Pursue Peace: Psalm 34:14

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Psalm 34:14(NIV)

Psalm 34 talks about how to live a good life. Verse 14 encourages us to choose good over evil and peace over sin. Shun sin and turn away from evil, pride, and arrogance. We honor the Lord when we turn from evil.

To honor the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil ways and false words.
Proverbs 8:13 (GNT)

Embrace righteousness, truth, and godliness. Seek and pursue peace; let the peace of Christ rule in your heart.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9 (King James)

Strive to live in peace and do good. Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving, as God forgave you. Be rich in good works, generous, and ready to help those in need.

14 Turn your back on sin; do something good.
Embrace peace—don’t let it get away!

15 God keeps an eye on his friends,
his ears pick up every moan and groan.
Psalm 24:14-15 (MSG)

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Is your focus on avoiding evil, doing good, and pursuing peace?

Prayer; Our Heavenly Father, teach us to turn away from evil and do good. Guide us to follow Your will; and practice virtue and righteousness. Let us spread love, do good, and pursue peace. Like the snapdragon is facing forward, teach us to face forward, turn our back on sin, embrace peace, and honor You. In Jesus’ holy and loving name. Amen

🌺

True, Honorable, and Right: Philippians 4:8-9

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)

Paul is writing the Philippians, advising how to handle disagreements, and explaining how to focus on things that are pleasing to God instead. He stressed the importance of deliberately focusing on positive things; true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable things. To meditate on these good things, not the bad things; to focus on things to praise rather than bemoan; to exhibit fruits of the Spirit. To embrace spiritual fruits; like love, kindness, patience, gentleness, and self-control. These spiritual fruits increase when we have strong faith and; our minds are focused on Christ; instead of on problems and difficulties. Practice kindness and love, have holy thoughts, and live holy lives; and the God of peace will be with you and guide you.

Do you allow disagreements and discord to rule your life, or do you fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, and right?

Prayer; Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your guidance, forgiveness, and grace. Teach us to respond to others as You do to us; with love, kindness, and gentleness. Encourage us to fix our minds on Christ; and focus on what is true, honorable, right, and admirable. Like the daisy flowers are open and reaching toward the sun, let us be open to positive actions, and reach toward You and receive peace. In Jesus’ holy loving name. Amen

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I believe in the power of prayer. If you need prayer, I would be glad to pray for you. Leave a comment or message me on the contact page.🌺

Harmony and Peace: 2Corinthians 13:11

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT)

Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, where they were struggling to keep a Christian lifestyle. Many of the believers were being swayed by the city’s immorality, idolatry, and false teachers. Paul is seeking for them to mend their ways and restore their unity of purpose. He encourages them to be joyful, to grow in maturity. To repair their relationships so they could work together and encourage one another. To be of one mind, with shared values; to become complete, restored, work in harmony, and live in peace. Traits church people are still in need of today. For God’s love and peace surround those who work in unity for His good.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with bickering, name-calling, and disagreement daily. Are you encouraging harmony and peace in your church/community?

Prayer; Our Heavenly Father, you are a God of love and peace. We thank you for your compassion and grace to us. Teach us to mend our ways and live in unity, harmony, and peace. Keep us strong, in Your way, unswayed by false teaching and immorality. Guide us in your truth and light. Like the Echinacea flower’s beauty is enhanced when grouped together; let our life be enhanced with harmony and peace when we go forward in unity. In Jesus’ holy and loving name. Amen

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Need prayer? I believe in the power of prayer and would be glad to pray for you. Leave a comment or message me on the contact page. 🌺

Peacemakers: James 3:18

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 3:17 (NIV)

When you plant seeds, you harvest what you sow. When you plant a cucumber seed, you grow a cucumber plant that produces cucumbers. Peacemakers live peacefully with full confidence that God will take care of them. Peacemakers seek Godly wisdom rather than striving for worldly self-center lives. Peacemakers plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. What is righteousness? A simple definition is to be right with God and follow His wisdom. When your heart and actions are right with God, you will bear fruit. When you plant peace, along with gentleness, mercy, and compassion, you reap a harvest of righteousness.

“And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”
James 3:18, (NLT)

Are you a peacemaker planting seeds of love, kindness, and peace?

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

The world tells us to seek success, power and money; God tells us to seek humility, service and love.
Pope Francis

To be a peacemaker, you must know the peace giver.
Billy Graham

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
Mother Teresa

Prayer; Our Heavenly Father, teach us to embrace Your wisdom. Let our hearts be open to You and our actions kind, compassionate, merciful, and gentle. Lord teach us to be peacemakers, planting seeds of peace and harvesting righteousness. Like the chrysanthemum flowers reach upward reflecting light, let us learn to reach upward to You for wisdom and to reflect Your love. In Jesus’ holy and loving name. Amen.

I Will Be With You – Isaiah 43:2

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
Isaiah 43:2 (NLT)

What a beautiful promise the Lord has given us, that His protection and help are available to those who have faith and trust in Him. Fire and water are water in the Bible are often used to symbolize trouble and peril. No matter what happens, the Lord has promised to be with us, not to leave us or forsake us. As believers, we are children of God, precious in His sight. When going through deep waters, God states I will be with you.

Are you overwhelmed, floundering in the waters of life? Remember God’s promise, in times of trouble; I will be with you.

Prayer; Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for Your mercy and grace. Lord, help us to trust You and guide us on our path. Help us to find peace in knowing; that You will be with us always. When life is overwhelming, teach us to trust in You. Like the beautiful azalea flowers, need water and light to grow, let us grow in faith, knowing that You are with us through deep water, Your light safely guides us. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen

This is a favorite song of mine, I Am Not Alone, sung by Kari Jobe.

Blessings! 🌺

Thou are with Me

Lord, Thou art with me!
Whom shall I fear?
Who then can harm me
While Thou art near?

Under Thy shadow
Is my retreat;

There to my taste,
Lord, Thy fruit is sweet.

Lord, Thou art with me,
And Thou dost give
Strength for the journey,
Grace now to live.
Mercies each morning

Thou dost renew;
And for my prospect,
Thy rest in view.

Lord, Thou art with me;
  Onward: I move;
Each day I’m proving
  More of Thy love.
Now Thou art training,
  Setting me free

From all that hinders,
To dwell with Thee. 🦋

Lord, Thou art with me (hymn) ~ Author unknown

Blessings! 🌺

All Things Bright and Beautiful

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
Cecil F. Alexander, 1848

Each little flow’r that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountains,
The river running by,

The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

“All Things Bright and Beautiful All Things Bright and Beautiful,” sung by

– The Tabernacle Choir

May it bring you peace! 🌺

Peace with God: Romans 5:1

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

We are justified by faith, made righteous by God. This was made possible by the atonement of our sins by Jesus Christ. Through which we became reconciled with God. The love of Jesus Christ, our faith, and by the grace of God, we are righteous (set right with Him), giving us peace with God.

Are there times where your self-direction takes you away for God’s way and peace with God?

Prayer: Our loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for Your grace and forgiveness. Teach us to grow in faith, embrace Your way, and follow Your path. We thank you for the blessing of Jesus atonement, which opened the door for us, to be set right and feel peace with You. Like the white beach rose is lit and glows in the sun’s rays, let our path be lit by Your light and our day’s glowing in peace with God. In Jesus’ loving and holy name. Amen

If you would like prayer, I will be glad to pray for you.

Please leave a comment or a message on my contact page. 🌺