I was going through some old material that I had written years ago and was reminded how relevant the experience and wisdom in those pages still are today. In the introduction I shared my own personal journey and experience of what I had learned in my own search for personal happiness. I hope that you can find some thread of wisdom and or insight in what I have learned to encourage you and draw you closer to where the answers for your own struggles lie.
Many people seek help in different area of their personal lives. Yet some never seem to resolve their problems or conflicts. They may seek professional counselors from many different sources only to find that they are not getting the answers or help that they are looking for. When in fact, they are not getting the answers they want. I personally struggled for years in my own heart for answers to heart aches and drama that seemed to follow my every step. I would go from friend to friend only to find them saying the same thing, “you will get through this, you are a good person, this will pass.” While I do not want to make light of their concern for me, I fear that because they themselves were struggling with the same issues that had not been resolved, they felt unqualified to give advice to me.
Basically, I was looking for a quick fix. I wanted someone to give me a 3 step plan that would change my life. I wanted someone to give me easy answers that would not cost me very much or anything at all (the latter being my preference when it came to surrender). We live in a day and time when everything around us seems to scream at us to just do it! It’s our lives, if it feels good to us then whose business is it what we do! Unfortunately, what feels good and right at the time has repercussions from decisions made out of recklessness or lack of thought.
The Word of God appeals to it’s readers to commit themselves to God and His direction for their lives. There are no other highways to eternal happiness and peace only one…Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one goes to the Father but by Him. Many times we try to bypass His work on the cross by knowing what He did for us, but not understanding. Jesus did not die so that everyone that hears about Him and believes He was real goes to heaven….He died to seek forgiveness from the Father for the sin of all who seek true forgiveness. Apart from repentance there can be no forgiveness. If that were the case everyone would go to heaven. Seeking true forgiveness means repenting, turn around, go the other way….stop doing….don’t go there any more! Oh I knew that Jesus died for my sins, but I did not understand the principle of repentance…..forgiveness was easy, Jesus' death paid that price…but peace only came for me when I understood my part…it was the repenting part that I had trouble with. My struggle with repentance gave way to having a struggle with peace. The peace that surpasses temporal peace, the kind of peace that lingers and stays with you in-spite of the situation… that was what I was seeking.
Peace is the most sought after commodity that the human heart seeks. Without it we live a life of struggle and torment. It seems as though we are on a continuous journey to find it. In our search we try filling our lives with temporal things. Many try filling their lives with material possessions, some try in relationship after relationship and many try filling their aching hearts with religion or jobs in hopes to fill that empty void that constantly seeks after peace through material things.
It is not things that give long lasting peace. True peace comes through that inner assurance that we can draw from an inner strength that is not our own. That no matter the conflict, we find that we are soaring above it. For it is within our own strength that we succumb to wits end during difficult times. I personally have found that finding the peace that lies within me is only as hard as surrendering my will and strength to the Father’s will; for peace lies within the surrender of the will. For it is in Him that my strength is made strong.
We can never discover new oceans unless we are willing to loose sight of the shore. To attain what the Lord wants us to have, we must let go of what we are trying to keep. John 8:31-32 tells us that if we continue in His Word, then we are His disciples indeed, and we shall know the truth, and the truth will make us free.
You were created for one purpose… to know God ...and by knowing Him and His ways you are made free. If freedom never comes it will be because we do not continue to know God… and to know is to obey…..One thing that God’s Word says that shall stay with me all the days of my life and drives me to live for Him is this…. “if you love Me, you will obey Me”….
To let go and let God have our all, in every area is not an easy thing to do…but it must be done to have what our hearts long and ache to have….peace and contentment in all our ways.
Remember this:
Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. Seek peace and pursue it!
I love you and pray that the Father will blow His breath on you today, and you will feel His presence in a new way.
Bren
Many people seek help in different area of their personal lives. Yet some never seem to resolve their problems or conflicts. They may seek professional counselors from many different sources only to find that they are not getting the answers or help that they are looking for. When in fact, they are not getting the answers they want. I personally struggled for years in my own heart for answers to heart aches and drama that seemed to follow my every step. I would go from friend to friend only to find them saying the same thing, “you will get through this, you are a good person, this will pass.” While I do not want to make light of their concern for me, I fear that because they themselves were struggling with the same issues that had not been resolved, they felt unqualified to give advice to me.
Basically, I was looking for a quick fix. I wanted someone to give me a 3 step plan that would change my life. I wanted someone to give me easy answers that would not cost me very much or anything at all (the latter being my preference when it came to surrender). We live in a day and time when everything around us seems to scream at us to just do it! It’s our lives, if it feels good to us then whose business is it what we do! Unfortunately, what feels good and right at the time has repercussions from decisions made out of recklessness or lack of thought.
The Word of God appeals to it’s readers to commit themselves to God and His direction for their lives. There are no other highways to eternal happiness and peace only one…Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one goes to the Father but by Him. Many times we try to bypass His work on the cross by knowing what He did for us, but not understanding. Jesus did not die so that everyone that hears about Him and believes He was real goes to heaven….He died to seek forgiveness from the Father for the sin of all who seek true forgiveness. Apart from repentance there can be no forgiveness. If that were the case everyone would go to heaven. Seeking true forgiveness means repenting, turn around, go the other way….stop doing….don’t go there any more! Oh I knew that Jesus died for my sins, but I did not understand the principle of repentance…..forgiveness was easy, Jesus' death paid that price…but peace only came for me when I understood my part…it was the repenting part that I had trouble with. My struggle with repentance gave way to having a struggle with peace. The peace that surpasses temporal peace, the kind of peace that lingers and stays with you in-spite of the situation… that was what I was seeking.
Peace is the most sought after commodity that the human heart seeks. Without it we live a life of struggle and torment. It seems as though we are on a continuous journey to find it. In our search we try filling our lives with temporal things. Many try filling their lives with material possessions, some try in relationship after relationship and many try filling their aching hearts with religion or jobs in hopes to fill that empty void that constantly seeks after peace through material things.
It is not things that give long lasting peace. True peace comes through that inner assurance that we can draw from an inner strength that is not our own. That no matter the conflict, we find that we are soaring above it. For it is within our own strength that we succumb to wits end during difficult times. I personally have found that finding the peace that lies within me is only as hard as surrendering my will and strength to the Father’s will; for peace lies within the surrender of the will. For it is in Him that my strength is made strong.
We can never discover new oceans unless we are willing to loose sight of the shore. To attain what the Lord wants us to have, we must let go of what we are trying to keep. John 8:31-32 tells us that if we continue in His Word, then we are His disciples indeed, and we shall know the truth, and the truth will make us free.
You were created for one purpose… to know God ...and by knowing Him and His ways you are made free. If freedom never comes it will be because we do not continue to know God… and to know is to obey…..One thing that God’s Word says that shall stay with me all the days of my life and drives me to live for Him is this…. “if you love Me, you will obey Me”….
To let go and let God have our all, in every area is not an easy thing to do…but it must be done to have what our hearts long and ache to have….peace and contentment in all our ways.
Remember this:
Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. Seek peace and pursue it!
I love you and pray that the Father will blow His breath on you today, and you will feel His presence in a new way.
Bren
2 comments:
I love your heart for the brothers and sisters in Christ.
well written my friend.
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