The Way of Peace.

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

Lately I've been begging and pleading with God for peace. Maybe you can relate. Whether it's busy-ness, every day stress, additional stress, worry and anxiety, agitation, angst, anger, discouragement or depression, many of us would just like some peace of mind. Or maybe a mere five minutes of peace and quiet. 

When I get stressed out, I return to Paul's letter to the Philippians. Lately I've been begging & pleading with God to grant me peace. I ask Him for it as one of the fruit of His Spirit; "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness & self-control." (Galatians 5:22-26). I've even asked Him to guard my heart and mind with His "peace which transcends all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

But today, as often happens, God helped me see that I've been getting things wrong. 

I've been making the mistake of thinking I have to be ready for God. Thinking that I have to be good enough for Him. Imagining that there's something I have to do different. As if there's anything I could do to become good enough for Him.

Leave it to a crusty old Lutheran preacher to help me recognize that it's not about me, it's always about God.

See, the peace Paul's talking about in his epistle to the Philippians isn't the calm or lack of stress that so many of we Westerners think that life is all about. It's a cessation of hostilities in our war with God.

"For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" Romans 5:10

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior." Colossians 1:21

I can be at peace with God, instead of waging war with Him, because of what His Son Jesus did for me on the cross. Like Doctor King's quote at the top of this post, peace is not an ends to be attained or acquired by us and for us. How shallow and selfish would that be? 

Peace is a means by which we reach other ends. Peace is not a destination, it is the starting point. Maybe that's why when he's describing the armor of God in Ephesians 6, Paul talks about  having our "feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (v.15)."

Because Jesus already won the peace, we can approach God's throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16 & Ephesians 3:12). We can have a confidence which only comes from Him. 

With that in mind, we should want to PRACTICE peace.  As Paul directs in Philippians 4:5, "Let your gentleness (peace) be evident to all." 

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone...." Hebrews 12:14a

It may sound more Buddhist than Christian to talk about how we should "practice peace" and to live from a place of peace. Our more temporal, materialistic, Western worldview still thinks that peace is something we want for us, not somewhere we operate from when interacting with others.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13

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If you'd like to explore Philippians more, visit my old blog:
http://malloryprayer.blogspot.com/search/label/Philippians

ACTS Thanksgiving; Know your ABC's?

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." ~Philippians 4:4-8

Summer is known for family road trips. Hours in a hot car can be a challenge, one way families meet the challenge is by playing thinking games. Faced with a 2 hour drive to summer camp with our 9 year old yesterday, we played an oldy-but-a-goody. We took turns coming up with animals names that started with each letter of the alphabet- alligator, bear, cat, dog, elephant, etc. etc. 

Then we cranked it up a notch by challenging each other to name cities or states that began with the ABCs. Albuquerque, Barstow, Chicago, Denver, Evansville, Fargo... you get the idea. (Ute, Iowa and Quartzite, Arizona were a couple of tough ones, by the way).

If you're serious about thanking God for all He's done for you, maybe you should start playing games with Him. Try making a list of things you're thankful for that uses all 26 letters of the alphabet! You can do it on your own during your personal prayer and devotion time, or you can do it with your family on a road trip- you  can do it at a Youth Group or Prayer Group meeting, in a Sunday School or Vacation Bible School class- or hold on to it and remember to do it with your family next Thanksgiving.

To make it more of a challenge, you could play more than one round- one time giving thanks about things, another time about events or activities, and the best way  would be to give thanks for people you're grateful for having in your life.

Apple pie

Baseball

Communion

Doctor Whatshisname

Evergreen trees
Friendship
Garage sales
Hot chocolate
I think you get the idea- try coming up with your own!

This is a fun website

This website http://www.wordle.net, really is a lot of fun. You enter text and it generates these creative "word balloons." Check it out.

The right focus can bring peace

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
~Philippians 4:8

The shepherds in Bethlehem had to have thought it was Armageddon when they saw all those angels in the middle of the night. They had to focus on the star and the gift that the angels promised it would lead them to.

This time of year we all get frantic with busy-ness. Decorations, shopping, wrapping, planning, cards, cleaning, cooking, work, traffic, relatives... As a teacher I'm dealing with semester grades and final exams, as a coach I have a slew of basketball games to take cheerleaders to, and purchase orders to submit for supplies to order and repairs to make for the next quarter...

Whew. It's dizzying. And yesterday, I shared with you that I have a whole litany of depressing things that I could easily complain about if I wanted to become discouraged and distraught.

So here's a hint. Listen to Paul's advice in Philippians, focus on the positive. This is a sure-fire way to bring you peace, His peace in the middle of the craziness of the season.

Or as Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney sang in the holiday classic, "White Christmas;"

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

While you're counting those blessings, remember who gives them to you, and thank God for them. And thank Him especially for the gift of His Son, Jesus on Christmas!

STRUGGLING to find peace

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.

- Etty Hillesum,
died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 29. From An Interrupted Life, a compilation of her diaries and letters.

I wish I knew how exactly to do that. Something I'm discovering is that most of us lack peace because we don't stop struggling.

Last summer I found out that I had high blood pressure because of the triglycerides in my blood. My other cholesterol levels were fine, but I was "pre-diabetic." I would have to lose weight, exercise daily, and give up all sorts of carbs and starches. I felt terribly frightened and depressed. I felt sorry for myself.

My wife asked me to stop writing my weekly column in our local newspaper because apparently neighbors and colleagues were avoiding her and talking about me behind my back because they disagreed so vehemently with my columns that scrutinized Sarah Palin and researched John McCain's connections to the "Keating 5" and the mortgage crisis. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I had tied up my whole sense of identity with being a writer, even though it was barely more than a hobby- really I'm an Art teacher.

I was getting a lot of hate email and negative blog comments besides one or two letters to the editor. That compounded on top of 8 rejection letters in a row from syndicates for either columns or cartoons. Once again I was struggling with depression, feeling sorry for myself.

I was just starting to get over it (grief/withdrawls/just taking a break from it/letting go of something that I'd let become too important to me- whatever you want to call it) when my mom had a scare with a spot on her lung (which turned out to be an infection, not cancer- thank God), then one of my Aunts was killed in a car accident, and most recently my brother-in-law took his own life.

It is very hard not to feel sorry for myself.

Struggle.

So, how to find peace?

Less of me, more of Him. If I look inward, I find disappointment, weakness, sadness, selfishness, anger, darkness, brokenness. But if I look to the cross, I see a God who loves me enough to die for me, to be persecuted and flogged, humiliated and tortured, so that I can be in a right relationship with Him.

If I look to Him, he shows me other people who have their own hurt whom I can offer comfort and support to. He shows me that I am not alone.

He brought people to me to tell me how much they had liked my column and miss it. People who complimented my writing.

I lost almost 40 pounds in 6 months and while I have to take blood samples every other day, my glucose levels are good and I don't need any medicine or insulin.

He brought throngs of people to me with their kindness and support in my grief. He brought people who shared their joyful and funny memories of my brother-in-law. He brought me closer to my wife, my own brother, and to my other brother-in-law.

I have a lot to be grateful for. I just had to stop struggling, look around and see that everything would be okay. It's like someone who's flailing their arms around fearfully because they don't know how to swim, when all they have to do is relax and stand up because they're in such shallow and still, calm, placid water that they're perfectly safe.

Do you want to know how to find peace? Stop fighting it.

Not practical enough for you? Take these simple steps:

1. Thank God for what good things you CAN think of in your life
2. Try to be gentle, kind, peaceful toward others
3. Pray
4. Repeat steps 1-3

Here's the way the Apostle Paul put it:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:4-7

Lent Day 2; Joy

I am trying to write prayers and devotions based on the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22 for Lent. Today's Fruit: JOY

What exactly is Joy? and how can we nurture it as one of the fruit of the Spirit that we want to have as part of our character?

It must not be merely a feeling or emotion if God considers it something that a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Christ-like life produces, right?

I would say that hppiness and contentedness are moods, but Joy is something different. For one thing, Joy is what puts a sparkle in your eye- it's being glad to see and be with someone you love. See my Advent Devotion on Joy When the Aronic blessing in Numbers says "May the Lord's countenence fall upon you, may His face shine upon you, may He look upon you with His favor..." I think it's saying "May God be glad to see you and enjoy being with you."

But the older I get, the more I think that it's even something more as well. Joy is celebration! Maybe that opinion is influenced by the birth of my third daughter this past week. We're not just glad that she's here, we want to share our exciting news and want people to share our happiness.

One of my favorite scenes in any book was in a Frank Peretti novel. I think it was 'Piercing the Darkness,' when one of the human characters gets down on their knees in prayer and invited God into their life, the finally accept Jesus and ask for His help. The demons scurry away and the angels EXPLODE with celebration, praise, thanksgiving and energy. I wish I could do Peretti's prose justice, but my point is- that there is more celebration in Heaven for any one lost sheep than we can possibly imagine. And I can imagine a lot of excitement, I just experienced it when I wittnessed my baby being born.

No wonder "the Joy of the Lord is my strength." I for one wish that I wasn't at the mercy of the emotional roller coster of life, moods, anxiety, depression, stress, hormones & chemistry etc. I think that the only way to escape or transend those things might be to live a life of celebration.

Look, geese flying North, what a blessing! Look, a new baby, what a miracle! Look, deer leaping a fence, how majestic- thank God it's a quarter mile away and not right in front of my vehicle!

It is easier to say than to do, but here's a way to try, focus on what Paul encourages us to focus on in Philippians 4:4-8:

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

Help me to stop looking down
Help me to stop focusing on the negative
Help me stop being critical and judgemental

Holy Spirit, produce the fruit of Joy in me
in my heart and in my life

Help me to live a life of celebration
Help me to "practice Your presence"
and enjoy every minute with you

Help me to focus on what is true;
on what is noble;
on what is just;
what is pure;
what is lovely;
what is of good report;
on anything of any virtue;
on what is worthy of praise,
Help me to especially focus on You.

In Jesus' name,
Amen