The Peace of God

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.   

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

I experienced the peace of God in a very powerful way. 

I felt the anxiety that Paul spoke of in this verse.  I prayed, determining that I wouldn’t stop until I felt the incomprehensible peace of God.  Then this happened:

1. I felt intensely relaxed, like I do right before I’m about to fall into a very pleasant sleep.
2. The feelings of anxiety left me.
3. The distracting thoughts that aroused anxiety left me.  In other words, I was able to focus on my life as it was in the moment, and not be distracted by the causes of anxiety in my life.

It was exactly like Paul said.  It was a peace that could only come from God, it transcended my understanding, and it guarded my emotions and mind. 

The situation didn’t change.  What I wanted to happen hadn’t happened yet…as far as I knew in the moment.  But the perfect transcendent peace of God meant one of two things:

1. My prayer was heard, but not granted.  God gave me something else in the place of what I asked.
2. My prayer was granted.

I have yet to see if I received what I asked.  But one thing I now know:  I should expect the perfect transcendent peace of God when I pray.  I should expect to be heard and taken care of by God, even if He doesn’t give what I ask.  Or I should expect to receive what I ask.   

With either of these, I should expect the peace of God.   

Amen.

God or Me? God or You?

“From the moment a creature becomes aware of God and of itself, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the center is opened to it.”  C.S. Lewis

God or me.

God or you.

When did you first learn God exists?

From that moment until this one, you had an obligation of submission.

The Creator owns creation.

From the moment I came to know my Maker, I should have sought the purpose for which He made me, and lived for that purpose only.

But I didn’t.

I thought about what I wanted to do, about what would make me happy.

Now I tried to make God happy too, but my REAL focus was my happiness. 

God’s existence made no real difference to me ultimately. 

I didn’t honor Him for who He is.

And who is He?

My life.

Plain and simple.

What if God ignored me, or you?

Could we live in the absence of His attention for one moment?

His attention, His sustained eternal infinite attention is what keep us from disintegration, as it is written,

“In Him we live, and move, and have our being.”

This may be the moment in which you become aware of God, and thus His will, and so your will, in submission or rebellion.

Most of us don’t shake our fists at God.

We simply don’t think about Him.

We do worse than ignore Him.

We completely forget Him.

We neglect Him.

Our neglect is our suicide.

But Jesus died, and rose, and ascended.

We can be forgiven for ignoring Him and neglecting Him.

Now that we know He is, we should live for His purpose.

Living for the Day we DIE (CONCLUSION)

It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. From Hagukure, The Book of the Samurai

One focus.

One purpose.

God’s purpose.

One identity.

One reality.

Slavery.

I have one goal:  Draw near to God.

I have one purpose:  God drawing near to me.

Anything and anyone that draws me near to God, I accept, no matter the consequences.

Anything and anyone that draws me away from God I reject, no matter the consequences.

What about you?

What do you live for?

What are you willing to die for?

These questions must be answered NOW!

Because a time is coming when it will be too late to answer them.

Questions like these must be settled.

Unwavering.

One day you will be called to make a choice, a choice that will determine your destiny and eternity.

Today is that day.

Right now is that time.

Do you assume that there will be a tomorrow for you?

How do you KNOW this is true?

How many who are no longer here thought they knew?

Being young doesn’t change this, and being old doesn’t make it more true.

We all have now, right now, only now.

You won’t be able to say that no one told you.

You won’t be able to stand before Jesus with this defense:  Ignorance.

If I don’t say this, my words are without purpose.

If my words don’t lead you to God, they lead you away from God.

There is no middle ground.

No neutral.

Choose.

Choose God’s purpose.

Refuse a life without God's purpose.

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Ecclesiastes 7:2

Living for the Day we DIE (PART 2)

If one were to say in a word what the condition of being a samurai is, its basis lies first in seriously devoting one's body and soul to his master.

From Hagukure, The Book of the Samurai

Death and slavery.

I am dead.

I am The Spirit’s slave.

Some consider death depressing.

Others consider slavery degrading.

Death is depressing if there is nothing after, or worse, if hell awaits a life of hell.

Slavery is degrading if we are slaves to humans and creation instead of our Creator.

But true slavery is liberty to be what God made me to be:   

His!

I am His samurai.

So, why all of the focus on death and slavery?

As far as I’m concerned, my entire life will be summed up on the day I face my Creator and Savior.

The day I die will show how I lived.  What I lived for, and thus what I am dying for.

Death doesn’t depress me.

Dying without purpose scares me.

But I have nothing to fear because I know my purpose:  God’s nearness.

I live to experience and share the experience of God’s presence.

What about you?

Do you know why God made you?  Why Jesus died for you?

If not, then that is your purpose!

Your purpose is to find your purpose.

Refuse to live another moment without this focus.

Choose to live on purpose with a purpose.

God’s purpose.

Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.  Romans 6:16 NLT

Living for the Day we DIE (PART 1)

The Way of the Samurai is found in death.  And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead. This is the substance of the way of the samurai.  

From Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai

Imagine your death. 

Imagine the day you will die. 

(Because that day is coming.)

What do you want your last day to be like?

Now, imagine you’re dead.

You face your Maker, Creator, Owner.

He tells you to give an account of your life, of the breath in your nostrils, His breath, His life.

What will you say?

What purpose does each breath serve as you breathe it?

I want to be perfectly pleasing in the sight of God on the day of judgment, and to know that this is so in the present.   

How can I know this with absolute certainty?

It is our Creator’s obligation to reveal this to you and me.

So I ask Him.

He tells me.

I live for the purpose for which He made me, and I think, say, and do nothing unless it relates to that purpose.

As it is written,

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”   

Romans 6:11 ESV

To be dead is to be unresponsive.

Sin is falling short of the goal of God:  His glory.

So I am unresponsive to all that does not glorify God, and responsive only to Him, through union with Him.

This is the substance of the way of God’s slaves.

Do you belong to Him?