I have this (cardboard-type) poster I bought when I was young. I’ve actually kept it all these years and always had it hanging on the wall so that I’d see it often. It’s a picture of the setting sun that’s reflected in the water over a sailboat. The sky is deep red and there are mountains in the horizon. Tree branches outline the corners. There’s a Bible passage on the poster. I’ve read it countless times, but it never really made any sense to me:
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 – NKJV)
It was just a pretty picture on a poster with words that I’d repeatedly see and read.
When Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds, He stated: “… ‘Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.’ ” (Mark 4:9 — NLT)
Why didn’t I understand? Ears to hear? I am not deaf. Understand? Why was I so dim to the meaning of this Bible passage?
God’s Word tells us: “Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with the veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:15-17 – NLT)
I was so full of fears growing up. Those fears stayed with me into adulthood. I didn’t have any freedom.
Yet, there is freedom from fear, according to God’s Word. There is freedom to have peace in the midst of a storm. How?
“Our faith overcomes our fears.” (The origin of this statement is credited to “The Truth Project” from Focus on the Family.)
This is true faith in the Lord, our God. Faith in believing in Jesus Christ who died for our sins to give us eternal life; the faith that is a matter of the heart, much more than the mind! Yet God’s Word says Jesus will give us peace and it is for our hearts and our mind.
The Bible says: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as [in] the day of trial in the wilderness… (Psalm 95:8 – NKJV)
“For there your ancestors tested and tried My patience, even though they saw everything I did.” (Psalm 95:9 – NLT)
God performed all kinds of miracles for the Israelites, yet having to wait for the “Promised Land” and endure trials began to harden many hearts to the Lord of those waiting in the desert.
When we are patient and faithful, and when we do not harden our hearts to God, then His love will melt away our fears, and those fears are replaced with His peace.
This peace is beyond our understanding. After I began reading the Bible myself, I also finally looked up the passage of scripture from my poster. I found the word “surpasses” instead of “passeth.” The peace of Jesus surpasses or exceeds human comprehension.
His peace fills our “hearts” and our “minds” through Jesus Christ!
My fears totally subsided and the peace of God took a rightful place in my life. I didn’t need to be afraid anymore. God was on my side and His peace is so wonderful. I had finally allowed God to put His truth into my mind and His peace into my heart. It was simple! Open your mind and your heart to Him today.
Now on the other hand, when my circumstances begin to whittle away at my peace, even to this day, I must turn to prayer. Personally, I also seek fellow Christians to pray for me, too, because we are told to pray for one another. We must pray because:
“The thief’s [the devil’s or the enemy’s] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My [God’s/Jesus’] purpose is to give them [meaning us] a rich and satisfying life.” — John 10:10 (NLT)
Fears don’t produce a rich or satisfying life. Christ’s peace gives will give us both!
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
God’s Word for Today: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” — John 14:27 (NKJV)
Okay, so I thought that I had to say the sinner’s prayer to be saved. Well, you know, I thought I was a Christian and that I was saved, simply because I merely believed in God. (Please see first blog entry).
So maybe I needed to say this prayer? The Sinner’s Prayer has many variations to it, but it basically goes something like this:
“God, forgive me of all my sins. I repent of my sins and ask you to come into my life. I forgive everyone who has ever sinned against me. I believe that Jesus is Lord and that He died for my sins, was raised from the dead, and was resurrected to Heaven where He is with God the Father.”
Some of the variations of the prayer have more words, and some have less. Either way, it never seemed to change my life. Why? It was still simply coming from my mind and not from my heart. I now believe that’s why I was “not really there yet,” so to speak.
When I realized that I was just saying that I loved God, but that I didn’t really love Him from my heart, I realized there was a big difference. Why should a Holy God save me when I was just reciting words that had no meaning and nothing was coming from a place of earnest love and worship?
I believed that Jesus was Lord. I believed that He was able to forgive me of my sins. I didn’t yet know that I had to forgive others for me to be forgiven, too. I knew that Jesus was raised from the dead and was resurrected into Heaven with God the Father.
I was still missing the most important part. The Bible tells us that:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
Yet, I had been saying this prayer for awhile and not really meaning it. This is why nothing was changing.
It was me. I needed changing! That’s why nothing was happening! I needed to change my heart, not just my mind! God wouldn’t force me to do anything. He gives us total and complete free will. He will not change us, as we need to be changed, until we really give ourselves to Him with not only our mind, but also with our heart, in truth.
So when I finally spoke this prayer from my heart, and as I spoke to God in total and complete love and yet reverent fear, I asked Him to forgive me of all my sins, and to cleanse me by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. I forgave others, and I asked Him to come into my heart this time, as I began to truly give my life over to Him and truly love Him with all my heart. But had I really “let go and let God” take over?
It took awhile. I had not yet fully surrendered. A dream of symbolism and imagery later on would give me what I needed to understand fully surrendering.
Then God also had some more work to do in me. It was plowing time, as Joyce Meyer says. She has also helped me to understand what was happening to me and why.
In letting go, I realized I had to learn a lot about God. How?
I went to church and listened to the pastor. I checked the teachings against the Bible. I began learning a lot of lessons, which were contrary to what I was taught growing up. I listened to various ministers and read many different Christian materials. As I contemplated everything I had heard and read, I used the Bible and prayer as my compass to be guided toward all truths.
As I read my Bible, although it was very was slow at first, it was opening my heart more and more to God. As I would read, I would also pray for God to help me understand His Word. I had also made a vow to myself to read the Word each and every day. When I’d slip up for a day, I’d go right back to it, as though I had never stopped. Good habits require practice!
Eventually, I realized that God tells us to read His word day and night! We should be meditating on His word every day, every night and day! Wow!
“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” (Joshua 1:8) – It really is the B.I.B.L.E.! (See prior blog entry.)
So, as I read the Bible, the Living Word actually began to change me. It began to change me from the inside out. There’s a Christian song about this, and it certainly did apply to me. I was starting to “lose myself,” and “my heart and my soul, I give you control, consume from the inside out.” Yes, I gave God control. I relinquished my free will and surrendered to Him – everything!
Did I need someone else to teach me about God? Sure, the preachers and the teachers — they all helped. However, God was becoming the most important leader, my best preacher, and my best teacher in the whole wide world. He tells us in His Word:
“… You have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true. It is not a lie. So just as He has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.” (1 John 2:27 – NLT)
When I gave God my heart, He gave me His Holy Spirit. As I began to read God’s Book (the Bible), the Word came alive in me and my life. Things were beginning to make real sense. There were no more contradictions. There was no more confusion. Everything was different this time, and I realized that this time, God was giving me roots, and they were growing deep underground like a plant.
There was more and more clarity with every day that passed. I felt as though it was just me and God at times, and only for His good. As I was drawing closer to God in fellowship, I was living in obedience, and I was changing.
Giving up an old habit that was slowly killing me was one of the first hard things to surrender. The battle was cigarettes. I’d tried before, but I had always desired them back into my life. This time was going to be different. The only way it was going to happen, I realized, was by allowing God to take over, and He did. I had to suffer through it, but I learned:
“Even though Jesus [is] God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8 – NLT)
I could have never done this on my own. God completely took away the desire for me to smoke those nasty cigarettes, and He can do it for you, too, no matter what your addiction is in this life! If you let God take over, everything is possible.
“For I can do everything through Christ, who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
There was a small group of people from the church who were praying for me, similar to those described in the Bible:
“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” (Colossians 1:9)
God was doing just that – giving me more and more of a complete knowledge of His will, spiritual wisdom, and understanding of His Word. This was coming directly from God. Not to say that I didn’t hear from preachers and teachers, too, but God’s love was coming directly through from His Word – The Bible!
“The Sinner’s Prayer” – it finally “took” hold, when it truly came from the heart!
Try it! Give your heart to God, if you haven’t already. Then read His Word and receive His love, and learn to fellowship with your Creator. When you allow Him, He will change you, too, and then everything will be different! It will be good! As you read His Word and meditate on Him and His laws day and night, I hope and pray for you, whoever you are reading this blog, just like the small group that was praying for me!
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
God’s Word for Today: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His [God’s] law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 – KJV)
When I was young, the Bible just sat on the buffet table collecting dust! Once I peaked at the end of the book to see what happens. It scared me! One thing I read was that a loaf of bread would someday cost a whole day’s pay of work. It didn’t make sense! So, I asked my mom how it could be? It seemed impossible! She didn’t know the answer.
Today is July 19, 2011, and bread now costs at least $2 and as much as $5 a loaf. Most of the world’s economies are in major debt, job cuts and unemployment are skyrocketing, and fear is gripping many people.
Now I could finally understand what the Bible was talking about. Although we’re not to the end yet, as described in the book of Revelation, I could now see how this would happen in the near future. I can even see it being possible in my future!
Each time I picked up a Bible later in my life, I just couldn’t seem to get very far in my reading. Why? Distractions, boredom, lack of understanding, confusion from perceived contradictions, and difficulty reading the language; these were just a few of the reasons why I always quickly stopped reading the Bible.
I was considered to be a “fool” at that time of my life, even according to the Bible! But, I just didn’t know it yet! I didn’t understand the truth. I didn’t realize that I was living in opposition to my creator, God – the one I prayed to in my times of need!
As a sinner, I needed to be restored. The restoration that I needed was a relationship with my Heavenly Father, God. I was lost to the original sin of Adam and Eve. OK, so you may not believe the story of Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden, which most Americans have heard about, but let me tell you, it’s true! They had a relationship with God in the beginning, but their disobedience was a sin, and they became separated from Him.
We need a relationship with God more than any other relationship in our life. It’s all true — everything about God and the stories in the Bible.
When I was in my late 20s, I began to read the Bible because I had been invited to a Bible study that I attended for a short time, but it didn’t “stick.” The cares of the world and the weeds or thorns choked out any life of the Word. Please see Matthew 13:18-23, which describes the parable of the sower, and also look up Luke, Chapter 8, and read about how the enemy tries to stop us from reading and gaining understanding from the Word of God, that is, the Bible.
A lot happened to me between my 20s and the day I turned 40, when I began to have more interest in the reading the Bible. My deeper interest in God still didn’t “stick,” but there was more going on inside of me. I was beginning to say the “sinner’s pray,” but it was still coming from my mind and not from my heart. If this doesn’t make sense to you yet, it will. Just keep reading this blog.
Eventually I started going to this new church because I found that I was free from the church of my youth, pending the divorce. I say free, because I was no longer bound by my marriage to go to a certain church, as I used to be.
I decided to go to a nondenominational Christian church. I had seen all the people driving in there when I was still attending the Catholic church. I wondered why so many people went there. The first day I attended this church, I ended up realizing that I was sitting right behind my roofer, who had helped me after the hurricane! This was right after my marriage was ending. I was in bad shape! He had his “small group” praying for me. At that time, I didn’t even know what that was… and later I found out it was a Bible study group! I really needed those prayers. God was hearing them, and He was beginning to guide me closer toward Himself.
One day, I heard this saying: Each of the letters pronounced in the word B.I.B.L.E. stand for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I have found this to be so true and wonderful. There is a manual for life! It’s the Bible! It’s the Word of God. Read it! You’ll learn how to live this life the right way: God’s way! It will bring you the promise of eternal life. I wouldn’t ever want to live without it again.
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
God’s Word for Today: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction [italics: my emphasis].” (Proverbs 1:7 – KJV)
Are you a Christian? How do you answer this question? I used to say: “Yes, I’m Catholic.” However, I am no longer a Catholic. I am a Christian. This is not said to offend you. This is simply the truth of my life. I have decided to start this blog to tell you my story. This is one avenue I can use to explain why I’m writing this blog entitled, “God’s Word for Today.”
I always believed in God. This is why I assumed I was a Christian. I believed I had the faith in God. I was “in” the “flock of the faith.”
I also believed God would help me when I was in trouble. Yet, I always felt a sense of guilt because I would truly only call on God when I was in trouble or when I just felt that I was at my wits end! Why was I only seeking God at those times? Because it’s basically what I was taught to do.
However, the Bible tells us that even the demons believe in God. The Bible states: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19 — NLT)
So, if even the demons believe in God and they tremble in terror (or total fear), then the faith of my belief was not enough! Merely believing in God was not going to save me from eternal hell. No wonder why I never felt a confidence that I was going to Heaven. I wanted to believe that I was going there, but I had no real evidence that I would end up there. I thought I merely had to believe in God.
So, when I hit rock bottom (and for me it was when my marriage was ending because my ex-husband chose to leave, which broke up the family), I sought the help I always did as I prayed to God. (By the way, no blame in mentioning why I hit rock bottom; it’s only a short explanation of what occurred to bring me back to God). Yet, here I was again, only seeking God in desperation!
This was only the beginning of my journey to my answer to this question: “Are you a Christian?”
I hope you’ll keep reading my blog and post your comments. I pray this will help you in your journey, whether you are a Christian or not yet!
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
God’s Word for Today: “We love him, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 — KJV) In Christ, Patty Shehan
