STRENGTH in ADVENT - 2 PEACE

The images above from Robert J. Morgan are two more of the 12 strategies of STRENGTH
andalthough they do not speak directly on PEACE, I have chosen themplus the unrelated verse image below fromPsalm 4:8

as we light the 2nd candle of Advent PEACE(some of you may be doing a different theme this week){I am staying with the sequence of the one I linked the 1st week}
STRENGTH in PEACE
PEACE in STRENGTH
I believe in these days we need both strongly more & more each day

"Verses about Peace and Strength"  1. Judges 5:31 “So may all your enemies perish, LORD! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had peace forty years. NIV 2. 2 Chronicles 16:9 The LORD is constantly watching everyone, and He gives strength to those who faithfully obey Him. But you have done a foolish thing, and your kingdom will never be at peace again. 3. Daniel 10:19 He said, “O man, highly regarded greatly beloved, do not be afraid. Peace be to you; take courage and be strong.” Now when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for You have strengthened me.” AMP 4. Psalms 29:11 The LORD gives strength to His people; the LORD blesses His people with peace. NIV 5. Psalms 26:7 The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. 6.  Isaiah 27:5 “Or let him (Israel) cling to My strength and rely on My protection [My stronghold], Let him make peace with Me, Let him make peace with Me.” 7.  Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. NIV 8. Isaiah 41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 9. Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! NLT 10. Isaiah 54:10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you. 11. 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. 12. John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” NKJV 13. Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Lord, would You bring Your strength and peace to Your people! Would Your presence be felt by all who seek You in a powerful way in this Advent season. Turn the hearts of mankind towards You. We pray that the lost turn to You and find an unshakable peace that nothing else in this world can offer. Amen.

Here are 47 VERSES about Peace & Strength (some are above)

AND THE ABOVE IMAGES ALSO
Isaiah 30:15
Habakkuk 3:19
Psalm 4:8


I chose Habakkuk 3:19 because I know first hand that seeing the deer outside my home brings me much PEACE as I watch the STRENGTH that their feet have and their use. In Robert J. Morgan's book, he calls the STRENGTH in this verse: DURABLE STRENGTH. Strength that is durable is the kind that keeps us going, it is what Jesus gives us and that He has shown us time and time again in His life until His last breath as well as what He makes available to us every day to get beyond what we face until the next day or situation. Jesus' STRENGTH helps us endure and last from moment to moment, crisis to crisis, strength to strength, even when we're fortunate to be blessed with good days, He sees us to the next.

When there is stress or distress, it is hard to find the STRENGTH or the PEACE (which is definitely needed in times like this) so that is why we must turn to our Lord & seek His, because often we are too weak at these times, overwhelmed & unable to gather what we need on our own, to carry on or navigate our way through the situation causing this. When we are weak, He is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). I have seen this throughout my life but very much aware of this as I age and seemingly become weaker, I sense His STRENGTH daily.

As I watch in quietness the deer outside, I've learned how to quietly approach them at times, so as not to disturb them or frighten them away, noting that their trust is a STRENGTH that I treasure as I come close. It's very similar to when I come near or sense the Lord's Presence close to me in time of need. Isaiah 30:15 is noted to be TRANQUIL STRENGTH as a strategy that we, as believers need. The more I trust the Lord, the more at PEACE I am and feel, knowing that His STRENGTH has never failed me. I know that when I'm at PEACE it's TRANQUIL , I can be calm as I am quiet & free from disturbance as with the deer, & that His STRENGTH is DURABLE so that with His STRENGTH I am able to withstand. I may crumble for a moment but am reassured that He will pick me up - that I can trust the Lord to restore the PEACE and see me through because He has and He will again. Meanwhile I need to find His STRENGTH to trust confidently and be at PEACE. When I walk in PEACE, I sense His STRENGTH ... when I walk confidently in STRENGTH, I sense His PEACE. Inseparable.

Here's a great link to Robert J. Morgan's 12 Bible Verses to Help You Find Strength as given in his book "The Strength You Need".   

This 2nd Week of Advent, we light the Candle of PEACE!

PEACE

be with you

May the PEACE of Jesus 

be yours now & always!

As I ended this week, I came across an older but perfect Peace blog post by Julie K.Gillies with a beautiful prayer to walk in peace this Christmas

"FINDING PEACE and REST ... " ...

in the "DEVOTIONS from the GARDEN"

[credit image: faith gateway]
actually the title is

"Devotions from the Garden"

Finding Peace and Rest in Your Busy Life

By Miriam Drennan 

... who doesn't want to "find peace and rest" whether your life is busy or not; however the reason I found this to be the key part of this title that drew me into choosing this book IS because as you read the devotions, you can actually find this peace and rest. 
Miriam Drennan starts each 2 page devotion with a passage from Scripture, then a daily reading drawn from "gardening" with a spiritual application to our life, really wonderful analogies in so many of the devotions, ending with a simple personal prayer, filled with breath-taking, full color gorgeous photographs of garden scenes and nature. Just the cover itself invites one to "come to the garden alone and fill your soul with His Presence" as you sit awhile on this welcoming garden swing. Such a delight as you take in the imagery of the words and photographs as you read each beautifully written devotion of the 90 included, that can be read in a brief amount of time, or you can linger over them on a wonderful walk in the garden. It is there you encounter Him, and the peace and rest.
As I anxiously began reading the book, I thought I would sample just one a day to get the feel of using this as my daily devotional, but I found myself continuing from one to the next, and I could not put this easy reading book down. I was totally inspired and in awe of how close I really felt to God with an amazing sense of peace and desire to want to connect with more and more of the awesome insights that Miriam Drennan illustrates from the Master Gardener and our growth. I could certainly see that Miriam Drennan was more than just an author writing daily devotions, she actually knew her topic of the garden very well along with spiritual and biblical inspiration. Even though I am far from being any kind of a gardener with a green or otherwise thumb, she was able to help me understand and learn not just about a wide variety of gardening themes but also deepening my spiritual growth and understanding. This book would be a great gift for the avid gardener or anyone that appreciates the beauty of God's nature like me. The author's own garden knowledge and her explanations are extremely helpful, informative and her analogies from the garden to our own lives are inspirational, insightful and indicative of Miriam's expertise and my own need for growth.
Each devotion covers so many different gardening topics and spiritual themes that I would love to list them but there are 90 so ... let's just begin with some of my favorite ones which fit in so perfectly with my "Gardens of Grace":
 "God's Transforming Grace"  "Grace in the Garden" "The Riches of Remnants" "Blooms but No Fruit" "The Forgotten Crop" "Neglected Beds" "Grafted to Him"

Other gardening themes include: Perennials; Crop Rotation; Soils; Roots; Drought; Weeding; Pruning; Seasons; Fruit; Harvesting; Companion Planting; Seed Cleaning; Mustard Seed; Mulch; various kinds of Gardens - Butterfly, Herb, Rain, Straw bale; and Gardening - Pallet, Rock; and of course, the insects like Ladybugs, the Mantis, Honeybees, Earthworms; and so many more that enrich our lives and our gardens. Beautiful photos make her words spring to life. Miriam has such a way with words and connecting garden themes to our lives as she plants, nurtures and tends to our spiritual gardens. I have so many highlights throughout this devotional which seems to point out that my garden was in such a need for attention and that I have such thirst for so much more by the Master Gardener and Miriam Drennan's capacity to tend to our gardens, the areas in our lives that need tender gardening skills and care: from our soil and our roots to the blooming parts and harvest. I knew that there are many spiritual themes from or in a garden, I just didn't have the touch or knowledge of expertise only the love for the Master Gardener and His daily care. 
This is absolutely one of the most beautiful, inspirational and timely devotionals that I have had the pleasure to read, for whatever season you may find your personal life to be. It is one that I will go back to read often to soak in the beauty of God's design in the garden and us in His Grace! Miriam Drennan refreshes our souls, encourages our hearts and cleverly communicates God's peace as we find rest in the garden. Our relationship with God through these daily feedings breathes afresh in us as we deepen our quiet time with walks in the garden with Him.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers  book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Description~ from Book Look Bloggers "Come to the garden alone, and fill your soul with His presence. There's nothing on earth like the peace and loveliness of a magnificent garden. It's the place where Adam and Eve first fellow-shipped with God, and where you, too, can escape from this chaotic world into His loving arms of beauty and serenity. Devotions from the Garden takes you to that place where senses are restored as dewdrops settle and butterflies gather to witness the miracles of God's creation bloom and grow. These ninety devotions explore the parallels of life with the elements of the garden to help you see God, to sense His presence, to soothe your soul, and to rest in knowing He is with you throughout each day. Included are striking photographs with a fresh, contemporary design for timeless appeal. About the Author Miriam Drennan is the author of Devotions for the Beach and the Days You Wish You Were There and Soar Above the Madness: Surviving Office Politics Without Losing Your Mind, Your Job, or Your Lunch. She currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she enjoys gardening and playing with words.  Drop her a line at www.that-writer.com. " Published by Thomas Nelson

Death, death, where is your sting?

There are many CHOICES and STYLES available at YOU TUBE videos of the song "IT IS WELL" (and new ones maybe even better since this was posted) such as:

1) Joseph Shore 

traditional hymn style

2) Sandi Patti
of course, no one sings like this star

3) Big Small Village

historical (below)

4) Jars of Clay

5) Faith Hill

6) Wintley Phipps

7) an Instrumental

8) 4HIM

I felt that yesterday I didn't really finish with the two songs I chose that bring PEACE to me as I sing them. I researched much of the day to try and find out as much as I could about songs with PEACE, but in particular these two: (1) "I've Got PEACE like a River" and (2) "It is Well with My Soul" (but since it's first line says... "When PEACE like a River ... " some know it with that title).

I'm going to focus on this inspiring hymn! Here are the lyrics:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,  When sorrows like sea billows roll;  Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,  It is well, it is well, with my soul.  It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul,  It is well, it is well, with my soul.  Though Satan should buffet,  though trials should come,  Let this blessed assurance control,  That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,  And hath shed His own blood for my soul.  It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul,  It is well, it is well, with my soul.  My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!  My sin, not in part but the whole,  Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!  It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul,  It is well, it is well, with my soul.  And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul.  It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul,  It is well, it is well, with my soul.

When I look at a song, I like to know WHO wrote it, WHO sings it, READ the words and HEAR it. If it's one I want to sing along with, I, for sure, need the lyrics and it wouldn't hurt to have the music ... but there's enough variety here to suit your style, or just go to YOU Tube 

Many of you, probably know the history of the this song: "It is well with My Soul", written by Horatio Spafford and composer, Philip P.Bliss (who also died in a tragic train accident). I had heard it before but did not recall their names, just his circumstances! Good ole' Google!

There were many places that gave me the information on this one, but the best came from: Christian Music and this site which gives a very good Biblical account of an old Shumanite woman, who also claimed "it is well... " in a great loss in 2 Kings 4:26.

They summed up the story of Horatio like this: 

"Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888), a long-time Christian, had been a wealthy businessman, but lost his entire fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Shortly after, Spafford's wife, Anna, survived a shipwreck while crossing the ocean, then sent him the telegram, "Saved alone." Spafford's only four daughters had been killed in a ship accident. While crossing the Atlantic in 1873, near the location where his daughters were said to have drowned, he stared out at the waves and wrote the lyrics to the hymn, "It Is Well With My Soul". 



I can't even imagine how one could write a song, in the midst of such despair and with such heaviness, much less like they say in their article, "and say it is well with my soul". I can remember the overwhelming grief of having lost a loved one! 

Throughout my childhood, many aunts, uncles, and other relatives died, many from cancer, so I saw "death" around me and the pain of loosing loved ones. The most difficult deaths, were more recent: my father, my brother and my mother! The utter despair was greatest when I had to say goodbye to my youngest brother. I was devastated because he was not just my baby brother, but my friend! The day of his burial, I completely lost it. I started out to meet everyone at the Resurrection Cemetery, but never made it! As I was making the interstate loop, I fell apart. I looped again, as if I was going to return home, but then looped again, and went in the opposite direction, as if I was running away from the reality. I just couldn't make myself go there. When I realized what I was doing, I moved off the Interstate, at a gas station, to make a phone call and I dialed his (my deceased brother's) phone number and got his answering machine ... but at least I heard his voice. 

How I longed to talk with him and share my sadness of him not being there for me to chat with about this! It was so bad, I had the "flight" response because I couldn't cope and clearly there was no one there to support me or help me. I went to an old, inexpensive but familiar motel, where I could be alone. One night became one week, which became one month. I cried and I cried out to God, much like Mary and Martha with Lazarus (John 11). But I got a"peace" down in my soul. From that grief, and spiral of a clinical depression, I went in for counseling. 

First, I was counseled and then I went to Love Lines Counseling classes, to learn and volunteer on crisis prayer phone line counseling, because each class was going to teach me how to heal and be the "healing balm of Gilead" to others. After completion of the course, I had returned ... I was back to being me, but a lot stronger and ready to give back. So I volunteered to 2 phone shifts, where I would pray with others needing someone to lift them up. 

From this experience, I learned "it is much better to give" than receive. As I gave of myself and my time, I saw MIRACLES from my MESS and learned that God uses a broken vessel. As you pour out, He'll fill you back up over flowing. And it is all for the Glory of God! So, from the depths of despair, I cried out along with Horatio, "IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL!"  Another break through ... 

Each step, along my life journey, which I call MAZE...in my title of my blog ... has led me to that aMAZING GRACE (another GREAT hymn with a great story). However, I never felt compelled to write a song ... Sing a song (yes) and I did and I do and I will sing unto the Lord for HE IS GOOD and His mercy endures forever! It is written in Proverbs and said often that "laughter is good medicine". I believe that MUSIC has been my good medicine! I have songs for everything! Songs that just bubble up from within me, like a brook. Maybe that's how they came up with the river analogy. I have enjoyed different kinds of music throughout my life but there is nothing like good Christian, worship music, adoration music, praise music by GREAT Christian writers, composers and musicians. I wasn't sure where God was leading me, in this MAZE, in my MESSage for today...it went a totally different direction than I had set out, when I was researching. I guess the Bible verses from the two sites above ... started me reflecting and God just flowed in this direction through me. There must be a reason, because God has a plan for everything! I have embraced the significance of this aMAZING hymn! 

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 

If you are dealing with grief, right now, whether it be through death, divorce, or loss of your health-or any health issue, that causes you to wonder and wander as I did, THE POWER of the LOVE of Jesus Christ is INCREDIBLE! 

You are in a battle, for peace of mind, but it's already been won! Set your mind on Jesus: mind over matter. Take your mind off the worry, off the pain, off the problem, off the fears, off the frustration...and place it at the foot of the cross. It was nailed there and taken care of for you! Focus not on the problem but the Problem SOLVER! He knows all of your FEELINGS, He FELT it then and HE feels it along with you. 

The great hymn writer, Horatio Spafford, reminds us that these life storms and feelings, come from the author of discord and disagreement, anything negative comes from him...Satan. He's in this battle, to steal you from the One who brings PEACE and DELIVERANCE, the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ! Don't let Satan's negativism win! Do not let your feelings rule! FAITH must go before your feelings! Allow God to take control and rescue you from this pit! He did it for me and HE WILL DO IT for YOU because HE LOVES YOU so much that HE stretched out HIS arms, as far as He could to show you, on the cross at Calvary, when HE proclaimed "IT IS FINISHED". 

So, SING it LOUD and SING it CLEAR ... IT is WELL WITH MY SOUL! Declare it! Grab hold of this peace!

Mazatlán-Minnesota "Land of the Deer"

Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning "Land of the Deer".

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." Psalm 42:1

"Cual ciervo jadeante en busca del agua, así Te busca, oh Dios, todo mi ser. Tengo sed de Dios, del Dios de la vida." SALMO 42: 1-2a

Perhaps that's why I feel so at home here in Mazatlán. Perhaps that's why God put Mazatlán and its people in my heart! People in Mazatlán are warm and wonderful but really need the Lord Jesus Christ! People in Mazatlán come from all over México and settle here, some just pass through or come for vacations. So the deer have moved to the outskirts and the smaller towns [más allá] towards the hills and mountainsides, it'd be rare to have them feeding near my home here. The photo is from my home in Minnesota, which has become a beautiful refuge for some deer and their young ones from the hunters.

The photo from Crosswalk (dot)com was my original blog header (pictured above) and looks like the small lake across the dirt road from my home in MN, that has an island out in the middle. Each year, I thought about how I'd love to get out to that island. I had to wait until winter, when the water froze, so that I could fulfill that desire to cross the water and explore this island.

Mazatlán has 3 islands and a favorite place for tourists called Stone Island (which is really a peninsula - it just takes a longer time to travel around the land route, so people cross in small boats daily). The 3 islands are: Deer Island, Wolf Island and Bird Island. I renamed them years ago: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost on my prayer walks along the Malecón(the sidewalk by the waterfont and coastline). You can only see the Island of the Deer in this photo in the fog!

As you can see there are beautiful similarities between Mazatlán and Minnesota. Yet the drawing for me, to be here, is the beauty of the water. Much as the water draws the deer. I reflected on why the water draws me here. The simplest reason ~ the water symbolizes:

PEACE for me. 

The small lake, by my home in Minnesota, brings PEACE also!

Now I realize, that this same water has the power to bring mighty storms, hurricanes here in Mazatlán or floods back home in Minnesota and all along the Mississippi and its tributaries or even small lakes and streams, which leaves paths of destruction and crushed spirits from utter desolation and despair. So why does such PEACEFUL tranquility surrender to the STORMS?

Why do the deer gather in the pines by my home in Minnesota, near this small body of water?

TO QUENCH THEIR THIRST!

LORD, Draw me into your Living Water today! Quench my insatiable thirst for more of You!

Lead me by the paths of everlasting water, joy and peace that only Your Spirit brings.

Protect us through the storms of life, to BE STILL and know that YOU are God.

In these storms, hear the cry of the heart saying, "Lord save me". You alone calm the waters and reach out Your hand saying, "Come." " Follow me." "Trust me." "Obey my Word".

Let me soak in Your Presence today! Let me hear Your voice! Let my soul be filled anew!

With each new day, draw me closer to Your Living Water and You! Quench my thirst!

What's in HIS NAME?

Yesterday I asked, "What's in a NAME?" to explain about my blogspot name and title. (button below added later after I learned some things)

Today, I choose to select only One Name ... in "What's in HIS NAME?"... Jehovah-Shalom (the Lord Our Peace)!

The reason I chose Jehovah-Shalom today is because of the news and commemoration of a great man of peace, Martin Luther King, Jr. Though his, "I Have a Dream" speech is on freedom and Civil Rights against many injustices and inequalities in the United States of America (and in the world, I might add), I see his words and his character reflecting PEACE and JESUS! I'm sure that is why he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. So as I read his words in his speech and weep, I could not help but think of the Lord, Our Peace, the Prince of Peace.

(Isaiah 9:6) "For unto us, a child is born, unto us a child is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE."

And later I changed my header to this so my blog button would look like this I guess (to include HIM as my focus)

[this is a way to maintain my progress and changes on this blog 2]

 *************

I have a devotional by my bedside, Daily in His Image by Rebecca Barlow Jordan, Reflecting the Character of Christ. I purchased it and had them send it to Mexico, after reading her on-line daily devotional, Daily in Your Presence: Intimate Conversations with a Loving Father; both available at Crosswalk (dot) com. and oneplace (dot) com. I mention this because through focusing on one characteristic of Christ a day, and also the one I receive in my email, she is right "you develop a longing to know Him more! " I am and I pray I will continue to do this and put Him first in my life and on this blog.

I would like to say that daily I am awakening to being conformed into His likeness and image, but I can only pray that because of this blessing, I may better become that as I reflect Him through reflecting on Him in His Word and be aware of Who I am in Christ Jesus:a new creature.

When I was in my sixth grade class, I vowed to Jesus that I wanted this more than anything: to know, love and serve Him in this world! I have finally come to that place after a long, wayward yet guided journey of pursuing this purpose...to find out, I'm not quite there. (Actually, I'm not even close to attaining that PURPOSE,  but closer than ever before, because my feet are on a Solid Foundation and my path is towards that goal). To some, and for me, I use this as my point of salvation. Since I was not in a church that prays a prayer of salvation, this was as close as it came. Later, in various church life and services rather than masses, I learned about the "salvation prayer" and prayed it. In fact, I was even baptized again; once in a river and then by the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah! I do believe God received my first prayer as my initial "salvation" and He has held on to me ever since, whether I was walking with Him or away from Him (He never left me). I do not think that God (or even the Bible) has a set salvation prayer that you must pray or say to receive Him as Your personal Lord and Savior!

Almighty God chose to reveal His Name and thus His Character through His Word. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Shalom, Hebrew for peace, completeness, prosperity, safety, contentment, health, blessing, and rest, is used as a salutation and farewell, which makes it a powerful word that bestows all these blessings upon the other person.

By greeting or leaving someone with the word "shalom", you are speaking the ULTIMATE peace over them, found in JESUS Himself.

In Spanish, when you bid someone goodbye, you say "Adios" which actually is quite the blessing also, because you are actually saying "a"(meaning "to") and "Dios" meaning "God". What an excellent way of entrusting somebody into the hands of God each farewell!

The final blessing of the weekday Amidah is called Sim Shalom which means "create peace". I like that. I would like to create more peace around me. I enjoy observing God's peace that He creates around me in nature or within. If I truly am a new creature, then that seed of PEACE is created in me, and I must water and nurture this fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, you and me 2-

"Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give to 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)


"Blessed are the peace makers, for they will be called sons(and daughters) of God."
(Matthew 5:9)


"Daughter (Son), your faith has healed you! Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
(Mark 5:34)


I believe our nation, our world, is suffering for lack of faith and freedom from suffering. I think that's how Martin Luther King, Jr. saw our lack of freedom, social justices, and peace.


"Salt is good, but if it looses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at PEACE with each other" (Mark 9:50)

WE MUST BE SALT AND LIGHT IN THE WORLD!(song by Israel Houghton, and Lakewood CC)

"LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO:...RISE UP..."

Luke 1:79 says "...to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of PEACE..."


Look around you! Look around this world we share! Show you care!

"Blessed is the king who comes in the Name of the Lord!""Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" Luke 19:38

"GLORY TO GOD in the highest and on earth PEACE to people on whom His favor rests."
Luke 2:14

May his peace rest within you and upon you and be yours!
May His favor rest on you!

There is a song that is my prayer for each of us today:

Make me a channel of Your PEACE where there is hatred; let me sow LOVE!

I, too, like all the profound statements of Martin Luther King, Jr. "Have a Dream" and "hold these TRUTHS to be self-evident that all men are created equal" by Our Creator and every nation shall bow to the Prince of PEACE, Jesus Christ, and live in a world where we are not "judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our CHARACTER."

May our character, more and more, each day, reflect the character and image of our Lord Jesus Christ! May we be at peace with our selves and each other! If you don't have that PEACE or know the PRINCE of Peace, in a personal relationship, may I ask you, "what are you waiting for?...that emptiness and longing within you, needs to be filled and not by the things of this world or the ways of this world ...

Do you know what on earth you are here for?

There is a Purpose for your journey and God holds the plan and the KEYS! May I have the privilege to lead you in a prayer to start or restart your life journey with Jesus and following His Purpose for you?

If you were to die, in the next few minutes, without a prewarning, are you willing to take the risk, that there is no eternity and/or where you might spend it?

Nothing else has worked or been filling that void or lack of PEACE! Why not give God a try: just surrender and accept Jesus and the Truths of His Word! He offers a free gift and brings freedom! I strongly suggest reading Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life and discovering all God has for You!

Prayer:
Jehovah - Shalom, Oh God, Be my peace. Bring me into that peaceful place with You! Help me know my need for You and believing in You and Your Word: the Bible. I believe in You I surrender all my misconceptions, all my trials, all the lies I've believed, all my problems into Your Hands. Show me how to follow you! I know that I am weak, I know that I have done wrong. I realize that there must be something more to this life! I feel so empty at times. I feel so lost and lonely! Guide me in ways of peacefulness. Restore my life! Reveal Your Self to me in a real way! Give me peace and a path that leads to you. Without You, my destiny is death. Come into my life. Thank You for taking the weight of my failures and wrongdoings and thinking to the cross, where you paid the price for me! Where you suffered in my place! Forgive me! I receive all that You purpose in my life. I want to know You in a greater way through studying Your Word, growing in character and fulfilling my life with purpose! Bring peace to all those I love and me! Make me an instrument of Your Peace! I ask this in Jesus' Name Amen.


SHALOM and ADIOS!