Is Peace Free?

                                               
                                                                     "A Franciscan prayer"
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: Where there is hatred, let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon, Where there is doubt, faith, Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light, Where there is sadness, joy.  
..............For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is dying that we are born to eternal life.

Barriers Broken-

The classical Greek word "eerie" means " peace", and its root meaning is the breaking-down of barriers.

The Hebrew word "shalom" means... " to bring completeness" or " to make whole". When you have peace- you are open to others and your surroundings, and most important you live a life of joy.. a joy with God!

While on earth, Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated the peace of the Kingdom of God. As he preached, healed, gave love- he revealed and lived out the peace of God's reign.

In offering himself on the Cross as a sacrifice for us, he broke the barriers, between us and God- with these barriers broken- we were given to right to claim " PEACE".

Peace is-

A Gift.................... Peace is not a thing to be struggled for, or a state for which we strive. Peace is a gift from God. Peace comes as a natural gift from a way of  a life submitted to God.

ll  Thessalonians 3:16-

" Now may the Lord of peace himself give you Peace at ALL times and in EVERY way. The Lord be with all of you."

The Christian has no guarantee of a life removed from conflict and strife.  The Christian may find that discipleship of necessity involves struggle and opposition- Matthew 5:10 says.... " Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".

Peace of a Christian continues,,,, even in the midst of strife, a peace, " not as the world gives." In the midst of trouble- the Christian finds God- cries out to God- and HIS peace will come to you!!!!!

The bible makes it very clear... that Peace is the mark of a Christian.

Hebrews 12:14-

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord...."

Romans 12:18

" If it is possible, as  much as depends on you, live peaceably with ALL men. "

regardless of how others treat us, we are to have peaceful relationships with others. In the beatitudes, Jesus- the Prince of Peace- says:  "those who are peacemakers- will be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

Philippians 2:3

" Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."

James 3: 17-18

"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

The opposite of conceit and selfishness is humility. Humility is necessary to properly deal with people- difficult ones..... We want others to be patient with our shortcomings, so.... guess what?  yep... we should be patient and understanding of others shortcomings. When we strive for peace- to make peace- we are exercising humility.

When Christ says for us to go two miles with someone- when they ask us to go one- he is saying that we need to do whatever it takes to have peace!!!!

This is huge-------- Instead of letting a problem continue to escalate, we need to immediately make peace. Addressing the problem early- may prevent bigger problems later.

" A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" Proverbs 15:1

     I have found so many scriptures about peace, obtaining peace, outcomes from peace, spreading peace! Wow... when you are open to HEAR what God is saying through is word- you receive it- you receive peace.

I recently had a situation at work- an argument with a co-worker.  Of course both of us thought they were right. I, being a christian, should have made peace right away, but this time.. I was right so I was not going to give in.  Guess where that got me? No where    Actually I went backwards. I was angry, and when you are angry- you can not hear from God. This.. "Not Speaking to each other" last a couple of weeks. I was spiritually drained. I need God. So the Holy Spirit intervened and allowed me to feel humility again. I made peace with this person... I said, the dreaded words, " I'm Sorry". When I look back now, I could have done things different- If I would stay in God's word and talk with him more- I would not get to the point where I am drained- where I am angry.

Following God's law is the key to peace. When we live by God's ways, we learn the way to peace.

So to answer the question is Peace Free?

Jesus paid the price for us! All we have to do is receive and believe.

It is that simple.

Father make me an instrument- an instrument of peace!

Amy

"Perfect Peace" by Laura Story

Who are the " the least of these"

Matthew 7:13-  " Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who will go by it...... Narrow is the gate.... which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it."

" When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a Shepard separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, ' Truly, I say to you, as you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' Matthew 25

" It is not enough to say that you love God and hate your neighbor. How can  you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor in whom you do see. You must realize that love has to hurt. You must be willing to give whatever it takes not to harm other people and do good to them." .... a talk from Mother Teresa in 1994

Image if we saw everyone- we came in contact with - as the very presence of Jesus?    Would we go out of our way for that person? Would we be kinder?  Would we be careful about the words we choose?  Would we welcome them into our  home?  I can see it now....... I would have to fake it........trying to be honest!

If it were Jesus.... I would fall at his feet! I would welcome him in and treat him like royalty!

OK...... So when Jesus says in Matthew- " Whatever you did unto one of the least of these, you did unto me."

Does this mean that we need to treat EVERYONE like we would treat JESUS?

                                                  YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been convicted of this concept this past week. I don't treat everyone like I should. My patience is short, and my attitude is well I can even put into words what I should say about that..... I'm not a Pollyanna by any means. I need to be... I want to be.... I don't want to one day be separated from my Lord, because I didn't go that extra mile, or even one foot...... I am ashamed.

Truthfully, It is easier for me to be kind to a stranger, than my own family or friends or even the people I come in contact with daily- ie.. neighbors, co-workers, my kids friends.... It is so easy for me to want to CHOOSE their friends..... Picking out the Normal ones..... Who is really normal anyway? The friends that I welcome in my home, the ones that others accept.... What am  I teaching my kids when I want them to sweep " the least of these" under the rug and pick the " cool kids" " athletic kids".

I want to go hide and I definitely  don't want to admit this to you on a blog. I am trying to be honest- so others will maybe learn from my mistakes.  Our treasures are not in this world. It is simple... We or should I say " I" need to understand that- I am here on earth to be an example for Christ- to show others his love through me which is " flesh" just dirt !

I pray today that God will use me to show others the Love of Christ!  to Mold me- Shape me- Use me- in his image.

Use me Lord,

Amy

Lemonade stands------a taste of heaven

Do I really want to be quenched?

He is so generous with His grace.........knowing that this life can be the dry.

He sprinkles His grace in the undeserved places.............leaving me thirsty for more. It's a drop here, a drop there leaving me a glimpse of what is ahead- heaven!

How many times have I shut my mouth in rebellion? Refusing to taste the living waters?  

How many times has heaven knocked and I wouldn't answer?

When I wake in the morning to what sometimes seems so repetitive.......is it me who is choosing to say NO to the JOY?  To the joy of the here and now!

Most days I am living the tired...........tired from the race we call LIFE....it is then that I feel like I am living my own ground-hog day!

Sometimes I think is this it? Is this who I am destined to be?  Always thirsty for more of Him but missing Him in the now?

It is then that I ask myself; "Who am I?"  "Who am I really?" Where did I come from?

Am I the one who says NO to the lemonade stands because this race we call life is so busy-  that we must push ahead.......ahead with the laundry.....ahead with wiping up one- last crumb.....ahead with the making of beds..........and the cleaning of bathrooms?

Is He not enough for the now? Is the busy-ness of this life just a cover-up?  A cover-up to run away from the presence of the Great I AM?

What if we laid it all down?  Laid down the craziness of our life.......... to say YES to this moment of His grace.

We can't ever go back in time...........life is moving fast.  Like turning pages in a book........what you just read becomes your past......and the Great I AM is the Omnipotent- the one who knows no time- the one who is the every-where.

The ever-lasting quench thirster is the, "Great I AM!"

Stopping in the now..........to breath in HIS grace..................exhaling all the pain...........exhaling all the to do list.......exhaling the craziness of this life.........and simply enjoying HIM in this moment.

But first we must learn to open wide and drink..............gulp HIM. He will let us drink if we want.......tasting the sweet moments of grace in the now.

He is ENOUGH even in the dry moments..........only HE can quench our thirst!

Revelation 22:17;

 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

I want to be open.............open to receive the free gift of........the only water that will truly quench my thirst- the water of life!

John 7:37-38;

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”^[a]

all of grace,

Robbie

The gifts that keep on coming:

taking communion at church

prayer time before the house wakes

teens braiding each other's hair

teen wiping her eyes at church service

fall pumpkin that I sat out (teens making fun of me for it)

school starting

alone time

husband who takes the day off

plants all watered

tomatoes still growing in back yard

making homemade bread

sunday dinners on screen porch

candles lit everywhere

new bible study starting

seeing teen-friend in the grocery store who says she wants to come again this fall for teen bible study at my home!

 forgiveness

grace

mercy

love

faith

powerful God- El Shaddi

a pastor who prays hard all week

a choir that is annointed

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When your feeling lowly

You lift the lowly.........and humble the proud:  to feed us together at your table.


     "We are called to be contemplatives in the heart of the world- by SEEKING the FACE of GOD in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time, and his hand in every happening;  seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor."----
(Mother Teresa)



May your weekend be filled with seeking............the face of God in everything you do- because we have experienced his grace.................let us in return this weekend show grace to someone else!

all of grace,
The Yahweh Sister's

The Seed

Within the man, God had placed a divine seed. A seed of his self. The God of might had created earth's mightiest. The Creator had created, not a creature, but another creator. And the One who had chosen to love had created one who could love in return... Max Lucado (In the Eye of the Storm)

     Every true Christian is impregnated with eternal life.. When you ask God to come into your life, and you believe with all your heart, then you are impregnated with the seed of God. People ask me all the time; How will I know that I have the Holy Spirit living in me? I heard someone explain it this way. It is like becoming pregnant. You take a pregnancy test, and it is positive. That is one of the most exciting times in your life. In the beginning, no one can tell you are pregnant except you know a baby is growing inside of you. You tell family and friends and everyone seems to be looking at your belly but the baby is only a tiny seed. No one can look at you and tell that there is a baby inside of you. It takes nine months for this miracle to happen. As the months march on your belly starts to show signs of the miracle inside of you. Then people around you start to notice that you are pregnant! It is the same with God, when you ask him into your heart he takes up residency in you. You are full of excitement and you start to see things differently. But no one can look at you and see that you have the seed of the Holy Spirit implanted in you. It takes time for that seed to grow and bear fruit. It is within us an ever-growing, ever-expanding process that develops over the rest of your life. It will eventually grow from a tiny seed to a new form of life. The old self dies.
Philippians 1:21, To die is to gain!
     Your desires will change, your interests will be different. I will warn you that sometimes it is a very lonely place. Even your friends start to change. God will prune you and burn things off until he is able to see his reflection in you. This process is painful. I once heard a pastor say if we don't appear weird to the general public then we are not living our life for God! How hard is it for us to be different? I am a people pleaser so this is very hard for me to not want to please everyone around me. To give up our fleshly lives for the King who died for us is a life long process. The good news is that God knew this was the hardest thing we would ever have to face and He knew we could not do it on our own. That is why He sent Jesus!

     The acts of sin-ful nature will start to leave a bad taste in your mouth. The music you usually listen to will no longer sound good to you anymore. TV shows that you usually watch, something inside of you tells you that you can't watch that show anymore. The friends who curse with every word you no longer want to hang with. You will want to turn from your sinful nature willingly. This will be a desire you have that you will want to do FREELY, it is called free will.

     You will start to show signs of the Fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,peace,patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 5:23, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The fruit of the spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The spirit produces these character traits change within us. We can't get them on our own. We have to have the awesome help from the Holy Spirit. If you want this seed implanted by God himself to grow and bear good fruit then you have to join your life with His. Ask Him into your heart. We must know Him and love Him; and imitate Him in all we do.
     This doesn't mean however that, that we will never see traces of evil desires again. As Christians we still have the ability to sin, but we have been set free from sin's power over us. We no longer have to give in to it. We must commit daily our sinful tendencies to God's control, daily crucify them, and moment by moment draw on the spirit's power to overcome them.
If you believe in Jesus Christ, your chains have been broken, you are set free! Don't go back into the same pit over and over again like I do. Use your freedom to live for Christ and serve him as he desires...

Galatians 6:17-18, Let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18,The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, amen...


praying my seed is growing,
Robbie

Love and Wisdom

Love and Seek True Wisdom

"I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me" (Proverbs 8:17).      Wisdom loves her lovers and seeks her seekers. He is already wise who seeks to be wise, and he has almost found wisdom who diligently seeks her. What is true of wisdom in general is specially true of wisdom embodied in our LORD Jesus. Him we are to love and to seek, and in return we shall enjoy His love and find Himself. Our business is to seek Jesus early in life. Happy are the young whose morning is spent with Jesus! It is never too soon to seek the LORD Jesus. Early seekers make certain finders. We should seek Him early by diligence. Thriving tradesmen are early risers, and thriving saints seek Jesus eagerly. Those who find Jesus to their enrichment give their hearts to seeking Him. We must seek Him first, and thus earliest. Above all things Jesus. Jesus first and nothing else even as a bad second. The blessing is that He will be found. He reveals Himself more and more clearly to our search.... Happy men who seek One who, when He is found, remains with them forever, a treasure growingly precious to their hearts and understandings. LORD Jesus, l have found Thee; be found of me to an unutterable degree of joyous satisfaction. Charles Spurgeon

Today I woke up to it pouring rain outside. I love hearing the rain coming down on a fall day; it is truly my favorite time of the year.... I was so determined to spend some quality time alone with God. It is so easy to get side tracked in this thing called LIFE.....
I couldn't wait for all the girls to be at school so I could have some alone time with God and to get some things accomplished around the house that I have neglected lately. I poured a big cup of coffee and settled down to dive deep into God's word. After praying and reading some scripture, my 15 year old came down stairs to tell me she had just thrown up and that she didn't feel good. I thought no not today!!! Please Lord!!
Sometimes when I wake up, I pray for God to give me the strength and the love that I need to love my girls the way they deserve to be loved. Having three girls and two of them being teenagers is like trying to break wild horses... I am amazed at how strong willed they are, and how much they enjoy feeding their flesh!!! This world is so intoxicating to them.
Not knowing God until around 5 years ago has hurt me more than just the old relationships in my life where I have held onto my costume closet. I feel that it has affected my children as well. Even though my children were young when we started making God our priority, I sometimes feel I wasted very important years of their life not knowing him. I always believed in him and feared him. I said prayers with the girls etc. I used God like a shopping mall, only going to look for him when I needed something. It was like buying a new outfit for a special occasion. I only called on God when I had a crisis in my life.
This is one of the saddest parts of my past, because if He had come back during that time in my life He would have said those words that still make me cry today; "DEPART FROM ME, I NEVER KNEW YOU." It is so hard for me to even hear those words today, it breaks my heart for people I know , friends that I have that are in the same place that I myself have been.
So after my daughter went back upstairs to bed, I decided to try again to spend time with God. It wasn't long when the phone rang and my daughter who is in elementary school was in the nurse's station with a temp of 102.4 and throwing up. I could have cried!!! I wanted to hang a white sock or something at the end of my driveway on the mail box that said "I GIVE UP". "I SURRENDER". Maybe this is the part of my "heart" work that God is doing in me. She has been so sick lately and of course my flesh is wondering why? why? do parents send their child to school with a fever so my child can catch their virus!!! My 10 year old is the only and the first confirmed flu this year on Aug. 30!!! Can you believe that? And I thought here we go again, it hasn't even been a month since she had the flu. Maybe this is why I am so downcast? Angry? Or maybe God is wanting me to just BE STILL AND KNOW THAT HE IS GOD!!!
As the day went on time just flew by and then my 15 year decides to pick a fight with me and wants to go hang out at a friends house and then go to a young life meeting. I reminded her that she was sick etc. She screamed how it was for a church thing "young life, " and how can I say no to a church thing. She knows that I will cave if it is anything to do with church. Her attitude proceeded to get worse and then her friends pulled up to pick her up. Sean has such a diverse group of friends. I love her friends so much. The friend that was picking her up today is from a different country. I love when all the girls stay at my house on the weekends. On Friday nights they will come home from a football game and run into my room to lay across my bed and talk with me. It is in those moments that are such treasures from God. He opens doors that give me an opportunity to talk with Sean's friends about God. Some of them are from a different religious background. This one young lady that stays at my house a lot I had not met her mom yet. So when they drove up to pick up my child, Sean slammed my front door so hard the glass shook. Well the flesh kicked in and I ran after her screaming for her to come back. I opened the door screaming and running like a crazy woman and then I saw the mom was in the drivers seat; we have never met before. I almost slipped because I was running so fast in socks and it had been raining for 2 days. Here comes this screaming woman out with socks pulled up to my knees in the rain chasing her daughter. Lord help me........ All this time these teenagers come to my house to pick up Sean and not once has there ever been an adult with them. They are all 16 and driving. Here I am supposed to be living my life as an example for Christ and I am running like I am possessed.

What are we "Christians known for?"; "What am I known for?"; Am I living my life so when people look at me they see Jesus? Are you?
1 John 2:6; Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did...
Jesus walked the straight and narrow path. We know how Jesus walked, by his word. What are your actions showing about you? We know what my actions just showed about me! lol
It is so easy to be real at home. This is where we feel safe to lay the masks down.
But our children are watching, our spouse is watching. How do we treat them behind closed doors? How do we respond when we are angry? Hurt?
Psalm 119:1; Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.....God's word is our guide to living a blameless life. It is our GPS. It is our everything. We can't forget to start this walk in our homes. Just because it is where we are most real, most comfortable. God himself has placed his righteousness in us.
King David was a man after God's own heart. But he was so busy building God's kingdom he neglected to tell his own children the greatness of God. Whoever claims to know Jesus must also live it out at home. I don't want to be that person who has a heart for God and fails to show my family the true greatness of God. It is our responsibility to teach them God's ways by living what we learn in God's word. By the way we react to our own circumstances. Our situations are nothing compared to the awesome promises of God!!!!
God Bless,
Robbie


(asking for grace today a quiet re post......new teen just moved in; it has been a little crazy)

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Weekends are for transparency

NO double-dealing must the Christian man have... No playing fast and loose with God or man. No hypocritical professions or false principles. HE MUST BE AS TRANSPARENT AS GLASS.

                                                                                         Charles Spurgeon


May your weekend be one of learning to be transparent........... as glass.
Genuine spiritual transparency begins with communion with God.


all of grace,
Robbie