November 30 – Stay Close, Have Peace

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

 We all experience times when peace is distant and not resident in our lives. Especially if we focus on conditions of our lives and world during moments of crisis. Who could possibly be more of a true source of peace than the Lord of peace?  Our verse is often used as a benediction in worship services. But we look at it today because it is good any time to remember the promise here.  We may think that we can experience peace by deciding not to worry anymore and we may think then, that we did all by our own  effort.  Our verse reminds us that true peace comes from God.  He is the God of peace and He gives His peace to those who believe and trust Him.  We can know God wants us to have His peace reign in our lives always, at all times, in every way.  In every circumstance of our lives – even today no matter what challenges we are facing or what we are struggling with, God can give us peace that comes directly from Him.  Why? Because He is with us.  Stay close, have peace. This is the promise.

 

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November 30 – Stay Close, Have Peace

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

Who could possibly be more of a true source of peace than the Lord of peace?  We look today at a verse often used as a benediction in our worship services because it is the last verse in the letter Paul wrote and sent to the believers in Thessalonica.  But we look at it today because it is good any time to remember the promise here.  We may think that we can experience peace by deciding not to worry any more and we may think then, that we did all by our own  effort.  Our verse reminds us that true peace comes from God.  He is the God of peace and He gives His peace to those who believe and trust Him.  We learn also that God wants us to have His peace always, at all times, in every way.  In every circumstance of our lives – even today no matter what challenges we are facing or what we are struggling with, God can give us peace that comes directly from Him.  Why? Because He is with us.  Stay close, have peace. This is the promise. 

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November 25 – Being Close

“ If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”  John 12:26 (NASB)

When Jesus spoke these words to the people living and following Him when He was here on earth, He was not thinking exclusively about His 12 disciples who had followed him for almost 3 years.  He was not thinking only of the crowds that physically followed Him when he came through their town or village.  He was talking about people who would follow Him spiritually after He died on the cross and rose from the grave.  He was talking about us today who claim to be following Him.  Jesus said that His followers would be where He would be.  Yes, if we are His followers we need to stay close to Him.  But we're here on earth and He is in heaven so how can we stay close to Him?  Of course, we know that He is near us as He promised to be.   We stay close to the Lord by keeping our thoughts on Him by listening to His words in the Bible and by praying and having a prayerful attitude at all times.  

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October 26 – Close To Us

“We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, For Your name is near; Men declare Your wondrous works.”  Psalm 75:1 (NASB)

What is it that we give thanks to God for in our day to day life?  The psalmist, in this verse gives thanks to God because His name is near.  That seems a bit unusual, doesn't it?  We believe and know that God is near to each of us but what does it mean that His name is near?  It is a promise that we can trust in as we read the next expression in the verse which refers to God's works.  His deeds which are wonderful,  are all done in His name.  As we learn and hear about them, we share the things God is doing, and we realize that His name is truly close to us.  We respond with thanksgiving to God.  How wonderful to know and trust that God's name is near and if His name is near, we know that He is near.  We are encouraged to speak out, to declare what we know.  “Thank you Lord for all the wonderful deeds You are doing,” becomes our response to this promise.

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August 2 – Perfect Shield

“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”  Psalm 18:30 (NIV)

The songs or psalms that we have in our Bible were often written to express what the writers had experienced in trusting God.  Today's verse is like that.  When David wrote this song he had passed through a very trying period of his life. His experience had proved to him that God does everything right.  That is why David used the words perfect and flawless to describe what God had done for him.  We notice that David thought of God as a shield. Let's remember how a shield is used.  It is used between a person and some threatening danger, and that is how our Lord protects us each day.  Let's trust the Lord to be close to us, closer than the things which bother us.  If He is that close He'll be between us and our problems and will truly protect us as He did so for David. That is our promise to remember – that our Lord is our shield, our perfect shield in this world today. 

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June 2 – Seeking Earnestly

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 (ESV)

David was in the dry desert when he wrote these words. He described the place as being dry and without water to drink. You and I may not be in that kind of a place physically but we might still share some of the thoughts that David had. I'm thinking of the words, “my soul thirsts for you.”  David's heart and soul longed for close fellowship with God and the reason for that is given in the first words of our verse. David could tell God “you are my God;” This he had learned by past experience and that's why he longed always for close fellowship with God. Can we say the same? If we have experienced this promise that the Lord is our God, we'll be always longing for constant fellowship with Him – it is a natural outcome for us to desire and seek the close presence of God and He has promised it to us today and forever. 

May 31 – Abiding Close

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 (NASB)

Our Lord is eager that those who believe in Him keep in a close relationship with Him. We remember how Jesus spoke of Himself as being a vine and of His followers as being branches of that vine. We find this lesson in the Gospel of John chapter 15. We notice how Jesus used the world “remain” twice in our chosen verse for today. That is an important word in His teaching in other verses in this chapter. He wants us always to remain in fellowship with Him. Yes, Jesus is interested in maintaining a close relationship with us. He wants us to be close to Him every day. We can count on Him to be near to us at all times. We don't have to try to live good lives on our own. And, if we do live close to Jesus He gives us the promise that He'll answer our prayers. That is another good incentive, isn't it?  

January 9 – By Experience we Know

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV) 

Today's verse may be familiar for some and for others, this may be the first time they have read it. We realize that when a deer gets thirsty it looks for a nice cool stream of water because of its past experiences. The deer has learned from its early days how good it is to drink from a clear stream. It has been satisfied that way and it longs for that to be repeated over and over again.  When our souls have been satisfied by close contact with God we, too, will long for this experience to be repeated over and over again. Our promise is that it is when we appear before God, we will receive full satisfaction that our hearts and soul long for. It is only God who can give us that full satisfaction – and that is why we learn to seek it only from Him and not from the distractions in the world around us. Often tempted to look elsewhere, we learn by experience that God is the one who promises and fulfills the promises. Let's seek Him today.