Week 18 - Peace

PEACE

Peace Treaty

War and Peace

War! What Is It Good For?

Peace Be With You ... And Also With You

Make Love, Not War

Peace On Earth

Peace Of Cake

Peace Of Pie

Peace Of Toast

There Is No Peace

I Am For Peace. But When I Speak, They Are For War.

Peacemakers

Peace Maker

Prince Of Peace

Why Do All Of The Followers Of The Prince Of Peace Cheer When We Drop Bombs On The Middle East?

Relative Peace

Have Peace Within Yourself

Be At Peace With All Men

Turmoil Without

Peace Within

Blue Skies. Green Lights. Peace.

Peaceful Easy Feeling

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” 

― Albert Einstein

Philippians 4

(6)  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

(7)  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(8)  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Anxious, Adjective

Full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried; solicitous

Prayer, Noun

A devout petition to God

Supplicate, Verb

To pray humbly; make humble and earnest entreaty or petition

Thanksgiving, Noun

The act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgement of benefits or favors, especially to God

Peace, Noun, Verb

You will know it when you have it!

Peace does not come from a mere religious exercise.

Peace does not come from the vain repetition of soulless prayers.

Peace does not arrive by accident.

Peace does not just appear.

Wars in the Middle East don’t have much effect on our daily life, unless of course you are in the military or have a loved one serving in Afghanistan. However, the pressures of life, if not dealt with properly, can build up in our minds and emotions to where we feel all alone on a hill overrun by the enemy.

There are many options to choose from to cope with the stresses of life: just ignore the problems and hope they go away; have another drink; take another pill; just stay in bed; talk to a friend; talk to your mom; or dad. Obviously some of these solutions will work better than others. And some of these solutions will last longer than others.

When the fears and anxieties of life press against your life like a flood, entering the presence of the Father with prayer and supplications, with thanksgiving, drives the waves back to the shoreline. Prayer. Supplication. Thanksgiving. Get alone with God. Pour out all of your heart. Lay all of your situations and circumstances before him exactly as you see them. All of them. Wait for him. Worship him. Thank him.

Making prayer, and supplication, with thanksgiving a daily priority will build a high wall of heavenly protection around your precious life. This tower is as high as the heavens and as deep as bedrock. You can run into this high tower and be safe from the storms of life. Your relationship with the Father is impenetrable, unmoving, stable, secure.

Enter the Father’s high tower.

He will drive out fear.

He will remove all doubt.

He will give you peace.

He is your peace.

Moms and dads worry and get anxious for their children. I don’t. I have already entered into prayer and supplication with thanksgiving for you. I have a deep peace from God that he is working all things out for your good. I have peace because the Father has you!

I love you.

Dad.

Week 17 - This Day In History

Courtney

I know that you have heard this story before ......

Anybody that knows me knows that I am not one to celebrate days or times or seasons. But this is a day in my life that I will not and cannot ever forget.

Today is January 20, 2012.

32 years ago, January 20, 1980 I was publicly baptized in water in a little church in Erie, Pa.

I remember earnestly praying in the days leading up to this event in my life: "O God, please take away the fear of speaking of all the good that you have done for me. Please help me to be a bold witness of all that you have done for me." I was nervous. I prayed. I went down into the water. I raised my hands in victory as the waters washed away my fear.


Water baptism was a life changing event in my life. But actually it was an exclamation point on the baptism that the Father had begun a few months earlier. Before I went down in the water 32 years ago, I remember thinking "I have already been baptized." In less than 3 months alcohol was gone from my life. Nicotine addiction was shattered. I was given a new life. Born again. I will never forget this day of history in my life.


Very late one night in October of 1979, as I laid flat on my back, drunk and depressed and at the end of myself, I cried. I cried and then I cried out to the God of heaven: "Here I am God. I am all alone. Nobody knows my pain. Nobody cares. All my friends are gone. My family has sent me away. I need to know that you are there. I need to know that you care. I need to know that you love me. If you are there, then show me." Then, at that moment, a peace came over me. I felt a gentle breeze blowing over me. In an instant, as though a dam had burst in my heart, I was flooded with a love and a joy and a peace like I have never experienced before. I know now that it was the power of the Highest overshadowing me. I rode this wave of love until it stopped. The depression had departed. The effects of alcohol were gone. I fell to sleep in peace. A few nights later, perhaps the next night, as I once again watered my pillow with my tears, I cried out in desperation to the God of heaven: "God, if that was you the other night, show me again." 


The only way I can describe it is "gentle power". The breeze blew over me, the floodgates of my heart burst open, and the power of love flowed from deep within my soul. When it ended, I sat up in my bed. "I am not drunk any more! How can this be?!" I looked up and prayed; "I don't know what it's going to take to find you. I don't know what it's going to take to get to you. But I will never give up."

I love God.  I love everything about him. I want to be like him: that is a constant struggle in my life. I strive to know him. I strive to hear his voice. I strive to carry out his will in my life.

Courtney, watching the Father baptize you in the same spirit that washed me makes my heart sing songs of thanks and joy and praise to him!

Keep seeking.

Keep striving.

Never give up. Never Never Never Give up.

I love you.

Dad.

Week 16 - LIFE

The Word Of The Day is LIFE
or is it?


Life Changing
Life Sentence
Life of Riley
Lifetime
Life Guard
Life and Times
Choose Life
Pro Life
Life Style
Life's Work
Life Insurance
Live Life To The Fullest
Life Goes On


"Give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything."
                                Life Cereal Commercial


"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
                                                                           John Lennon


"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."   Albert Einstein


"Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience. This is the ideal life."
                                                                                             Mark Twain


"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
                                                                      J. K. Rowling


"I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens."
                                                                                     Woody Allen



"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."
                                                                                    Jimmy Hendrix



"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it."
                                           Mother Teresa    


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - WOW - WHAT A RIDE!!!"
                            Bill McKenna

A LITTLE DEEPER

"Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

        Jesus

It's all Greek to me.

Whoever loves his psuche (soul) loses it,

and

Whoever hates his psuche (soul) in this kosmos will keep it 

for eternal ZOE (Life)

There is more to living than simply satisfying the base desires of the psuche. That life will end when you breath your last breath. Denying yourself of fruitless fleshly pleasures, and living a life in relationship with our heavenly Father is a life that produces a treasure field of life for yourself and others. Zoe is the seed that lives on here when you die, and the life that is preserved into eternity beyond this world.

Zoe - Seek It.

Two kingdoms:

Kingdom of Kosmos - Look around, there it is.

Kingdom of Zoe - Seek it, and you will find it.

What is your definition of "Life"?




Courtney


I am proud of the life that you are living and sharing. Let is shine!!


I love you.


Dad