Sunday, March 4, 2012

REPLACING WORRY WITH PEACE

Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need,
and thank him for all he has done.

Then you will experience God’s peace,
which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts
and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
~~~~~

We live in a troubled world. It’s always been troubled, but it is especially so now. Bloody revolutions – serious world-wide economic crises – terrorist threats - moral decline on every hand – US government actions threatening our freedom of religion. It’s easy to be troubled, and worry over what’s happening, and what tomorrow may bring.

Paul tells us: Don’t worry about anything. Worry is a natural response to troubling situations, but it certainly isn’t the best response - it doesn’t solve anything, it only adds trouble to trouble. It affect us negatively both spiritually and physically - it is opposite to trusting God. Worry focuses on the problem, when we really need to be focusing on the only One who is able to help us face and deal with the situation in a positive way. God alone is the ultimate authority, and as chaotic as things may be – He is in control, and can see us through.
Paul's instruction is, instead of worrying over what could happen, we should pray about everything – world – national – local - economic – moral – family – personal – everything; everything that makes us anxious and tempts us to worry. Though God knows what we need before we ask, we need to tell God what we need, and thank him for all he has done. There is so much that God has done for us through the years, and there is infinitely more He has done which we know nothing about!  Expressing gratitude to God for what He has already done, not only honors Him, but also stimulates our faith that He will grant us what we need now.
The results of that kind of praying, is wonderful! We will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. God’s peace is so incredible; it goes way beyond what our human mind can fully grasp. And that precious peace will guard (that is, will protect) our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus. And that is what makes it possible for us not to worry about anything as we live our lives in this troubled world.

Turn up your sound and listen to  WONDERFUL PEACE

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