From my new book Pursuing Peace - Finding God's Peace in a Stressful Life
“This is
where readers find that the author has taken a bad
situation
and magically turned it shining in a few orchestrated
words, all
to prove a point. Well, this is real life after all. And
sometimes
God’s finale for proving a point ends differently.
That meager
moment of mine didn’t end simply with the huge
blue moon
and the sound of children’s laughter. It ended when
I recognized
the message. He was giving me peace with the
pain of feet
covered in fire ants.”
CH2 - Made in His
Image
“How often
we go through life and swing from moments of
bliss to
junctures of distress. It is as if we hang from a tree on a
hard, wooden
board and sway our way through life. At times,
we may feel
like we’re just swinging from one bad experience
to the next.
We should be reminded of the family in our life
and the
experiences we share. Use them all. The times of joy
remind us
that God’s gifts of peace bring comfort. The bad ones
remind us
that this life is groaning around us in anticipation of
the return
of God’s perfect order and majesty. And in due time,
we shall
prevail. Take heart in the hurt.”
CH3 - Family, Friends, and Acquaintances
“Grown
endurance results in winning. The Olympics have
filled the
news over the past few weeks. It’s that time when the
world comes
together to compete for the prize. We are in a life
of spiritual
Olympics. We are in training every day. Some of
us work
smart, and we toil hard. Some of us just show up and
hang out on
the sidelines. Unlike the sports Olympics, in the
spiritual
Olympics, we all try out, and we all qualify to race.
But we don’t
all win. When we feel the heat and run with
God, we
develop endurance. Our gained strength results in a
successful
finish.
Christ
Himself managed to take on the greatest pressure of all
when He died
on the cross. He was able to do that with the
peace He had
within Him. This is the same peace where we can
find calm
within when we go through our own battles in life.
The process
is hard, but the pursuit is simple, and the results
are amazing.
And it starts with us dedicating the battle to the
Lord and
resting in His promises.”
CH4 - Decision
Making
eBook
Paperback
Hardcover
So your part from CH 4 makes me think of something that I was talking about with someone during Lent. Part of our giving up or fasting is a way of exercising. Instead of a physical (which it can be) it is a spiritual exercise. If we can make small sacrifices and use them to focus our prayer life on God, then we become stronger and better at trusting in Him. This helps us prepare for the times in our lives when we are faced with greater sacrifices. We have practiced our trust in God enough that we run to Him first.
ReplyDeleteIndeed brother. Scripture tells us that Jesus ventured into extensive prayer and/or fasting before His greatest testing, ministry and trial. Great feedback!
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