Tag: Be in peace

What Does the Bible Say About Peace and Love?

Hi Beloved! Happy Resurrection Sunday! He is risen, hallelujah! We thank you, God, for the gift of your precious Son. Because of His sacrifice on the cross, we are joint heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven and have the right to live healthy, whole, and prosperous! Amen!

I want to finish off this series with verses from the bible about peace and love.

PEACE – The Lord gives us peace that transcends all understanding. Even if our circumstances change and we face difficulties, our peace cannot be shaken or taken if it’s rooted in the Lord.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.” (2 Thessalonians 3:16)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.” (Leviticus 26:6)

“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39)

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

“Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11)

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.” (Ephesians 2:14)


“Then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20)

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)

LOVE – We love because God first loved us. He so loved us that He gave His one and only son to be crucified for our sins. Jesus took the punishment we deserved, so we could take the blessings He deserved.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

Beloved, I hope that you are blessed and encouraged by God’s word. Please let me know if I can pray for you! Have a blessed week!

Jesus Loves You,

Alexis

Boldly Defeat Your Giants

“This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” (1 Samuel 17: 47)

Hi Beloved! I hope you are having a blessed week! We are in the thick of winter and over here we are cold and covered in snow. I have to say, I used to loathe cold weather, but now I actually enjoy it! I don’t know when or how that change occurred, but since I live where it gets quite cold, I’ll take it!

Today, I wanted to write about one of my absolute favorite Bible stories! You might know it well. It is such an incredible story and provides us with such a great example of how to boldly defeat our own giants. You may already know where I’m going with this, it’s the story of David and Goliath! Let’s look at the entire fight scene in 1 Samuel 17.

“He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 

Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 

Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.” (1 Samuel 17: 40-51).

Whoa! Every time I read this story, I get so fired up and filled with faith! I just love how God uses the weak to confound the mighty. Goliath was a tall, strong, and mighty warrior. He was protected by thick armor and had a shield bearer with him. David on the other hand, was a young teen boy, with a bag of stones, sling, and a staff.

Don’t you just love David’s faith? The Bible says, once Goliath moved in to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. He was bold because he knew the battle was the Lord’s and that no matter how big this giant was, he would be victorious.

Today, we don’t face physical giants, but we might face giant health issues, financial issues, and relationship issues. Let’s have faith so great that we have no fear and we boldly run toward our giants armed with the name of the Lord and His promises.

Even when our giants come out yelling and boasting, when they are big, mighty, and covered in armor, even when we’ve seen others fall by their sword, remember that the battle is the Lord’s and you will triumph!

One of my favorite verses in this story is when David tells Goliath that the Lord will conquer him and then all the world will know that there is a God in Israel. Our victories will be a testimony to others that the Lord rescues His people. I pray that we will so bodly face and overcome any attack of the enemy that people will hear about the strength and power of our God and want to know more. We can be a remarkable example to the world in these times of ever-increasing giants.

Beloved, if you are facing a giant that seems impossible to defeat, meditate on this story, meditate on God’s word. The Lord is with you as He was with David. He is still protecting His people! If you want me to pray with you or for you, please reach out! May you be bold and empowered in the coming weeks. May the Lord bless you and keep you and your families! Amen!

Jesus Loves You,

Alexis

Embrace the New Year With Peace and Gratitude!

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15)

Happy New Year, Beloved! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday! I can’t believe we are in the new year. The year 2020, what a blessing! Every new year we tend to have a new vision. We analyze which areas of life we’ll focus on improving and we write down a list of personal goals we want to accomplish. Whether it’s improving fitness, getting a promotion, or spending more time with family, we all love to start the year motivated and with a new plan. This year, I plan to spend more time on writing, helping my husband grow his business, continuing to focus on fitness and spending more quality time with my kids.

With the excitement and busyness of it all, I want to remind everyone to be at peace this year! “The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11) While it’s great to have a new vision for a new year, it can cause us to become restless. It’s easy to get laser-focused on obtaining our new goals and sometimes we forget to focus on being happy with where we are at this moment. We make life all about what is ahead and that has the ability to affect our peace. We are encouraged and motivated in the beginning and then if results don’t happen quickly, we start to lose the joy of it all.

We feel like we “have” to reach these milestones we’ve set for ourselves and if we don’t, we’ve failed and feel a sense of despair. What’s worse is that we tend to compare our “personal goals” to the goals and accomplishments of others. Sometimes we look at what our family and friends are accomplishing and feel discouraged. It seems like those around us are checking items off their lists – being promoted, getting engaged or married, having a baby, or buying their dream home. If those are things we wanted for this year, we can feel envious and start to lose hope.

We can’t even truly be happy for our loved ones because instead of focusing on their blessing, we are focusing on our lack. We aren’t happy with our lives because we are too focused on what is ahead, what others have and where we “should be” in life. But the bible tells us to be at peace. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Beloved, please know that you are not defined by your accomplishments and achievements. Having dreams and goals is great! But reaching them or not reaching them is not the measure of who you are. You are royalty, a child of the Most-High God and even if you don’t get to the gym everyday, double your revenue, or get completely out of debt this year, you are still worthy, loved, and blessed. And if you’ve been waiting on God for a particular blessing, keep praying and believing! Be at peace and know that your blessing is on its way!

Do not look around and be discouraged when others are blessed with something you are longing for. You don’t have to compare yourself to others. You can rest assured that our Lord has more than enough blessings for everyone! He can bless your neighbor with a promotion and still bless your business to reach its highest earning potential. He can bless your co-worker with a healthy baby and still bless you with healthy twins! There is no limit to what God can do and through him all things are possible. Don’t be discouraged if some goals you set for this year, don’t become an immediate reality. Have peace in knowing that God has an amazing plan for you and that he wants you to have the desires of your heart. We have to trust his timing above our own and results will happen! Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Be filled with hope. God will deliver!

In addition to the goals I listed above, I am also going to focus on gratitude. Everyday, I want to thank God for all the blessings in my life. Even in the midst of struggle or sorrow, it’s amazing what being thankful can do. When you really stop and think about all your blessings from God, it has the ability to change your attitude from one of sadness, envy, and lack to one of joy, thankfulness, and peace.

Beloved, in addition to focusing on your personal goals this year, I encourage you to focus on peace and thankfulness for all your blessings (past, current, and those to come). Remember that the Lord will be with you through all the highs and lows of this year and that you are deeply loved, richly blessed, and highly favored. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

If you have a prayer request, please reach out! I would be happy to pray with you or for you. Also, send this link to any friends or family members that might need a word from the Lord today. Be blessed!

Jesus Loves You,

Alexis