thinking

peace, perfect peace

2/6/2007 · 0 comments

in living the life

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series peace

In my previous posts, I’ve touched on the role of our thinking in regard to peace: the peace of Christ rules in our hearts when we submit our thoughts and feelings to peace (Colossians 3:15), and the peace that passes understanding can guard our hearts and minds when we let go of anxious thinking and submit ourselves to God through prayer and thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6–7). This leads me to Isaiah 26:3:

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

What a beautiful promise!

My first thought in reading this was “What does Isaiah mean by perfect peace?” And, of course, I thought of the hymn I grew up singing, “Peace, Perfect Peace.” read the complete post

Tagged as: Bickersteth, blood of Jesus, colossians 3, cyberhymnal, hymn, Isaiah, Jesus, keep, peace, peace_perfect_peace, peace_that_passes_understanding, philippians_4, question, thinking, trust

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peace on the inside

2/2/2007 · 0 comments

in living the life

This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series peace

Tuesday, I wrote about letting peace be the umpire in Colossians 3:15 and started to explore what that entails. Submission is one part; an umpire, by definition, has authority to make a call, and the umpire’s authority necessitates my submission to that call.

And that leads me to the second big idea: an umpire only makes a call when there’s potential for dispute. An arbitrator is needed only when conflict or disagreement exists. Notice what Paul says here: “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” He’s been talking about relationships in the preceding verses, so it’s interesting that he doesn’t say “let the peace of Christ rule in your relationships,” though he brings it back to that with the rest of the verse as he says, “to which indeed you were called in one body.” Paul seems to be saying that peace in my heart will enable peace in my relationships.

Newsflash: I can’t be at peace with others if I’m not at peace within and with myself! read the complete post

Tagged as: arbitrator, Christ, colossians 3, hearts, live_in_peace, offense, peace, relationships, Rule, submission, thinking, umpire

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let peace be the umpire

January 30, 2007
This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series peace

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. (Colossians 3:15) I have been thinking about peace and joy for the past week, prompted by listening to Joyce Meyer encourage me not to let others steal my joy or my peace. The question becomes, then, […]

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Your promise gives me life

August 28, 2006

The Little Book of Hours has included readings from Psalm 119 every day for the past week, and Saturday’s portion blessed me. The writer says,

This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
The insolent utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from your law. (v. 50–51)

In the past, I read affliction as sickness or some other source of physical suffering. And it can certainly mean that. For most of us, though, we likely experience more pain and suffering in relationships, and relational issues–people problems–can suck the life out of us pretty quickly…

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trading freedom for fear

June 1, 2006

I saw V for Vendetta Tuesday night; it’s about the overthrow of a totalitarian government. It’s also very much about the power of fear. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that oppressive governments trade in fear–Iraq under Saddam Hussein is a clear picture of that. V for Vendetta did a better job of making this clear than other films I’ve seen in this genre, in part because Evey, the main character, has to overcome her own fears to make a difference in the world around her.…

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taking every thought captive

May 18, 2006

In "No One Likes Me!" Laura Bagby writes:

Here is what I am learning. These words that we hear in our heads have to be weighed by God’s Word. We are not obligated to accept every thought as truth. We must distinguish between the garbage and the gems.

As it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (NIV).

We don’t just blindly accept whatever fleeting notion enters our heads. We actively wage war by binding and gagging incorrect thoughts. We give those ideas no room to move around in our brains. We give them no authority to effect our subsequent emotions and actions.

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Ash Wednesday

March 1, 2006

Growing up in the Church of Christ, Easter was nothing more than an opportunity for candy and perhaps some new clothes. We took communion every Sunday and talked about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ regularly, so Easter was not treated as different from any other Sunday of the year…

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