tagged 
Joy, Peace, Thanksgiving
Joy, Peace, Thanksgiving Entries in Peace (21)
Monday's Meditation: Can We Choose Our Emotions?
Monday, November 22, 2010 at 09:27AM I’ve always been intrigued when the scriptures command an emotion:
- Let the priests, the Lord's ministers,weep between the porch and the altar (Joel 2:17)
- Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)
- Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Colossians 3:15)
Some events--and the emotions that go with them--are beyond our control: unexpected loss, good news beyond all expectation, hurt inflicted from a loved-one. Yet in the everyday-ness of living, I believe that our emotions are largely the result of our habitual thoughts. If we could discern the map of our heart and mind, I suspect we would discover the well-worn pathways of our thinking and feeling. Expressed another way, we train ourselves to think and feel in certain predictable ways.
(This is where I should cite studies from the Journal of Psychiatric Studies or some such authoritative-sounding publication, but no: I’m just going to share what I’ve observed about myself and others during my few decades of living.)
I believe the reason we find repeated exhortations in the scripture to think and feels certain ways is because God has given us the capacity to rule our thoughts and emotions. Consider his very telling exchange between God and Cain, just before Cain chose to murder his brother:
“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4: 6-7)
Genesis, the book of origins, tells us the story of our first encounter with anger, jealously, and feelings of rejection. Contained in this story is revelation about our own psyche: we are responsible for our emotions, and each of us has been given the capacity to choose a healthy emotional response. In this story are the seeds of hope for a fallen world: God comes to us in our anger or hurt, and encourages us to choose wisely. He believes in us more than we believe in ourselves.
Is there any better meditation for the week of Thanksgiving? Is is possible that we can redirect the pathways of our heart? If we give ourselves time and space in this holiday, I believe we will hear the voice of our Father encouraging us, “choose thanksgiving--it’s the best thing for you.”
Monday's Meditation: Learning Peace
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 09:42AM Our age is characterized by activity, energy, and action. Peace, however, is not an attribute of our times. Jesus offered his disciples the yoke of discipleship, and under his instruction they would experience rest and peace. “Peace I leave with you,” he told his friends at the Last Supper. “My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14: 27)
He spoke about peace often: when he looked over Jerusalem he cried because the people of the city had never learned the things that would make for peace; when he commissioned his disciples to preach the Kingdom of God he told them to give their peace as a gift; when the resurrected Jesus appeared he greeted his friends with “Peace.” Peace is among the fruit of the Spirit. Peace is an attribute of believers even when they face persecution or violence. Peace is the fingerprint of Jesus upon the lives he has crafted.
Students of Jesus can learn rest and peace has they submit to his instruction in everyday life. There is a difference between finding peace and learning peace. He can teach us how to live a life of peace. The Apostle Paul, writing to a healthy group of believers in Philippi, gave these words as his final command:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4: 6 – 7) These are famous verses. Perhaps you have heard of this incredible promise of “the peace which transcends understanding.” But has anyone taught us how to receive the gift of God, this perfect peace?
Monday’s Meditation is straightforward: how can I learn peace? We’ve all met people who have memorized massive chunks of the scripture, but still have no peace; people who pray constantly, but are still filled with anxiety; people who attend church regularly but live as if God is not involved in their everyday affairs. Where, then, can we learn peace? Let’s ask Jesus--I promise you he’ll answer, and it will come as no surprise that the answers can be found in surprising places.
Monday's Meditation: How Can I Walk in Peace?
Monday, August 9, 2010 at 12:02AM I’m not interested in Romans today, I’m interested in peace with God. Monday’s are for meditation--to suggest a course for the coming week, something to consider for more than a passing moment. And lately I’ve been thinking about peace.Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)
How many believers live in peace? How many of us experience the peace that passes understanding? What portion of the body of Christ is known for peace? Or to ask the question in the negative, why is peace not the sign of a follower of Jesus?
It’s an important question. Some suggest a legal answer--the peace we have with God is positional: since we are reconciled with God through the sacrifice of Jesus, peace is part of our new standing with God. I suppose legal answers serve some purpose--but I see too many Christians who are decidedly not at peace. They are confused or even angry with God, worried about their lives, unable to live at peace in their families and in constant conflict with the affairs of life. These believers are my friends, and I can see they are not at peace.
I’d like to suggest a question capable of changing our lives: “Jesus, you’ve promised peace but my life is not at rest. How can I walk in what you have promised?”
Perhaps some of you know an answer. Many of us are waiting to discover your secret.
Monday's Meditation: Grace and Peace
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 11:12AM 
Thirteen times: “Grace and peace to you.” Each one of Paul’s letters open with these words. Whether Paul was writing to the people of a church, to his “true son in the faith,” or even writing to discuss the difference between slavery and brotherhood, his blessing is grace and peace.
Here’s a meditation for the week: Why would this man of God greet everyone in this manner? What is so important about grace and peace that Paul feels the need to speak the words immediately? A simple blog post will not do--who could exhaust the possibilities of these two words? Neither will theological definitions do--the academy has been lulled into the trap of believing that if we can define a word we somehow possess the quality.
Perhaps we could start here: Paul greeted everyone with “grace and peace” because he understood our on-going need for both of them. He was writing to believers, yet he wished for them more grace and more peace.
How many of us have made the mistake of thinking God’s grace operates only at the new birth? Part of the good news is there is more grace, grace for today, and grace for tomorrow. Grace for more than forgiveness--God wants to provide grace in the everyday, grace for growth, and grace to sustain. Have I asked for grace beyond forgiveness?
God’s peace is also our constant need. The resurrected Jesus greeted his friends with the word “Peace.” Peace is the first message of the risen Lord. Paul, a Jewish rabbi, understood “peace” to represent the well-being that comes from God, the wholeness that flows from a relationship with the author of life. How many of us--even if we have walked with God for decades--need more of the Shalom of God?
Finally, grace and peace represent more than our need. They are the need of everyone we meet. Do we wish grace and peace on others? Do we have it to give?
This week, my friends, here is my blessing: grace to you, and peace.
Ours to Give
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 08:58PM The Apostle Paul opened every letter with the words “grace and peace.” Some people might think it a formality, but these words--even if they were formalities--were breathed out by the Holy Spirit.
I believe that Paul gave each congregation grace and peace because they were his to give. Jesus had instructed the original twelve: “Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, ‘peace to this house.’” (Luke 10:5) Jesus had in mind something more than words, because he observed that the greeting of peace could rest upon the people in that house, or return to the one that gave the greeting. This peace Jesus instructed the disciples to give was something real, something tangible, no less tangible than handing someone a loaf of bread. Decades later, Paul, a follower of Jesus, wrote to the churches of God scattered across the Roman world, and his first words are “grace and peace.”
Paul himself possessed grace and peace. He apparently had a surplus: he could give it away. In many cases Paul was the founder of the church to which he wrote. He wrote to encourage what was good in these churches and to offer correction for whatever needed help. I wonder how often look upon correction and teaching as sources of the peace and grace of God. For those who have given it any thought at all, God’s grace and peace should be prized above almost anything else in our lives. Many of Paul’s churches faced persecution from the outside, some experienced disagreements on the inside. All of them needed these eternal gifts. They were so important that Paul presented these gifts up front, just as a guest would before entering a house.
Part of the lesson for me is that Paul wanted his friends to experience God's grace and peace, and when necessary he brought powerful words of reproof. From our perspective twenty centuries later we understand that each letter was the word of God--then and now. Those people who first heard the words of Paul read aloud in the congregation had a choice: they could listen beyond the mere words of the letter and in so doing receive the grace and peace offered them, or, like the householder in Luke 10 refuse to receive the grace of God and the peace of God has it appeared to them.
How often does God’s grace or peace appear to us in some form we may not recognize? Do we receive the words of loved ones as God’s grace in our lives? Do we consider that the instruction we receive from those in authority has the potential to bring God’s peace?
Finally, I think we also need to consider: what is ours to give? Have we received some measure of grace? Of peace? Jesus had straightforward instructions to his followers: “freely you’ve received, therefore freely give.” If we have received any grace from God (and I hope we have!) then we have it to give. Don’t worry, you won’t run out! Paul’s famous words from Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” were not words he claimed exclusively for himself. He was speaking them over those who were listening to his letter. Many believers have quoted this verse on their own behalf in order to fight off guilt and condemnation. Have we ever quoted them on behalf of others?
And if God has given us peace in any area of our lives, well then, we have that to give as well. One disciple may have learned the secret of contentment with respect to financial matters. Another may have learned how to place everyday fears at the feet of Jesus, and so on--do we ever consider that what peace we have received in our walk with God might be the very thing we can teach others? He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.
Our everyday lives are just like the times in which Paul wrote his letters. The words, “grace and peace” are not mere formalities, they are ours to give.