STAND AND RECEIVE THE LORD'S PEACE

STAND AND RECEIVE THE LORD’S PEACE

One of my Facebook friends told a story about a neighbor’s tree leaning over the fence into her backyard. Several times it caught on fire, and my friend and her daughter prayed for the fire to go out, and it did. Had the fire not been stopped by God, it would have destroyed their house. The weird thing about this tree being on fire is that there was never any evidence, no scorching, no evidence at all of a burn. The final fire was the most ferocious, and once again, mother and daughter took a spiritual stand against it. The neighbors called the fire department each time, but after this last fire, the neighbors cut down the tree.  That ended Satan’s plot to destroy my friend’s house.

 

Reading this story reminded me of how important it is for us to take a stand on what is right. My friend and her daughter would not allow that demon fire to take them down. They stood against it every time, and the devil had to back down.

 

That’s how we need to be. The Lord tells us in Ephesians 6:4: “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” When we know the truth, we stand boldly for what is right without wavering.

 

I can tell when I’m standing in faith for the right thing to happen; there’s a sense of deeply-rooted peace inside me. It’s unnatural, considering the circumstances, but it’s become one of those Biblically normal feelings for me. Philippians 4:7 calls it the peace that passes understanding. The context of this verse is prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving for true, just, and right things.  

 

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

 

We feel a solid sense of peace, but it seems like it doesn’t make sense because, in the natural, we feel like we should be apprehensive or distraught. But when we recognize this supernatural peace, we know that we really can’t worry because God says He keeps us in peace through Christ.

 

What does it mean that we’re “kept” in peace? The word “keep” comes from the Greek word which means “to guard, protect by a military guard, to prevent hostile invasion.” In other words, this peace is impenetrable.

 

After God rescued the Israelites from Egypt, they had second thoughts about this crossing the wilderness thing, and they didn’t like it one bit. They wanted to return to their old lives; yes, they had been in undeniable slavery, but they were used to it. With all the new challenges and hard decisions, this wandering business was not going to be comfortable at all. They were willing to follow Moses at first, but suddenly they decided Moses was the enemy, and they hadn’t really wanted to leave Egypt in the first place. They complained like crazy, saying:

 

“Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.’

 

“And Moses said unto the people, ‘Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.

 

“’The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace’” (Exod. 14:12-14).

 

God knows what the right things are that need to take place. When we trust Him, we can stand firm for what is Biblically right and be guarded by peace through the storm. God is already fighting for us, individually and in the nations, and He will perform all His will.

 

Ezekiel 36 hints at what is on the other side of this journey. (This was a prophecy to Israel, but Jesus brought the Gentiles also into the flock of God).

 

“Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 

 

“And they shall say, ‘This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

 

“Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it’” (Ezek. 36:33-36).

 

Let’s stand against those demon fires as my friend did. We will stand for truth. We will stand to see the salvation of the Lord, and the peace of God will guard our hearts.

 

Love, Carolyn

 

My publications on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Carolyn+Molica&crid=1QBIN6TMEQ2HV&sprefix=carolyn+molica%2Caps%2C267&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

 

PEACE, NOT PANIC

PEACE, NOT PANIC

Last Sunday, I wrote my Christian Living blog about Jesus taking away Satan’s jabs at our peace.

Jesus delivered us from the “chastisement of our peace,” as it says in Isaiah 53:5, but we must believe it and receive it into our daily reality. Here’s a real-life example of how it can work. Jesus quickly intervened in a stressful situation, and I went instantly from panic to peace.  

 

 

I was struggling with my new computer. It was the day before I needed to write my weekly blog. One of the platforms I use is Facebook, and another is Blogger.com.  I couldn’t get either one to come up on the new computer, and I was starting to freak out. My brain was racing wildly as I tried to get Facebook to accept my new password. It wouldn’t, so I tried an old one, but with no success, so I tried to apply for a new one. I opted for a text with a code, but when they said they had sent it to my phone, it never came! I was getting frantic, and I was running out of time.

 

 

I looked at the password I used, and it looked a little strange, so I tried adding what I thought I may have missed. But still, nothing worked, and my blood pressure must have been skyrocketing. I could feel the pinching tenseness all over my body. My shoulders hunched, my forehead furrowed; I was overheated, emotionally overwhelmed, and felt like I was tumbling down a dark hole in utter panic.

 

 

Then my best friend Jane calmly and quietly intervened, “Can you do your blog on your old computer?” (Of course I could, but I was in such a panic, I just couldn’t see any answer.) When God inspired Jane to ask a simple question, it was like a switch turned on, and instantly, I froze in time. My shoulders relaxed, and I felt a unique pouring of peace over my whole being. Yes, my old computer wasn’t completely broken, and I could still use it to launch my blog. All the stress fell away, and I experienced perfect peace.

 

 

That’s God’s way! With just the flip of His heavenly switch, He inspired Jane to ask a simple question in a quiet voice, and all stress had to leave.

 

 

God’s kind of peace washed over me, pure and clear, settling restfully on me and throughout my entire body. All the stabbing pains of stress were like knives being pulled out and thrown far off in the distance. There was not even a trace left behind. My mind and body felt like healing oil had been poured over me, and God’s deliverance was complete. I had peace.

 

 

The Lord knows that Satan will try to talk us out of maintaining our God-given peace in this world. Working through a trusted Christian friend is one of the many ways the Lord used to restore that unique supernatural peace.

 

John 16:33 tells us: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” When tribulation comes, we need to catch ourselves as quickly as possible and remind ourselves that Jesus overcame tribulation and stress with a supernatural peace of knowing and claiming that we overcome panic with peace, because we are overcomers. Like Jesus, we refuse to be victims of panic, stress, or fear brought on by Satan. We are not to be “conformed to [the hurtful attacks of] this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

 

 

Even in bad situations, we call in peace, like Jesus did with a boisterous storm on the lake of Galilee. He claimed the peace and it came: “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, “Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).

 

 

Join me in making a concerted effort to take a deep breath and immediately claim “I have PEACE now!” when I catch myself starting to get nervous, stressed out, fearful, or in a panic. Our heavenly Father, God, gave us peace through the death and resurrection of His only begotten son, Jesus, the Christ, and we have decided to give Him the honor and glory He deserves. We embrace His PEACE now in every stressful situation, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, and we don’t let go!

 

 

Love, Carolyn

 

INSPIRING STORIES: WINGS BOOKS AND BOOKLETS:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wings+carolyn+molica&crid=EZNJZZUP3KHG&linkCode=ll2&linkId=db88efb13727dcb484eb29f5b1683284&sprefix=wings+carolyn+molica%2Caps%2C353&tag=jmbcsds-20&ref=as_li_ss_tl

 

 

TOO MUCH BAGGAGE?

TOO MUCH BAGGAGE?

Guess what? We’re not perfect Christians; nobody is. As hard as we may try to be “good,” sometimes we make mistakes. We have to admit that we’ve messed up. We may even have to admit that according to what the Bible says, we’ve sinned. Every Christian still sins, and people sin against us. The best we can do is ask the Lord for forgiveness, accept it, and move on. The thing is, we CAN change.

When we fly with certain airlines, we have to pay for extra baggage. It’s the same in our lives—and it costs too much. So let’s see if we can get rid of some of the baggage we’ve been carrying. Let’s lighten up our load. We can’t really move forward if we keep adding to the pile of stuff that we take with us from day to day and year to year.

So this is what we can do: First, think about one thing that took you away from being in God’s will this week. I had one this morning! I have several legal issues to take care of since my mom passed away. One is to get a special medallion notary. My bank was not providing that service because of the coronavirus, so I set up an appointment for tomorrow. The process is a little complicated, but I’m ready. But then another notary issue came up that required even more paperwork to fill out. I automatically figured I should do that tomorrow too.

Well, it was a little too much for my brain to handle. I was trying to take on too much at once. Instead of moving forward, the extra baggage was stealing my peace, and I felt like I was swirling in place, immobilized. Growing up, I sometimes felt like I was never doing enough, and it looks like I’ve carried that idea into adult life, to my detriment. That over-achieving attitude paralyzed me in my tracks, like the donkey in the picture above—my feet were going, but I was stuck in place.

Jane had to shake me out of it. She reminded me that I didn’t have to get it all done in one day! That sounds so simple, but it was just what I needed—to stop and breath. I had to get rid of the baggage by looking at the over-achiever thing and vowing to beware of it. Jane and I call these trigger patterns the “Always and Never” things. Always beware of them, and Never let them get you going. Well, I let it get me this time, but I forgave myself, and I’m in God’s peace once again.

Jesus is our savior. We mess up; we admit it; He picks us up. He forgives us and we forgive us. Done. But how do we stop from messing up in the same way repeatedly?

We need to ask ourselves: “Why did I mess up?” “Why did I allow it?” “What is it in me that may have contributed to bringing this thing to pass?” Once we can see the answer to this “why” question and we have an understanding of it, we can forgive ourselves and get healed.

Any mistakes we make are not in our spirit man—that’s perfect. But mistakes are in our thinking, our emotions, and our decisions—all soul-related.

God said: “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds” (Jer. 30:17). There are no wounds in our spirit, only in our soul. God sent Jesus to earth to show us how to get our souls healed and drop the baggage that is so hard to drag around with us. The older we get, the heavier and more cumbersome the bags get.

Paul tells us his deep desire in Philippians 3:10: “That I may know him [Jesus Christ] and the power of his resurrection.” The power of the resurrection gives us the power to change things in our lives.

Second Timothy 2: 24-26 tells us that when we mess up, we are opposing ourselves and that we are to “awake ourselves out of the snare of the devil.”

As we start to claim our right to get rid of old baggage, we will begin to see in our lives where the origins of our errors came from. It takes some reflection.  

Did something make you feel rejected or not good enough as a child? And do those triggers still come up and do you react the same way as you did as a child?

Are you still seeking what you lost a long time ago? Do you feel you have to close the door on your real self in order to protect and defend yourself?

Did something or someone make you so angry you did and still do things to hurt yourself or others?

Did you hide in pain killers or alcohol to protect yourself after a disaster you caused or something else you saw that you don’t ever want to see again?

There are many things and much baggage in our lives that can keep us unhappy. But God is willing and able to free us. God’s Word says we have the miracle resurrection power within us. We have the ability within us to respond to the truth when we hear it and to receive the truth from others as well like I did from Jane.

We can have our souls released from all the extra baggage and once again be at peace with ourselves and the Lord.

Love, Carolyn

EXCITING LIFE STORIES:

https://www.amazon.com/WINGS-Journey-Weekly-Workbook-Christian/dp/B0874LGZ34/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EZNJZZUP3KHG&dchild=1&keywords=wings+carolyn+molica&linkCode=ll2&linkId=db88efb13727dcb484eb29f5b1683284&qid=1588607180&sprefix=wings+carolyn+molica%2Caps%2C353&sr=8-1