Today's gonna be a little bit different, a little bit shorter maybe than most
episodes. So today we're going to take a posture of peace by leaning on our
helper, our teacher, the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us in this truth.
Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.
Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
Just a little fun fact, when I first started teaching and preaching years
ago, I hated public speaking. I hated it. I would dread speaking engagements for
like months in advance. I'd get sick before an event, sometimes I would be
sick during an event. It was not great, it wasn't always enjoyable, but I had felt
strongly like the Lord was wanting to develop my teaching and my
communication gifting for the calling he was preparing me for. So out of obedience
I kept saying yes when these opportunities to speak, to teach, to
preach would arise. And it wasn't necessarily easy, but I learned so much
in that season and I remember a conversation I had with the Lord before
one of those speaking engagements. You know, I went to the Lord and I said, I
know that this fear is not of you, I know this anxiety is not of you, so
Father, if there is anything in my heart I need to repent of, to change my mind
about so that I can walk in peace and this calling, show me. And what he showed
me was I had been carrying a need to be profound. I was carrying an unnecessary
weight, this responsibility to wow the crowd into transformation, to communicate
in a way, to be clever enough in language so that they would get it. And you know,
what had happened was I forgot that I'm not people's Holy Spirit. I can partner
with him and his agenda, but I don't ever need to feel like it's all up to me and
my presentation to woo people to God. God and his kindness draws people to him. And
so with that being said, I changed my mind that day years ago and I have
walked in that direction ever since. So I don't need to be profound, I just need to
be obedient. And today I woke up with this one thing that I feel like the Lord
is prompting me to share with you today, so I'm just gonna be obedient. I know it
may seem basic to some of you, it may seem unimpressive, but I believe that
there is someone out there that needs to hear this today, and that is God wants
you to know that he is patient with you. He's not fed up, he's not mad, he's not
standing at a distance waiting for you to get it right. He's not limited in his
patience, he is relentless in it. And I don't feel like I need to expound on
that any further today, so I'm just going to trust your Holy Spirit, my Holy Spirit,
our helper, and our teacher to lead us in that truth today. He is a genius and he
knows exactly how to guide us. So I'll leave you with this one verse from 2
Peter chapter 3, verse 9. It says the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise
as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should
perish, but that all should reach repentance. Today, focus on this truth, the
Lord is patient with you. The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3. In
Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom, meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing,
nothing broken. This is who you are in Jesus, because of Jesus. You are a living
testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. With every step you take today, you're putting
Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.