Devotional Song: Go to this link … Please go to this video link to hear an anonymous praise chorus singing the traditional hymn Peace, Peace …. Wonderful Peace, … reminding us that peace in our lives can only come if granted and brought into our lives from God.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Titus 3: 1, 2 [NKJV] …
1 Remind them … 2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Exodus 8: 1-19 [NKJV] … Go to this link …
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Reference Passage #1: Isaiah 26: 3 [NKJV] …
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.…
Reference Passage #2: Philippians 4: 6-7 [NKJV] …
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Reference Passage #2: Revelation 3: 20 [NKJV] …
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
My Journal for Today: The refrain of today’s song link is from the old, traditional hymn, Peace, Peace, Wonderful Peace; and the refrain goes as follows …
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
The hymn reminded me that real peace in our lives can only really come from God. Oh, we may try to create peace out of the chaos and often confusion of life with analgesics, other, more potent drugs, and pleasure seeking, such as p0rnography. However, all attempts by mankind to erase or medicate the anxieties or chaos of life will come to naught without a deep and abiding relationship with Christ.
I can recall some years earlier when I was sitting on a bench on a point near Kentucky Lake watching the sun come up on a chilly November morning (see the attached photo which I took and now share from that morning); and I realized that the peacefulness of that scene could never be duplicated by any man-made substance or experience. No, … only God could produce that kind of peace; and I was able to experience it because I was responding to the truth of Isaiah 26: 3 or Philippians 4: 6-7, as well as Revelation 3: 20 [see above]. I was allowing myself to surrender all my cares to God and to let Him guard my heart/mind with His inexplicable peace.
If you’re reading along with me today, you, like me, probably are being engulfed by the tyranny of the urgent, the demands of this world, or the ploys of Satan to divert our attention away from our relationship with Christ or the disciplines of the faith. Your mind may be saying to you, “It’s okay to skip being with God in prayer or in His word today!” … But, my friend, we must know that the only way we can have a credible claim on peace in our lives is to respond to Jesus’ invitation [see Rev. 3: 20] as He knocks on the door of our consciousness, desiring to come in and fellowship with us, … giving us the only peace we’ll ever find, wrapped up in that closeness of His presence.
So, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to open the door and let Him in today. … How about you?
My Prayer for Today … Lord, I hear You, knocking on the door of my heart. Come on in; and let’s dine together today. I desire a big share of the peace that only You can provide. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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