Hi, this is Restoring Word and today we're going to talk about practicing peace.
Is life just a little bit crazy for you?
I know it is for me.
You have a stressful job?
I do too.
I just want to share some promises with you this morning regarding peace and the first
one comes out of Romans 8.6, for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the
mind on the spirit is life and peace.
So I'm going to just share a few things about my world.
You know, I have to at times in my crazy stressful world, make a decision to set my mind on what
brings peace, not on what I'm facing in the moment.
And I've learned by doing it the wrong way, by feeding my anxiety, by feeding my fear
that that isn't going to help me.
What helps me is to set my mind on Jesus, the author and the finisher of my faith, the
good shepherd who leads and guides me, the one who gives me that peace.
John 16, 33 says, I've told you these things so that in me, you might have peace, not as
the world has, for you will have trouble in this world, but take heart.
I have overcome the world.
Jesus inside of you is big and strong.
He is the Holy Spirit, the comforter who comes alongside to comfort you and help you in times
of stress and trouble.
And you can learn to begin to not pay attention to necessarily how you feel in the moment.
You can make a choice in the moment to think about peace that passes all understanding.
It really is a decision.
And I've made wrong decisions.
I have, but I've also learned that when I set my mind on him and I clear things out
of the way and I begin to focus on what?
On his presence.
Do you know the Bible says that he will never leave you nor forsake you, that he is with
you always, even until the very ends of the world.
He never leaves you.
He's always there.
You know, at times it might feel like he's not.
That's your feelings, but that's not truth.
The truth is that he is always there.
Well, what do you do when you don't feel it?
Well, you have to make some decisions to focus on what you know is true in the word.
And there are some things that help.
And the first thing is being thankful.
Thankfulness and rehearsing your victories, rehearsing those moments where he got you
through it, rehearsing those difficult things that you had to do that he walked you through.
When you rehearse how good he's been, it reminds you that he will do it again.
The other thing I love to do is worship.
When I go down to the piano and I put my hands on the keys and I begin to sing, it changes
the atmosphere.
Maybe you're not a musician, but you know what?
You can always put on a praise and worship album or a piece of music that is going to
help you focus on Jesus.
You can always do that.
You can always make a choice to change the atmosphere, take authority over the anxiety.
And you know, I'm a musician, so I understand.
Music sets the tone for everything.
You can listen to things that are going to rev you up and make you feel like you got
to go out and fight.
Or you can listen to things that are actually going to build your faith and your courage
and your strength in him.
Set your mind on him because he is good and his plans for you are good.
You know, I think more than anything, you just have to believe that he's present in
the middle of that adversity.
You have to believe that he's right there with you.
And I think when it hits me, generally, unfortunately, it's in the middle of the night.
I am one of those.
I'm a very restless sleeper.
a fun. I am generally up around three. And it's because sometimes that is the only time
when my world is quiet enough that the Comforter, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, He's
able to speak to me. Because the rest of the time I have all these distractions. So I can
wake up at three o'clock in the morning and I can have this endless to-do list of everything
I've got to do and get done. And I can be overwhelmed with what I have to do. Well,
you know what helps is when I just get up, so I don't wake my husband, go out of the
living room, sit down, open up the Bible, or more importantly, just begin to practice
the presence. Jesus, I know you're here with me. Jesus, I know you want to talk to me.
Jesus, I know you want to give me instruction and strength. Jesus, I know that you are trying
to deposit in me what I'm going to need for the next obstacle. He's faithful. He'll show
you what to do. He'll speak to you. You know, when I was a choral director, I would literally
stop and see myself rehearsing portions of music. I knew that was the trouble spot. I
knew, ugh, tenor entrance was off. And I would think, oh my gosh, how am I going to fix it?
And I would hear it in my head. His presence is there. He wants to lead you and he wants
to guide you, but you've got to make a decision to turn the feelings off and believe that
he's there with you. And you know what? If you will make a decision and believe that
he's there, what I find is that my feelings follow that. My feelings line up with what
I know is true about the word. And then when I make that decision, then his presence comes
and I know he's there. He'll always help me. He's always there with me. It is something
that you've got to practice, though. It is something that you have to put in place in
your life. You have to make a position, a mental position or a decision to put your
trust in him, that he is going to walk you through this stressed out world that we're
living in. You know, if you open up the news or you begin to follow what's going on in
the world around about you, begin to think, what is happening? And you begin to rehearse
all the negativity. You know, we've got to make a decision in ourselves that we know
that Jesus is big enough, that he overcomes the world. Are things being shaken right now?
But he is bigger. Is the body of Christ being asked to step up into a greater place of authority
and wisdom? Yes. Is the body of Christ being asked to stand in a difficult season? Yes.
But we are more than able through Jesus who gives us strength. He is good. His plans for
you are for good and not for evil. He's going to give you a future and a hope. Now, that
does not mean that he isn't going to ask you to do something difficult. Yes. You may be
asked to do something difficult. But I guarantee you, if you do it with him, if you walk it
out with him, if you set your mind on him in the middle of it, you can have peace. Not
as the world gives, but as he gives. Thank you for listening. If you know somebody today
that's just going through a very, very hard season, please share this with them. Thank
you for subscribing and liking the channel and sharing that. It's important that we get
this message to those that truly need it. Thank you for listening and have a great day.