Everyone wants to feel loved and at peace. Everyone. Whether they admit it or not. Love and peace are crucial. To live a life that feels safe and secure, love and peace are essential. The Bible gives us the key to having these all the time…
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 13:11b
Isn’t it interesting that being joyful is one key? Also maturing and encouraging others. God built us in the most beautiful way. He is such a loving Father. His ways are so gracious.
He desires for us to be joyful. He planned for us to mature. He wants us to encourage each other and live in harmony and peace. It’s no wonder that the enemy has tried to hijack these concepts and pervert them for his demonic agenda.
We do well to truly surrender to God and discover what real joy, maturity, encouragement, harmony, and peace are like. True joy is an inside job. It comes from the wellspring of the heart. Maturity comes from continual Bible study, listening to Holy Spirit, and surrendering to heart healing. We live in a culture that is largely negative in their speaking. We are called to encourage. Establishing this in our lives must be a deliberate task. It’s easier to criticize than to encourage. Allowing God to reign in our tongues is paramount, but this skill leads to much more peace and harmony.
The harder path is often the right one…not always, but a lot of the time.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14
This next portion of scripture is so beautiful. I love the way Jesus is described as grace…salvation from sins. God gives the love…like a Daddy. Holy Spirit offers fellowship…as Counselor and Comforter. I just love this practical way of seeing the differences of the three. We need every part of God.
When we can’t offer grace to others, it leaves me wondering if we’ve fully experienced it for ourselves…
We can’t love others unless we love ourselves…if we are unloving, I’m fairly certain we’ve not yet experienced the true love of God.
If we can’t operate in wisdom and discernment, then I wonder how well we know Holy Spirit.
You see, we are only complete when we completely know the Holy Trinity. Until we do, we’ll feel like something is missing…because it is.
I ask you to search yourself today. How well do you know each part of God? God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Invite them, if you will, to make themselves fully known to you.
365 Days in the Presence 