What is ‘Peace’?

Dictionary.com lists ten different definitions for Peace, and really multiple means could be applied during the Advent season. For the sake of this post, I chose to use the meaning of peace as, “a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations,” and also as meaning, “a state of tranquility or serenity.”

Giving Peace to Others

How can we give peace to people, though?

First of all, we can give peace to people through forgiveness. When you let someone go from the bonds of anger or hurt and choose to forgive, you give them the greatest peace that a person can give to another. Begin by seeking forgiveness from those you’ve hurt. We humans can tend to be a proud bunch and tend avoid the ominous words, “I was wrong. I’m sorry.” As Christians, however, we should seek to restore relationships with those we’ve hurt. Whatever has been the excuse for not apologizing before now, get over it and go say you’re sorry.

Give forgiveness also to those who have hurt you. Some people may not even realize the weight that you carry, just because of them. For seventeen years, I have carried around a weight toward someone who I decided to release from my hurt recently. I went to him & told him – he never knew that he had hurt me. The weight of anger and hurt and resentment that you carry toward someone will never feel as good or as free as when you decide to forgive.

Secondly, we can give peace to people by our flagrant friendship. Don’t brush off your friends or dismiss them for weeks on end. Be bold in the fact that you call them your friend. Spend time with them, let them know that you appreciate them, and speak highly of them. It is a peace to know your real friends will defend you even if you weren’t present. Flagrant friendship also means volunteering to help, without being asked; listening to a friend who is having a bad day and truly hearing what they say; and by being for them what you desire out of a friend for yourself.

Finally, we can give peace to  people through your Faith. If JESUS has held held your head above the water just as you were about to drown, or HE has held your hand through unfathomable grief, tell others who now stand in those places. The peace that passes all understanding is JESUS. Although we know it and we think people know, there is an added peace in knowing that someone else has fallen this low, hurt this bad, cried this much and JESUS saw them through it.

Related Posts

Advent Conspiracy

Tis the season to forgive by forgivetoday

I tried to commit suicide in High School.

High School was not a pleasant experience for me overall, but events fell into place in 1996 that led me to try to kill myself.

One day, I took the time to handwrite out three letters – one to my parents, one to my sister, and one to a particular guy. I cleaned my room extra good that morning. I then took certain actions on the way to school t say my goodbyes without actually saying them.

I had reasoned within myself that the world no longer needed me. Although a ‘Christian girl’, I even reasoned that GOD didn’t need me here messing up HIS world.

One problem: it didn’t work.

Only a hand full of people knew what I did that day. I had popped a certain combination of OTC medications, and they had indeed slowed my heart down quite a bit. I had one friend who found me, looking rather gray in complexion.

In the months that followed, I went to counseling, and managed to keep my parents from finding out.

5 years later, the compulsion would strike me again. I was a young mother, and struggling with the ghosts of my past & adjusting to married life. I tied a scarf around my throat and attempted to hang myself. The world – which included my young son, would be better off minus me.

Again, I failed.

The value of one simple girl

There has always been a deep seeded emptiness inside for some sense of value. I longed to be valued by my mother. I wanted to be valued by a guy, instead of tossed around like a filthy sock. I wanted to be needed. I wanted to mean something to someone.

There are times I still question my value in the eyes of those I know.

One thing I have now that I didn’t have then is a sense of my value to GOD.

Ephesians 3:18-19 reads, “may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

I had read the Bible several times when I was growing up, but had never really paid attention to those two verses until a year ago. A year ago, I was struggling once again with my sense of value. I had no job in about 2 years, and the money pressures were putting an enormous strain on my marriage. The suicidal thoughts crept upon me and began to blur all logic and rational thinking. I did what I felt was the only think I could do – I began to read aloud to myself the word of GOD, starting with Ephesians 1. I read, chanting the verses to myself, until I stumbled upon Ephesians 3:18-19.

I found my value; it is in Christ.

In Christ, I am HIS princess. HE loves me above any challenges that I can see, HE loves me no matter how low emotionally I fall. I am Christ’s princess. HE loves me, now matter how much to the left or to the right I run, or how far from the reach of others I go. I am valuable to HIM.

And so are you..

That’s a bit arrogant, isn’t it?

I am not so vain to think that GOD could not accomplish HIS plans without me being in the world. The sun can & will rise in a world, minus me. But that isn’t reality. The reality is that for right now, I am part of GOD’s plan.

Additional note on Suicide

This post is not in anyway intended as an encouragement for suicide. If you are having suicidal thoughts, seek help NOW by calling your local suicide crisis center or hospital. I was blessed not to have succeed in my attempts – Suicide is NEVER the solution to any problem at anytime. It may not seem like it, but you do matter to someone on this earth and most of all, you mean everything to GOD.

LINKS

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

WHEN A CHRISTIAN IS TEMPTED BY SUICIDE.

What Advent Conspiracy is about?
‘Advent Conspiracy’ is a book written by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay and Greg Holder. The book has inspired many Christians to take back Christmas from the commercialistic approach of many and make the season about so much more. I highly recommend reading every year.

What is Advent, then?
Advent itself means ‘the coming’, according to dictionaries. The Advent season is intended to cause Christians to reflect on what Christmas truly is about: worshipping JESUS.

Week One – Hope
Week One of Advent is the reflection on Hope. What is Hope? Hope is a word we use a lot. We hope we will have a good day. We hope that we will get a new job. We hope that a friend gets well. What is hope, really?
According to dictionary.com, hope is: “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best”.

The recession here in America has knocked the hope out of many people.

Taking Advent to Advent Conspiracy

It is time we give hope back. We fill our lives with stuff, our time with petty things that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The idea of Advent Conspiracy is to make Christmas about more. More than stressing ourselves over buying too much for people who really don’t want or need what we buy.

How about we give them hope?

How?

First, extend a hand of concern to those struggling financially. Until 6 months ago, I was unemployed for almost 2 years. I felt like none of my “working friends or family” cared. Out of all the people in my life, though, I had two friends that pushed me to keep trying. One of them prayed with me every two weeks about finding work. Another actually opened the door for me to get an interview with the company I have been working for for 6 months now.

When people struggle with finding a job, the everyday fight over money because magnified. Maybe, we could help them freshen up their resume. Maybe just socialize with them. I know during my own two year stint with unemployment, I isolated myself from any social interaction. I am so glad that my friend who prayed with me every two weeks did it over lunch at her kitchen table.

Secondly, we can give hope to the hurting. Yes, we should visit those in hospitals and send get well cards to those who are sick. More than physical illness, we need to tend to the broken-hearted and the lonely. The widow. The couple going through a miscarriage. The adult who just buried their parent. There are so many broken-hearted in the world. We must take the time to hold their hands and earnestly pray with them.

I am thankful for my friend, Ms. J, who went with me on a journey last year to the memory brick that bears my daughter’s name. I miscarried Delani at almost 12 weeks. Ms. J not only held my hand and prayed with me, but she was physically there when my husband could not be as I made that trip. Just being there for moments that can lead to healing can mean so much to one who is hurting.

Thirdly, we can give hope through our attitudes. I will not pretend that my life has been easy. I have experienced a lot of pain, physical and emotional. However, I make the choice each and every day not to let that pain be my attitude. By placing my joy in Jesus and in His Holy Word, it has opened many doors for me to be able to share my story of hope with others who are now hurting.

Will you give hope?

“My hope is built on nothing less than JESUS blood, and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on JESUS name.” (The Solid Rock, Edward Mote)

Related Link

Advent Conspiracy

Broken & Undone
I have attended Precept classes for over 3 years now. Through the course of studying GOD’s Word Precept upon Precept, I have been convicted several times of the Pride in my life.
I’m not typically a ranting egomaniac. Having gone through this life for 32 years, I have many times allowed Pride to build up a haughtiness in me. God used a Christian man that I barely know to speak a message of humility to me over the weekend. I realized that I have not been a vessel useful to the Master

What is an useful vessel?
The reference to “a vessel useful to the Master” comes from 2 Timothy 2:20-21.

Clay vessels, like those of Biblical times, had to fashioned. Having dabbled in pottery once, I learned from the instructor that when a potter begins his works, he careful selects the clay which he will use. The clay cannot be too hard nor too soft. If the clay is too hard, it cannot be wielded into shape; If the clay is too soft, it will not hold the form which the potter creates.

Once Fashioned, the vessel must then be baked. Depending on the type of vessel, this process can consist of placing the vessel several times into the heat. The heat of the kiln hardens the clay, giving it the strength to perform the task at hand.

Once heated, clay vessels are sometimes coated with a glaze, preserving the intricate designs made by the potter. Once again, the vessel reenters the heat, making the glaze and the clay one.

Having now been completed, the vessel must be tested. Can it hold water? If it fails this testing, the pot is broken down to later be reshaped by the potter.

Useful vessels are used over and over, because the owner finds it dependable. If a vessel does not work well, the owner will often reject it. Useful vessels are also the model by which the Potter will fashion other vessels, knowing that the form works well.

Am I, and are you?
I am often too hard or too soft to be fashioned into much. In stubbornness, I often buck up against the fastening of JESUS. In weakness, I have cowered from the forming by HIS loving hand.

I also resist the heat of the oven, forgetting that JESUS watches carefully over me. In sinfulness, I forget that JESUS knows the outcome – I should trust in Him and trust Him.

I also forget that The Holy Spirit is always with me. He covers my heart, and is always with me, protecting and preserving me for GOD’s Work.

I am also being tested. When I am not being useful to JESUS, sometime He will allow me to sit on the shelf, unused.

What about you?

I take up my keyboard once more to write. Welcome back, readers.

I remember during High School, one particular teacher would always remind us of the Shakespearen quote ”to thine ownselves be true”. I find that for myself, I am most miserable when I able pretending to be something that I am not.

Pretending to be something else also steals from others the ability to truly know us. How are others to understand me when I am pretending to be something that is not who I am? It is a Lie. And Lies are not part of a true friendship.

In being true to ourselves, we discover filthy decay in our lives and are able to cast it out with the help of the LORD. We can’t fool GOD, and HE wouldn’t want us to fool others.

Be true.

Deeper Understanding

I have sat in pews for years, hearing others quote verses about being in the shadow of GOD’s wings. I knew, from searching, that verses about such a thing existed – 4 in the NASB translation.

For me, the versus seemed to be a comfort to others in sickness and in grief. I had passed them off as just verses, having no real meaning to me.

Then sorrow fell.

I had actually forgotten how grief felt. I had actually forgotten how to let myself grieve. As I have had my refresher course in grief these past few days, I have found a deeper understanding for the verses on being in the shadow of GOD’s wings.

A veil of Understanding Lifted.

Psalm 17:6 pleads for the LORD to hide the psalmist in the shadow of HIS wings. As children, we hide from things that scare us or could harm us. The psalmist seems to say that it is only under the shadow of GOD’s wings that we are able to hide.

In Psalm 36:7, the psalmist speaks of finding refuge in the shadow of GOD’s wings. Refuge, to me, is a place of spiritual, physical and emotional rest. The world seems to demand we ignore our need to rest – while the psalmist points to the necessity of a time of refuge.

Being in the shadow of HIS wings for me means security. I have watched as a mother hen stretches out her wings to shield her tiny chicks from the rain. In the shadow of HIS wing, I know that HIS wings are hovering over me..

It does not mean that storms and troubles will not come. Storms will come, but GOD is there. Wings outstretched, waiting for us to run to HIS refuge.

In Loving Memory.

"Hello, Balaam".

I am a hard-headed, self-centered lying girl. There. I admit it.

I am so hard-headed, in fact, that I have not been hearing the voice of GOD in my life. I sufficated HIS loving call with my lies to others, and to myself. I kept pouncing and pouncing in the opposite direction of The Will of GOD.

That’s where Balaam comes into this story. You do remember who Balaam is, right? In the books of Numbers, we meet Balaam. In chapter 22 of the book of Numbers, Balaam gets the proposition that he can’t seem to resist – curse the Israelites for money. At first, Balaam resists – no these are people of GOD, he says. Balaam is questioned twice more and gives in, compromising himself for a little extra money in his pocket. Along the way to curse them, Balaam’s donkey seems to start behaving badly. In anger at the delay in plans, Balaam begins to beat the donkey – and the doneky asks him why.

Did you catch that? The Donkey spoke.

Read it for yourself. Numbers 22: 30,

And the (donkey) said unto Balaam, ‘Am I not thine (donkey), upon which thou hast ridden ever since [I was] thine unto this day?’….  *KJV, with substitution of word

GOD used a talking donkey to get Balaam’s attention. Ultimatly, Balaam die because of refusal to listen to THE LORD MOST HIGH (see Numbers 31:8 to see how Balaam dies).

Like Balaam, I have lied myself into believing that I can do things my way,  and everything will be okay. My character has been bought out by the need to be accepted by the seeming perfect crowd within the church doors.

Then, my donkey came. No, there wasn’t a talking eeyore-colored donkey that came to my porch.  GOD used a book.

I won’t spoil things by telling you which book, only that it was written by Karen Kingsbury.

GOD used a book to outright confront me with the reality that I was no longer listening to HIM like I should.

I, like many others, was trying so hard to just handle things all on my own that I tuned GOD out along the way. Warning after warning came, but I had my head stuck in the sands of lies.  I was lying to myself, and everyone else. I was selling my character for the apperance of acceptance. I, like, Balaam, was taking myself right to doomsville – until The LORD hurled me onto my butt, with a book.

I don’t want to be a Balaam; I don’t want to be stricken dead because of my persistence to disobey. I threw myself onto my belly last night and wept before my LORD as I had not done in many years. To quote Dave Ramsey, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Are you bound for a donkey experience? Are you wondering so far off from what GOD would have you do or be that it will take something drastic to get your attention? Come with me before the Throne of GOD, and kneel with me – pour out your tears with me as an offering of repentance before the LORD MOST HIGH. Repent before The LORD of mercy and grace, and tune your heart again to the loving tone of Your Heavenly FATHER.

Don’t wait for a donkey – or a book – to make a fool out of you. GOD’s mercy is sure, but so is HIS wrath. Just remember Balaam.

In your grasp

What are you holding on to?

I’m not referring to the remote control or computer mouse in your hand, although they may have something to do with it.

What ideas, thoughts and memories do you carry around with you so tightly that they have begun to embed themselves into your skin?

Maybe it is the memory of a loved one. Perhaps it is the hateful last words that you spoke to a friend, on constant replay in your mind. Do worries and fears shadow your every thought?

In my grasp

I admit: I have a death-grip on my worries about money. I can barely remember a time in my life that the sickening fear of poverty has not been with me.

I have found, though, that my money fears have not made me richer. Worrying has not balanced my checkbook or wrote out a budget. Pacing floors has never put a single penny into my pocket. It does not matter how tightly I hold on to my money fears; the fears are not helping me get by.

Giving up our grasp

So, let go.

No, you won’t fall. No, the world will not discontinue its’ revolving.

Like the wee child holding onto his parent, we will not fall when we let go of our grasp. We have a wise Father that holds onto us.

“My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father’s hand.“
~ John 10:29

If we have surrendered our lives to The LORD JESUS CHRIST, then we are in HIS grasp.

If you have not surrendered your life to The LORD JESUS CHRIST, then what is stopping you?? What good has the things you are clinging so tightly to really doing?

Unused. Forgotten.

Not two or three, mind you, but a small stack of six.

I hadn’t really forgotten that the journals were there. From time to time, I would pull one of them out, with full intent to begin journaling and writing again. I would place it back into the drawer, with a sigh, and nothing would ever come of it. To me, the journals had become symbols of the writer’s life that I will never have.

You see, onced upon a many year ago, I dreamed and aspired to be a writer. I wrote poetry and short stories daily, filling composition books and 3-ring binders full of writings. I even had a few published in a local paper. Like all fairy-tales though, the pangs of life snatched away my dreams. I stopped writing in 2002, shortly after my parents filed for separation. In the 6 years since, I have not wielded my pen in poetry but a few rare times.

I look at the unused journals in the back of the drawer, and something comes to mind: I stopped writing because I felt I couldn’t be a writer anymore. Simply said, I just quit.

I think about the Words of our LORD in Matthew chapter 4:

and HE said unto them, “Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set upon a candlestick?…………Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.” (Matthew 4: 21, 24)

Have I been sticking my candle under the bed? Have I taken what GOD has given me and been a terrible caretaker of it? It is hard to be a Christian writer when you quit writing altogether.

How about you? Is there something in your life that you have shuffled into the back of the drawer? Has GOD given you a gift that you haven’t touched because of grief, anger, or plain old laziness? Is there something in your life that you have put off doing, but a still small voice inside of you insists on reminding you about it?

As for me, I took one of the journals and placed it in my favorite chair this afternoon. Can’t be a writer for GOD if I don’t get restarted.