Thursday, December 31, 2020

Dec 31, 2020… More Peace Please

Berry Patch Devotions in 2020 - Day 366 


Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...   Please take the time to take in song and lyrics from 5 YO Claire Crosby and her father singing … Peace In Christ …  poignantly singing of how, in our relationship with Christ we find our peace in this world. 


The fireworks of life ... 

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Highlight Passage:   Ephesians 2:13-14a [ESV] ... 

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, …  

  Once at war with God, in Christ we find our peace with the Lord … 

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Highlight Passage [Context]: …  Ephesians 2:12-18 [ESV] …  USE THIS LINK … 

… Paul discovered and shared that our peace in this world can only come in our relationship with Christ. 

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Reference Passage: …  Isaiah 26:3 [ESV] … 

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in You.

  The one who trusts completely in God and surrenders to seek after God’s will and His ways will find peace.  


Reference Passage: … John 14:27, 16:33 [ESV] … USE THIS LINK … 

  Jesus imparts His peace to His fearful disciples in the upper room, … charging them to find their (and our) peace in Him.  


Reference Passage: … Philippians 4:6-7  [ESV] … 

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

  Paul helps fellow Christians (and us) to find the peace we all seek in life by bringing our fears and anxieties to the Lord with a thankful heart.  


Reference Passage: … 1Peter 5: 6-7 [ESV] … 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting ALL your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.  

  Peter to oppressed and troubled Christians on how to humbly bring our anxieties to a caring God. 


My Devotional JournalToday's Our Daily Bread author, Patrica Raybon, AT THIS LINK writes that fireworks are a good picture of leaving a troubled year behind and move into a new year, seeking peace because the booming fireworks (see photo) represent leaving behind al the explosive problems and stresses of our life and seeking more peace in the new year. 


In this explosive and problematic year we’ve all been thru in 2020, most, if not all of us, likely seek after more peace and more joy in 2021, don’t we?  Well, if you’ve taken in the lovely song, sung by the peaceful voices of a 5 year old and her dad, and my readers have meditated on the context and content of the Scriptures above, I hope we all see that the ONLY way we’re going to find more peace - and fewer fireworks - in the new year is to seek after and find a deeper, more abiding relationship with Christ. 


So, since I find that I can seek - and find - more of God’s peace by starting each day in a quiet time of prayer and truth found in God’s word, you can expect to be able to come back here daily to find me doing what my Lord has called me to do and that is to find my peace in Him.  And I pray we all do the same, … in our own, individual ways, … seeking that deeper and more abiding relationship with our King Jesus by being with Him more thru His word. 


My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh Abba Father, ... thank You, Lord, … for showing the peace in life which only comes thru You.  

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... I pray that all reading here will join me, to find more of God’s peace, … and less of the fireworks of life, … by getting to know our Lord more intimately in His word.  … Amen


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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,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

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