Dear Ones,
Hope you had a peace-filled weekend. This morning I made a Starch free cake and went to Aldi’s and then to my exercise class. This afternoon we are going to Costco and other errands before our walk in this gorgeous weather.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Perhaps more than ever before we long for peace, not just in our world but peace within ourselves. Jesus has promised His peace that is not dependent on circumstances but found by trusting Him. He said in John 14:27 (God’s Word), “I’m leaving you peace. I don’t give you the kind of peace that the world gives. So don’t be troubled or cowardly.” The peace Jesus gives is a gift the world cannot give us. The Message says, “This is my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re use to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.” No, real peace is from above and available to us as His followers. I was reading from Ann Spangler’s one year devotional and she writes of the Hebrew word for peace, Shalom. It has the meaning of calm, wholeness, wellness, harmony, perfection, safety, completeness, soundness etc. Doesn’t that sound beautiful, especially in our chaotic world right now? How we need shalom and we can have that within, even when the world is full of so much evil. God sent Jesus who sacrificed His life so that we can come to know real peace. He is our peace and when we know Him we can experience peace that is not dependent on what is happening around us. We can ask Him to help us show others as well, the things that make for true peace. Ann quotes Etty Hillesum, who I have written about before; she is the woman who died in a Nazi death camp during World War II. She wrote, “Ultimately, we have just one moral duty; to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.” Think of Ann in a death camp and yet had peace in the most adverse circumstance because she had His peace within. In this time of chaos, God’s children should be not be anxious and go about the day full of fear, but rather be lights showing the way to claim His peace in the darkness. We don’t know what is going to happen next, but we do know that God is in control and He is certainly worthy of our trust. The Lord is our light and salvation, we have nothing to fear.
Challenge for today: Memorize Psalm 27:1and carry it in your heart in fearful times.
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy
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