Bible League: Living His Word "I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don't be troubled. Don't be afraid."— John 14:27 ERV Do you feel like you have enough peace? When you try to fall asleep at night, do you have peace or does your mind race like a Formula 1 car in a Grand Prix? Are your days filled with worry, fear, and anxiety? What would you do to have a little more peace in your life? Some people are looking for peace in all the wrong places. They look for peace in a spouse or in a relationship. They try to find peace in a bottle or a pill. People search for peace by reading self-help books or listening to motivational speakers on a podcast. The world offers myriad ways to find peace, yet here we are—anxious, worried, fearful, and stressed out to the max. Where, or to whom, can we turn for peace. God's Son, Jesus, offers true and lasting peace. On the night before He was crucified, Jesus met with His friends, and He told them that He was going to leave them. Their hearts must have been troubled, and fear gripped them. Jesus told them to not be afraid because He was going to leave them His peace. His peace, He said, is different than the peace the world offers. What is the difference between the peace the world offers and the peace that Jesus gives? The peace of Jesus Christ is an everlasting peace. It is more than just the absence of chaos and confusion. The peace of God has the power to overcome worry, fear, and anxiety. The book of Isaiah in the Old Testament says that God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on Him because they trust Him (Isaiah 26:3). If you want more peace in your life, don't turn to a substance. Turn to the Savior! If you want more peace in your life, don't put your trust in a guru. Put your trust in God! If you want more peace in your life, don't look to a human relationship. Open up your heart to a relationship with Jesus by God's grace through faith! God can give you the peace for which you're longing. He can ease the burdens of fear, worry, anxiety, and stress. Trust in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. Let His Holy Spirit fill your heart with true and lasting peace. When God takes away your stress and when He eases your worries, remember to praise Him and thank Him for what He's done. Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace and He's waiting for you to receive the peace He offers you. Sleep well, friends! By Shawn Cornett, Bible League International staff, Illinois U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingRuth Ruth 1 -- Naomi and Ruth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ruth 2 -- Ruth Gleans in the Field of Boaz NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ruth 3 -- Naomi's Instruction to Ruth; Boaz Accepts Ruth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ruth 4 -- Boaz Marries Ruth and Begins the Line of David NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 11:29-54 Luke 11 -- Instruction about Prayer; Casting out Demons; the Sign of Jonah; Woes upon Pharisees NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion The wise don't make a show of their knowledge,but fools broadcast their foolishness. Insight Wise people have a quiet confidence. Unstable people (fools) feel the need to prove themselves, but wise people don't have to prove anything. They know they are capable, so they can get on with their work. Challenge Beware of showing off. If you are modest, people may not notice you at first, but they will respect you later. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Luke 23:31 If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?Among other interpretations of this suggestive question, the following is full of teaching: "If the innocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will be done when the sinner himself--the dry tree--shall fall into the hands of an angry God?" When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place, he did not spare him; and when he finds the unregenerate without Christ, he will not spare them. O sinner, Jesus was led away by his enemies: so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Jesus was deserted of God; and if he, who was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" what an awful shriek! But what shall be your cry when you shall say, "O God! O God! why hast thou forsaken me?" and the answer shall come back, "Because ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." If God spared not his own Son, how much less will he spare you! What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience shall smite you with all its terrors. Ye richest, ye merriest, ye most self-righteous sinners--who would stand in your place when God shall say, "Awake, O sword, against the man that rejected me; smite him, and let him feel the smart forever"? Jesus was spit upon: sinner, what shame will be yours! We cannot sum up in one word all the mass of sorrows which met upon the head of Jesus who died for us; therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you now are. You may die so, you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by his wounds and by his blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 1:5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,Romans 5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Colossians 2:9,10 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, • and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; John 15:4,5 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. • "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 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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