The Peace of God

“Let the peace of God guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

The peace of God; it’s an awesome thing to think about.

And it’s not with God, it’s not from God, this is the peace of God.

It’s the calm assurance that what God is doing is best. It doesn’t matter what comes in the mail today, it doesn’t matter what comes from the doctor, it doesn’t matter who rings my phone, it doesn’t matter what comes my way today, I have something guarding my heart.

Like sentinels on the wall around the city, the peace of God guards your heart, you see it there?

“And the peace of God which surpasses understanding,” you just can’t even imagine this peace. It didn’t matter what news came, it didn’t matter what happened. There’s a peace that comes from God that is such an awesome protection.

You can get off the emotional rollercoaster and let this peace guard your heart and nothing can penetrate that except that you open the door yourself and that’s the peace of God.

Please pray this prayer, wherever you are this Christmas:

“I pray Lord, for Your peace to guard my heart. I see how quickly the details of life can penetrate my experience and cause me to live apart from what I know to be true. I reach out to You by faith that You would grant to me Your peace which passes all understanding. Amen.”

May His peace be with you this Christmas.

James MacDonald

Merry Chrstmas...Because of Jesus!

Joy to the world ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ the Lord is come ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Let earth receive her King ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Let every heart prepare Him room ♥ ♥ ♥ And Heaven and Nature sing ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ And Heaven and Nature sing ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪...And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing!♪♫•*¨*•..........¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Perspective on Dirt

Last nite the joy level in my home rose significantly when our kids from Little Rock came home for an extended visit before moving to Australia. What joy to have them here with us for this short window of time!

It's funny to me that in anticipating their visit my perspective on dirt changed considerably. I actually viewed it differently, even intentionally looking for it.

I looked for it. I saw it. Suddenly it was "not ok", and I dealt with it.

This morning I opened my washing machine and right away noticed a blob of detergent spilled on the top, and a ring of dirt that had built up around the inside of the door. Where had that come from?

It had obviously built up over time and I had not even noticed. Today, in the light of my guests who will be using my washer during their stay, I noticed...and it was NOT ok.

As I grabbed a cloth to clean my washer it struck me that I had used my washer several times yesterday and never noticed it was dirty. Why?

I realized that my perspective on dirt changed when I saw it thru the eyes of others.

Sin can be a lot like dirt. I can miss or even ignore it in my life till something provides perspective.

The dirt in my washer has caused me to ponder my perspective on my sin today. How skewed is it? How tolerant am I with my sin? Am I even watching for it, let alone dealing with it consistently?

I have much to learn as a housekeeper and child of the King. I am asking God to help me to be much more alert. To see my sin thru His eyes...and that it NOT be ok with me at all.