? How important is peace in our lives? What is our purpose to just sit here and do nothing? No, lets make a difference and grow. Spend that time that we so desperately need with our upland source so that our river can flow freely over those exciting obstacles. How badly do you want to experience God’s peace? Jesus even found a solitary place and prayed. How much more do we need to find that solitary place. I desire us to grow tremendously this year. I am praying for each of you as well as myself to not go back to where we were last year or even yesterday but to grow in Christ and hunger for more. Truly let go of the obstacles of: unbelief, pride, idolatry, and now prayerlessness! This takes action. Don’t just sit and let others do it. It’s a choice!
What to do this week:
-Again I am asking people to recite Isaiah 61:1. Di and I are going on to verses 2. So far I have only talked to Di, Samm (do you have it yet J), and Rachel. Rachel wrote it down in a place that she sees everyday to help her memorize it. Good job Rachel!
-What keeps you away from spending time with God? Lets help encourage each other to pray pray pray. If you have prayer requests let us know. We WILL be praying! And reading.
-Is there anything else that stood out to you in these two chapters?
Talk talk talk. Share, share, share.
Rhonda
Don’t we all desire that peace? I do. I like what Beth Moore wrote at the end of chapter 6. “He directs us only in the way we should go. Obedience to God’s authority not only brings peace like a river but righteousness like the waves of the sea. Not righteous perfection. Righteous consistency.” Ooooh, did she say consistency? Isaiah 48:17-18 says, “This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” It doesn’t say that if we paid attention to His commands that we would get everything we want or we would have all the riches we want. It says that our peace would be like a river. A continuous river. One of my fondest activities as youth pastors is white water rafting. If we could, we would plan two big trips in a summer. The water was freezing but it was so fun. I don’t know about you but when I hear the phrase peace like a river, I forget that there are rapids and bumps. That is what makes it exciting! Wouldn’t it be boring if we all decided to go rafting and we picked this nice calm river that went about 2 miles an hour. Yea for about the first 5 minutes I would be OK but I would go crazy after an hour of not going anywhere. I want the action and excitement. Do we fall off the raft? Of course. Do we hit a couple of obstacles? You bet. But that is why we need fellowship (the church, chick stuff, Bible study, etc…) to help get us back in the boat and back on course. Don’t look at the fast flowing river with bumps and obstacles as failures, rather look at them as excitement and what are we going to learn through those struggles. 1. A river is a moving stream of water. (like our white water rafting trip) 2. A river is a body of fresh water fed by springs or tributary streams. (We must be feeding our relationship with God) 3. A river begins and ends with a body of water. (John 15:4 “Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” We have to stay connected to our upland source…Jesus Christ!)
Which now brings me into the Obstacle of Prayerlessness! “PRAYERLESS LIVES ARE POWERLESS LIVES, WHILE PRAYERFUL LIVES ARE POWERFUL LIVES!” This should be our motto. Need I say anymore? Are we praying like we should? When do we have our prayer time? Do we realize how important prayer is? I know sometimes I allow myself to think, oh someone else is praying for that I don’t need to. Eew not good! Doesn’t it say that if “ two or three are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of them”? How important is peace in our lives? What is our purpose to just sit here and do nothing? No, lets make a difference and grow. Spend that time that we so desperately need with our upland source so that our river can flow freely over those exciting obstacles. How badly do you want to experience God’s peace? Jesus even found a solitary place and prayed. How much more do we need to find that solitary place. I desire us to grow tremendously this year. I am praying for each of you as well as myself to not go back to where we were last year or even yesterday but to grow in Christ and hunger for more. Truly let go of the obstacles of: unbelief, pride, idolatry, and now prayerlessness! This takes action. Don’t just sit and let others do it. It’s a choice!
What to do this week:
-Again I am asking people to recite Isaiah 61:1. Di and I are going on to verses 2. So far I have only talked to Di, Samm (do you have it yet J), and Rachel. Rachel wrote it down in a place that she sees everyday to help her memorize it. Good job Rachel!
-What keeps you away from spending time with God? Lets help encourage each other to pray pray pray. If you have prayer requests let us know. We WILL be praying! And reading.
-Is there anything else that stood out to you in these two chapters?
Talk talk talk. Share, share, share.
Rhonda
posted by Rhonda | 2:50 PM
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