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Hi, this is Restoring Word and today we're going to talk about practicing peace.

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Is life just a little bit crazy for you?

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I know it is for me.

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You have a stressful job?

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I do too.

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I just want to share some promises with you this morning regarding peace and the first

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one comes out of Romans 8.6, for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the

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mind on the spirit is life and peace.

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So I'm going to just share a few things about my world.

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You know, I have to at times in my crazy stressful world, make a decision to set my mind on what

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brings peace, not on what I'm facing in the moment.

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And I've learned by doing it the wrong way, by feeding my anxiety, by feeding my fear

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that that isn't going to help me.

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What helps me is to set my mind on Jesus, the author and the finisher of my faith, the

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good shepherd who leads and guides me, the one who gives me that peace.

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John 16, 33 says, I've told you these things so that in me, you might have peace, not as

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the world has, for you will have trouble in this world, but take heart.

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I have overcome the world.

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Jesus inside of you is big and strong.

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He is the Holy Spirit, the comforter who comes alongside to comfort you and help you in times

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of stress and trouble.

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And you can learn to begin to not pay attention to necessarily how you feel in the moment.

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You can make a choice in the moment to think about peace that passes all understanding.

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It really is a decision.

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And I've made wrong decisions.

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I have, but I've also learned that when I set my mind on him and I clear things out

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of the way and I begin to focus on what?

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On his presence.

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Do you know the Bible says that he will never leave you nor forsake you, that he is with

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you always, even until the very ends of the world.

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He never leaves you.

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He's always there.

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You know, at times it might feel like he's not.

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That's your feelings, but that's not truth.

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The truth is that he is always there.

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Well, what do you do when you don't feel it?

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Well, you have to make some decisions to focus on what you know is true in the word.

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And there are some things that help.

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And the first thing is being thankful.

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Thankfulness and rehearsing your victories, rehearsing those moments where he got you

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through it, rehearsing those difficult things that you had to do that he walked you through.

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When you rehearse how good he's been, it reminds you that he will do it again.

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The other thing I love to do is worship.

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When I go down to the piano and I put my hands on the keys and I begin to sing, it changes

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the atmosphere.

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Maybe you're not a musician, but you know what?

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You can always put on a praise and worship album or a piece of music that is going to

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help you focus on Jesus.

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You can always do that.

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You can always make a choice to change the atmosphere, take authority over the anxiety.

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And you know, I'm a musician, so I understand.

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Music sets the tone for everything.

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You can listen to things that are going to rev you up and make you feel like you got

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to go out and fight.

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Or you can listen to things that are actually going to build your faith and your courage

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and your strength in him.

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Set your mind on him because he is good and his plans for you are good.

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You know, I think more than anything, you just have to believe that he's present in

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the middle of that adversity.

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You have to believe that he's right there with you.

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And I think when it hits me, generally, unfortunately, it's in the middle of the night.

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I am one of those.

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I'm a very restless sleeper.

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a fun. I am generally up around three. And it's because sometimes that is the only time

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when my world is quiet enough that the Comforter, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, He's

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able to speak to me. Because the rest of the time I have all these distractions. So I can

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wake up at three o'clock in the morning and I can have this endless to-do list of everything

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I've got to do and get done. And I can be overwhelmed with what I have to do. Well,

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you know what helps is when I just get up, so I don't wake my husband, go out of the

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living room, sit down, open up the Bible, or more importantly, just begin to practice

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the presence. Jesus, I know you're here with me. Jesus, I know you want to talk to me.

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Jesus, I know you want to give me instruction and strength. Jesus, I know that you are trying

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to deposit in me what I'm going to need for the next obstacle. He's faithful. He'll show

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you what to do. He'll speak to you. You know, when I was a choral director, I would literally

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stop and see myself rehearsing portions of music. I knew that was the trouble spot. I

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knew, ugh, tenor entrance was off. And I would think, oh my gosh, how am I going to fix it?

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And I would hear it in my head. His presence is there. He wants to lead you and he wants

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to guide you, but you've got to make a decision to turn the feelings off and believe that

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he's there with you. And you know what? If you will make a decision and believe that

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he's there, what I find is that my feelings follow that. My feelings line up with what

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I know is true about the word. And then when I make that decision, then his presence comes

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and I know he's there. He'll always help me. He's always there with me. It is something

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that you've got to practice, though. It is something that you have to put in place in

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your life. You have to make a position, a mental position or a decision to put your

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trust in him, that he is going to walk you through this stressed out world that we're

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living in. You know, if you open up the news or you begin to follow what's going on in

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the world around about you, begin to think, what is happening? And you begin to rehearse

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all the negativity. You know, we've got to make a decision in ourselves that we know

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that Jesus is big enough, that he overcomes the world. Are things being shaken right now?

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But he is bigger. Is the body of Christ being asked to step up into a greater place of authority

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and wisdom? Yes. Is the body of Christ being asked to stand in a difficult season? Yes.

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But we are more than able through Jesus who gives us strength. He is good. His plans for

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you are for good and not for evil. He's going to give you a future and a hope. Now, that

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does not mean that he isn't going to ask you to do something difficult. Yes. You may be

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asked to do something difficult. But I guarantee you, if you do it with him, if you walk it

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out with him, if you set your mind on him in the middle of it, you can have peace. Not

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as the world gives, but as he gives. Thank you for listening. If you know somebody today

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that's just going through a very, very hard season, please share this with them. Thank

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you for subscribing and liking the channel and sharing that. It's important that we get

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this message to those that truly need it. Thank you for listening and have a great day.