How to find peace

Transcript

How can I have the peace of God? “Grace to you, and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ”. This is the Why Be Merely Human video blog, my name is Ryan McKeel, and this morning I would like to talk to you about peace! So, it’s a really cozy day here in Denver, Colorado – we’ve got some snow coming in, it’s December… I had two options this morning that I could figure. The first one I aimed for was my iPhone, to play around. Then the second one (that I settled on) was reading the Word. Seems like every Saturday I have this dilemma, especially when I get up early, before my kids and family. So I have the option to “meet with” technology – check my email, Twitter, Facebook, online anything, check out shopping (Christmas is coming up), stuff like that. Or, I have the option to dive into God’s Word. Frequently, God’s Word (well, all the time!) is what gives me peace. It seems like shopping, checking email, all that sort of stuff, especially if I do it at the beginning of the day, it robs me of my peace. It’s no coincidence that Paul, in a lot of his letters, started with “Grace to you, and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ”. Because, peace is attainable. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” So we have a chance to have the peace of God! And that is huge! Don’t let technology, shopping, relationships, or anything rob you of the peace of God that you can have. How can you have that peace? It says right here (looking down at Bible), let your requests be made known to God. Everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. So, I’d like to encourage you. It’s ironic that we have Thanksgiving as a holiday and then the very next day is all about obtaining things. And we can say, “Oh, we’ve got to get our shopping list complete, so it’s really for others, but, we really go around frantically this time of year and skip all of the peace that can come through the Christmas season, realizing Christ’s sacrifice for us and the fact that Christ came to this earth as a baby is incredible! I have a newborn who’s a little more than a month old. I should be spending time daily with her, cherishing her, and appreciating what God did in sending His Son, instead of constantly filling my mind with electronics and things of this world. The Word says to not be entangled with the things of this world. So I encourage you this Christmas season, this winter season, to enjoy time in a cozy chair, take a look out and enjoy the peace of the holiday, not the frantic nature of it! Thanks!