Bible League: Living His Word You will keep in perfect peaceall who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! We live in a sinful, broken world that is full of evil. It's easy to come undone. It's easy to lose control and break down. The temptations to get nervous and anxious, to get fearful and fainthearted, to get angry and exasperated are plenteous. In many of the situations of life that arise, no one will blame you for coming apart at the seams. After all, we've all been there; we've all been pushed to the limit. The promise of our verse for today, however, is of a way of being in this broken world of ours that does not seem to belong to this world. It's a way of being that comes from a better place; that comes from heaven above. The promise is that God will keep us in perfect peace. The promise, then, is not just for ordinary peace, but for "perfect peace." The peace that the Apostle Paul said exceeds anything that we can understand (Philippians 4:7). Although peace is a gift that belongs to all of God's people (John 14:27), it requires something on our part in order to fully manifest in our lives. It requires that we trust in God. You can't have perfect peace without a strong trust in God. The specifics of the situation will get to us if there is no faith that God is in control. If we are to have a strong trust in God, then we can't allow the situation to run away with us. At some point we must turn from it and fix our thoughts on God. We must turn from the tumult and turmoil and focus our attention on Him. We must boldly come before the throne of our gracious God that we may receive help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). To be kept in perfect peace does not mean that we are unmoved by the situation, like a Stoic philosopher who refuses to allow emotion of any kind to sweep over him. It means, rather, that no matter what happens there is a peace to the person of faith that can't be explained in human terms. Whatever you may be facing today, turn from it for a moment and fix your thoughts on God, trust in Him, and let His perfect peace rise up in your souls. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Samuel 15, 16 2 Samuel 15 -- Absalom's Conspiracy; David Flees Jerusalem NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 16 -- David and Ziba; Shimei Curses David; Absalom Enters Jerusalem NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 20:27-47 Luke 20 -- Jesus' Authority; Parable of the Tenants; Give to Caesar; Marriage at the Resurrection NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Fearing people is a dangerous trap,but trusting the LORD means safety. Insight Fear of people can hamper everything you try to do. In extreme forms, it can make you afraid to leave your home. By contrast, fear of God—respect, reverence, and trust—is liberating. Challenge Why fear people who can do no eternal harm? Instead, fear God who can turn the harm intended by others into good for those who trust him. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Revelation 16:15 Blessed is he that watcheth."We die daily," said the apostle. This was the life of the early Christians; they went everywhere with their lives in their hands. We are not in this day called to pass through the same fearful persecutions: if we were, the Lord would give us grace to bear the test; but the tests of Christian life, at the present moment, though outwardly not so terrible, are yet more likely to overcome us than even those of the fiery age. We have to bear the sneer of the world--that is little; its blandishments, its soft words, its oily speeches, its fawning, its hypocrisy, are far worse. Our danger is lest we grow rich and become proud, lest we give ourselves up to the fashions of this present evil world, and lose our faith. Or if wealth be not the trial, worldly care is quite as mischievous. If we cannot be torn in pieces by the roaring lion, if we may be hugged to death by the bear, the devil little cares which it is, so long as he destroys our love to Christ, and our confidence in him. I fear me that the Christian church is far more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days than in those rougher times. We must be awake now, for we traverse the enchanted ground, and are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing, unless our faith in Jesus be a reality, and our love to Jesus a vehement flame. Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove tares, and not wheat; hypocrites with fair masks on their faces, but not the true-born children of the living God. Christian, do not think that these are times in which you can dispense with watchfulness or with holy ardour; you need these things more than ever, and may God the eternal Spirit display his omnipotence in you, that you may be able to say, in all these softer things, as well as in the rougher, "We are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Daily Light on the Daily Path Acts 20:28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, • so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, • that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. Revelation 12:1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; Revelation 19:7,8 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." • It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Romans 3:22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; John 17:22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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