Three
kinds of peace are mentioned in the Bible. They are Peace with
God, Peace of
God and Peace on
earth. Peace with
God comes at salvation. Romans
5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The
peace of
God comes with surrender (Phil 4:7). Peace on
earth will come at Jesus' second coming (Isaiah 2:1-4).
Our
focus today is on the peace of
God. We're talking about peace in times of trouble. Paul says we
are to stop
worrying. That's
easier said than done at times
The
key
to having the peace of God is having a thankful heart. Why is
thanksgiving the key to peace?
Thanksgiving
calls for looking up.
Storms
in life may make thanksgiving difficult
We
all
go through times of trouble. Jesus said in John
16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might
have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The Pilgrims endured many
hardships. Sickness, loneliness was common place. Nearly half of
them died the first winter. A summer drought caused them to look up
to God in prayer. A gentle rain came in answer to that prayer. A
good harvest resulted in the first Thanksgiving. Looking up to God,
our Helper, causes us
to be a thankful people.
Thanksgiving
calls for looking around.
We
all have many blessings and ought to give thanks for them. Consider
Psalm 103, the psalm of thanksgiving.
“...Forget not all His benefits...” These
benefits include forgiven sins, daily health, food, family, church
family, friends. We ought to start
each day
thankful for His many benefits. The benefits of God's love and
grace. The benefit of salvation by faith. The benefit of having a
Bible. We have the
privilege
of prayer. We don't have to be worrisome, because prayer makes God's
blessings available. Thanksgiving
adds expectation
to prayer and allows faith to expect
answers
Thanksgiving
calls for looking ahead. Doubt
cringes and cowers, afraid of what tomorrow may bring. Faith
welcomes the future with optimism, expecting the best. Paul reveals
what a thankful heart contains. It contains things that are true,
honest, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous (Phil 4:8). Thanksgiving
allows us to believe the
best is yet to come. Is
your
mind
a place for thankful thoughts to dwell?
Until
next time...enjoy the journey!
Ray
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