Happy Sunday !,...and, what a beautiful Autumn day Our Lord has Given Us.
Upon awakening this morning after a 90 degree very humid and physically exhausting day, I was overcome by a strong feeling of God's Peace.
After a rather rough day filled with personal trial, this feeling of God's Peace is a welcome blessing.
I reflect on on a book written by Jack Hartman in the early 80's. Pastor Hartman's writings on the Deep Inner Peace of God may well be the most compelling and revealing written realization of the Un-paralelled Love of God that I've ever read. Truly a 'Must Read' although hard to find as it's out of print.
But let me convey some of Hartman's understanding of how God's love results in this 'Deep Inner Peace of God'.
The Creator who spoke us into being is obviously more than capable of handling virtually Any circumstance that would ever come up against us and our human frailty. " For with God nothing is ever impossible...." Luke 1:37
The winds of life blow in very uncertain direction, the waves of life toss unexpectedly, but they have NO power over the Holy Spirit living inside each and every one of us through the Love of our Father and Savior. Jesus taught humanity this great Truth centuries ago on The Sea of Galilee.
As Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake that evening, a furious storm of more than hurricane proportion arose out of nowhere. The giant waves tossed and filled the boat to the point of understandable human distress. (Mark 4:37)
The disciples were terrified by the strength of the storm, yet Jesus remained calm and peaceful. As a matter of fact, he slept until His disciples frantically woke Him and expressed their fear of capsizing and drowning.
A beautiful event next took place as " He arose, and rebuked the wind, and instructed the sea,.........PEACE,......Be Still ! " ... and the wind ceased, and the water calmed. He said to them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it ye have no faith?" ... (Mark 4:39-40)
The same great peaceful Lord to command the wind and sea so very many years ago remains living inside each one of us today! For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever! ( Hebrews 13:8 )
He doesn't want us to be worried or afraid today any more than He wanted His disciples to be worried or afraid. When the storms of life come at us, He wants us to be still and know He is God.
He wants us to face every challenge, obstacle, or hurt of life with calmness derived from true Faith that He is indeed our protector,...our sufficiency, our guardian. For, fear and worry indicate our level of Godly Trust,.....FAITH !
Calmness in the face of adversity indicates that we do trust Him.
Trust in the Lord,... Trust in the Word,... Trust in the fact that when we are faced with what seem like monumental problems, we should never be discouraged because we do not believe we can handle them. Instead, we should see the Glory of God in our weakness, and realize that this is what enables the Lord's strength to be released in our lives.
We must realize that we can't do anything of real significance by ourselves and that everything we need comes from Him. " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God"
( II Corinthians 3:5 )
Review this thought,these scriptural verses,... engrain this thought to your souls,........the Gracious and Merciful outcome is indeed " The Deep Inner Peace of God ". A peace that surpasses virtually ANY obstacle, and provides us the Joy of Christ in all we do.
With The Love of Christ, AMEN and God Bless You !!!
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