PURSUE PEACE!

As the events of this past week deeply disturb the merriment and magic of this season, my body feels the heaviness of grief for the families of those lost in this senseless act of terror, my soul is deeply troubled by the what the future holds, but my spirit chooses to trust in the Prince of Peace, the Goodness of the Lord and One who holds me in His victorious right hand!

“PEACE I leave with you. My PEACE I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.”John 14:27 

PEACE! The anecdote to fear. anxiety. grief. sleeplessness. discord. hopelessness. hatred.

I was curious and so started searching the Internet for quotes about peace. I wanted to see what the world says about it! Most of the quotes came from Dalai Lama, John Lennon, Buddha and even Lady Gaga! The jist of each quote points us to use our own strength from within to obtain peace! We have the power….we ARE the power.???

Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m faced with trials and tribulations or just watching terrifying events shake our world, there’s NOTHING in me personally that can muster or dig up enough peace to quiet my fearful and troubled heart!  I really know this because I spent a large part of my life dealing with fear, which is the opposite antagonist to peace! I’ve pretty much tried every approach!

To not walk in peace is to walk in fear and fear has torment! ( See 1John 4:18)

There’s nothing more unsettling than to lay our heads on the pillow at night and be bombarded by all the things we are anxious and worried about! One of satan’s biggest ploys is to get us into fear so we can not receive the peace that Jesus so freely gives us! It’s a gift that cost Him His life and yet we allow the voice of the enemy, who speaks doom and gloom and hopelessness, to be LOUDER than the voice of our Good Shepherd whose promise is:

“You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3

Ah there it is! The 🔑! The key is to TRUST!!

When I was physically so sick and so tired and sick and tired of struggling with fear, I finally realized, through the precious Holy Spirit, that it was because I did not truly TRUST God to take care of me and the ones I loved! I began to see that the enemy was speaking lies to me which were preventing me from believing the TRUTH about what God says!

I began to dig in and meditate on the hundreds of TRUTHS that are found in the Word of God! One of my favorite stories on fear is found in Mark 4:37-41. The disciples were in the boat with Jesus and a tremendous storm came up out of nowhere! Kind of like our troubles do! The crazy thing is that Jesus was in the back of the boat with His head resting on a comfy cushion and He was SLEEPING! Who sleeps through a storm? The Prince of PEACE does! That’s Who!

You see, He and the Father had/have a loving, intimate relationship! Some 30 years before that, His Father came to Him and said, first of all I LOVE  you deeply, but I also LOVE ALL PEOPLE, past, present and future and I’m sending you to walk among them and show them my unconditional LOVE! I want them to have 24/7 access to Me and be in my Presence on earth and throughout eternity! I want them to know I will hear every cry of their heart and no matter what they go through, I will be there holding them in my victorious right hand, never leaving them or forsaking them and will keep them in perfect peace as they turn their eyes and hearts on me!

So as Jesus lay there sleeping in peace in the midst of the storm He knew Who had His back! He knew no matter how tough or terrifying the circumstances were, His Loving and Mighty Father would see Him through and He could TRUST Him and be at peace! He also knew the power and authority His Father had given Him and so He merely had to say “PEACE be still” and the storm was over! We have that same power and authority but that’s another blog!😃Selah

HE TRUSTED HIS FATHER WITH HIS VERY LIFE!

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So what’s keeping you up at night? What lies is the enemy speaking to you about you or your loved ones life, health, safety, future?

Dig. Dig. Dig.  Dig into His Word! There are over 400 times where peace is mentioned in the Bible! He knew! He knew we would be bombarded with so many things that would attempt to steal His peace! He wanted us to know, we don’t have to live in fear! Spend time in intimate fellowship with Him! He LOVES to have conversations with us! Seek Him with ALL your heart and you will find Him! Jer 29:13

The Lord has given me glorious freedom from the spirit of fear! I know now that I can TRUST Him with every detail of my life because He is Mightier than any mountain or mess I face! But I had and have to continue to pursue His peace in order to dispel the fear that will always try to find an open door!

Psalm 34:14 says:”Turn away from evil and do good; SEEK PEACE AND WORK TO MAINTAIN IT.”

Peace just doesn’t fall on us especially since the world and the enemy of our soul does everything possible to steal it and instill fear! Seek it. Chase it down. Run hard after it! Stay in the Word so His truth can dispel every lie.

Let the beautiful TRUTH of the Word wash over you and flood your heart with peace that only He can give, as you learn that you can TRUST HIM with your very life! Believe that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!

Loving, Mighty God, Thank you for sending us the Prince of PEACE; You have given us Your peace which no one can replicate! The peace this world offers is so fleeting and will never dispel fear or give hope! We are surrounded by a world filled with terror, hatred, sickness in body and soul. But Jesus your Word says to be of good cheer for YOU have overcome this world! (John 16:33) Help us to not be overwhelmed with the circumstances around us! We want to be like Jesus who slept in perfect peace as the storm raged around Him. Stir up in us a desire to pursue, chase after and walk in Your peace! Forgive us for not receiving this great and costly gift! Come, our Prince of Peace! We need you! In Jesus matchless and mighty name! Amen

Love Always!❤️

tarabella

John 3:30

PS Pray and meditate on this when fear rushes in!

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tara

Oh these "about me" profiles are sticky! When I read most, I'm like, well it must be so nice to be you, so perfect and wonderful and accomplished! Truth is we are ALL wonderful and we have all done some pretty magnificent things! We are God's masterpiece, each uniquely yummy! So here's what He created in me! I’m a 67 year old grandma that loves taking hip-hop, spin and Latin dance classes. Though my hip and my knee doth protest too much! I use lots of exclamation points when I write and fling my arms around wildly when I talk!!!!!! Could this blue eyed blonde really be Italian? I'm wild about crunchy tacos, fried rice, mac n cheese and raw cake batter, but I'm into health food!. I'm passionate about my two perfect grandchildren Landry 9 and Levi 8, my husband Joe of almost 45 years, my 3 kids Emily, Adam and Alex and my 3 kids-in-love, Jesse, Melissa and Courtney! I am totally, passionately wild about Jesus! Nothing compares to His love, His beauty, His power, His grace and mercy and His peace! He's delivered me from fear, rejection, poor self esteem, being criticical, religious, legalistic, prideful and carrried me through EVERY trial I've ever had including having a 2 yr old diagnosed with a brain tumor! I'm REALLY passionate about prayer! Boy have I got some awesome testimonies on the power of prayer! I've learned so much and continue to learn about this incredible privilege and power so freely given to all His children! My heart is that I long to see children of the King truly see themselves as our wonderful Abba Father sees them and then live like they believe it! Life gets so messy sometimes and not knowing who we really are in Christ and knowing the treasures we have inside of us, can leave us feeling discouraged and even hopeless! I've been "messy" off and on my whole life both in the physical sense (thank God I got a grip on that for my dear husband's sake!) and in the soul (mind, will and emotions)! I want to share the life-changing revelations the Lord has given me through the years that have let me see that I am His Beautiful Mess!! I consider it an honor a privilege to come alongside of you to offer my hand and my heart!❤️ With great love! tara John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."

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