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You are here: Home / Archives for Peace

The Abundance of God’s Creation

August 5, 2019 by ChristianHolinessDaily

The Psalmist – You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. 
Jesus  – “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”
The Psalmist – Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.
Jesus – “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”
The Psalmist – From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth.
Jesus – “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!”
The Psalmist – and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
In them the birds build their nests; the stork has her home in the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
Jesus – “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

The Psalmist – He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.

You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

 

The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.

 

When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.

 

Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.

 

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 

Jesus – “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
The Psalmist – Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great.
There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works…
Psalm 104:10-31 ESV; Luke 12:22-34 ESV

Filed Under: Peace Tagged With: abundance, anxiety, peace, Psalms, treasure

Earn Your Keep

July 18, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,A woman I know married a guy the same year that I married my wife. In the years since, her husband worked maybe 30 days, never supported his children, and eventually walked away from his family. On the other hand, I don’t believe I have missed much over 30 days work. I’m not bragging; I am merely irritated that he was so lazy that his family was compelled to draw welfare.

The Apostle Paul told the Timothy that elders of the Church should be paid, especially those who preach and teach. Indeed, close reading of that passage shows that Paul felt pastors should be paid double the normal salary. “Workmen,” he said, “are worthy to be hired.”

On the other hand, Paul valued his churches so much that it seems he never took payment. Instead, he earned his keep across the Mediterranean and Europe by working as a tent maker, a skill he had learned as a boy in Tarsus.

As we continue to look at 1 Thessalonians 4, we see that Paul links work – specifically working with one’s hands – to living a sanctified life. Work, in this passage, is also closely connected to living a quiet life.

The question is: why? Why does Paul link sanctification, which is an act of the Holy Spirit, to work, which is commonly considered an act of our own strength?

Here’s the thing, sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit that rids the believe of the carnal (sinful) nature and replaces it with the nature of Christ). In return, we are so full of the love of God that we want God to be in control of every aspect of our lives. We want Him to clean the muck out of even the darkest corners and replace it with the light of His love. As a result, we even give Him our work, our labor, our jobs.

Those of us who accept Jesus as our Savior but never make Him Lord of our lives… those of us who ask Him to save us but never let him have dominion over our hearts and minds… those of us who are saved, but never allow His Holy Spirit to fill us with His love, will find that we soon burn out, soon wear out, and soon return to our old habits and old ways.

By the way, I have not forgotten about the part of the verse that reads, “Mind your own business.” Well look at that, and the connection between work and peace later.

According to Apostle Paul in Thessalonians chapter 4, if we have been sanctified, then we will turn away from sexual immorality, love one another more and more, find peace and quiet in our lives, mind our own business, and earn our keep.

Filed Under: Daily Walk with Christ, Holiness, Peace, work Tagged With: 1 thessalonians, Paul, sanctification, work

Sanctification Brings Peace

July 17, 2018 by ChristianHolinessDaily

In an earlier devotion on Christian Holiness Daily, we learned that it is God’s will that we be sanctified, or filled with the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:3). After Paul proclaims this to his readers, he expounds on what is expected out of those whom Christ sanctifies.

  • Abstain from sexual immorality
  • Love one another
  • In verse 11 of that same chapter, he says that we are to live a quiet life. What does Paul mean, though, when he uses the word quiet?
  • Paul’s life seemed to be anything but quiet. He traveled from town-to-town preaching first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, bringing a new message – and one that few wanted to accept – and stirred up so much trouble that he found himself often in jail, stoned and left for dead, beaten, and eventually martyred. Ask and the definition of quiet life, I doubt any of the items on that list are mentioned.
  • When I think of a quiet life, I think of a cabin in the woods, off grid, and a room full of books.
  • Others may think of a sailboat on a calm sea, or a fishing boat on a still lake. Some might picture a horseback ride or a cross-country trip on a Harley. Though peaceful, I doubt any of those images are what Paul had in mind when he wrote of the quiet life. Paul’s idea of quiet can be determined from his other epistles.
  • The first clue that we find about Paul’s definition of quiet is Romans 12:18, where he gives similar advise:

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. – ESV

Peace and quiet are synonymous. In this passage Paul ads a qualifying clause, If possible…

In Paul’s life, peace and quiet wasn’t always possible, for it wasn’t always up to him whether he lived at peace.

  • Galatians 5:22 tells us the same thing that Paul tells us here in 1 Thessalonians 4, but it is more succinct: the fruit of the Spirit is peace.
  • In Philippians 4:7, he urges us to allow our hearts to be guided by the peace that comes through the Holy Spirit.
  • In Romans 14:19, he urges us to make every effort to bring peace into our lives.
  • As with every aspect of sanctification, living in peace or living a quiet life is only possible if we allow the Holy Spirit to rule (take charge) in our lives daily.
  • If He is not the King of our hearts, then the best that we can hope for is brief calm often followed by a ferocious storm.
  • If we allow the Holy Spirit to reign, then we too can say (like Paul),

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Filed Under: Daily Walk with Christ, Peace, quiet, Uncategorized Tagged With: holiness, Paul, peace, quiet, sanctification

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