Peace 3

Genesis ch.37 is the story of Joseph. Joseph was given a dream by the Lord. Joseph's dream was about 12 sheaves of corn. One sheave, Joseph's sheave, was standing above the other eleven which represented his brothers. And the other eleven sheaves bowed down to Joseph's sheave. Joseph told his brothers his dream, and they of course were not impressed by the idea of bowing to their brother. They resented their little brother already because he was Jacob's favorite son, but the dream, that was beyond irritating to them. One day Jacob sent his favorite son out to the desert to find his brothers who were tending the sheep. When he found them they said, "here comes the dreamer", and decided to get rid of 'daddy's favorite' by throwing him in a well. One of his brothers had a moment of remorse and convinced the others that killing him would bring evil to them and at the same time they saw a caravan coming on the horizon. They sold Joseph to the traders, which began a journey for Joseph which ultimately lead to the saving of his family, and the beginning of the nation of Israel. I encourage you to read all of the account of Joseph's life. There is a verse that is very peculiar in this passage. While Joseph was looking for his brothers in the wilderness...

Gen 37 v15
15And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
17And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

The passage says, "a certain man found him..." Do you think it was an accident that the man found Joseph? No, I don't either. The man was performing the will of the Lord by getting Joseph to his brothers so he wouldn't miss the caravan to Egypt. Do you think Joseph knew that the Lord was directing his path by getting him sold into slavery? Do you think he had peace? The peace of knowing that the Lord was in control of his chaotic life? Every detail of our lives are known from the foundation of the earth. Every chance meeting is potentially a life bending moment. We can have peace in chaos by KNOWING that the LORD of heaven and earth is concerned about every detail of our lives. Our lives are no different from Joseph's. God is allowing us to participate in his plan!!! There is Peace my brothers and sisters.

Max and Tammy

Peace Day 2

Peace has so many different meanings on many different levels. Peace on the highest level is trusting the Lord for the salvation of our souls. However, the everyday peace of mind we need seems some times harder to hold on to or even realize at times. Our life struggles are so difficult to sort out. We are all faced with problems. Many as a result of sin, but often times adversity seems to come from nowhere. These are the most difficult of situations to find peace in because of our carnal nature. I use the term "carnal nature" because it is natural for us to equate peace, happiness, and wealth with righteousness. Many preach this 'health wealth' doctrine. This sort of teaching is not limited to the "Plant a seed of faith, send me money and things will go well with you". We are also bombarded with messages that cause us to examine our walk with the Lord based on how our lives here on earth are going. Both of these doctrines are false and dangerous. Job's story is the most common example of how a righteous man can have calamity come into his life. And the apostle Paul, if he were living in our day, how would his life measure up? He was beaten repeatedly, from which I am sure there were visible scars. He had no wealth, was jailed repeatedly and operated in direct opposition to the church system. Both of these "righteous" men were able to keep perspective in their adversity. They had peace in their adversity because they knew that the Lord operated outside of their time domain. They knew that the steps of their lives were known by the Lord from before the foundation of the world. Our lives are no different from theirs. The Lord is allowing us to participate in His awesome plan through the struggles of this life. My prayer is that we would seek our peace in Him, KNOWING that our position in this life and/or our righteousness is not based on worldly successes, how much we read the Word or how often we pray. It is all about what the Lord is, and has been doing from the foundation of the world.

Much Love in the Lord Jesus Christ,
Max and Tammy

Peace

Peace is something we all long for, and in our life struggles Peace may seem far from where we are.
John 15:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Our only Peace is In Him.
In 2 Samuel 7 David expresses his peace in the Lord.......... 27 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer. 28 O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."

These words David spoke to the Lord take me back to a point in my life, an exact day in fact, when the Lord spoke His word into my heart, told me He loved me and that I was His child. That day is an anchor for my soul. It is sometimes what seems to be my only Peace in this world. If you haven't sought the Lord and asked Him to speak to your heart, my prayer is that you would seek that and that He would give you your own experience of Him. My prayer for us all is that we would continue to seek our peace in Him. True Peace is found in nothing other than the Lord Jesus Christ and His Love that He has lavished on us.

Max and Tammy

What You See Is What You Get

"As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, 'Have mercy on us, Son of David!' When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he [Jesus] asked them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' 'Yes, Lord,' they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, 'According to your faith will it be done to you'; and their sight was restored."
(Matthew 9:27-30, NIV)

These men may have been blind physically but they had great spiritual vision. They saw with their mind's eye what they wanted and went for it-and received it. Life's like that. Basically, what we see is what we get. If we see ourselves as failures, we will set ourselves up to fail. And if we see ourselves as unlovable, we will set ourselves up to be rejected in love. On the other hand, if we see ourselves as successful we will succeed in what we want to do with our life. If we see ourselves as lovable, we will never be lacking in giving and receiving love. As Antoine de Saint-Exupery so eloquently said, "A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral." Michelangelo expressed the same idea when he said, "I saw the angel in the marble and kept chiseling until I set it free."

What do you see about your life? "Two men looked through prison bars, one saw mud and the other saw stars!" If you are seeing mud, look up and see what God sees in you. He sees the "angel" within you and wants you to become that person. And if you have faith enough and act accordingly, you can become that person--and it will be done to you. - Dick Innes

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you see the 'angel' within me--the person that you envision for me to be. Help me to see your vision for me that, with faith, persistence, hard work, and your help, I can become. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

Bill