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How can I have the peace of God? "Grace to you, and peace, from God the Father
and our Lord Jesus Christ". This is the Why Be Merely Human video blog, my name is Ryan
McKeel, and this morning I would like to talk to you about peace! So, it's a really cozy
day here in Denver, Colorado - we've got some snow coming in, it's December… I had two
options this morning that I could figure. The first one I aimed for was my iPhone, to
play around. Then the second one (that I settled on) was reading the Word. Seems like every
Saturday I have this dilemma, especially when I get up early, before my kids and family.
So I have the option to "meet with" technology - check my email, Twitter, Facebook, online
anything, check out shopping (Christmas is coming up), stuff like that. Or, I have the
option to dive into God's Word. Frequently, God's Word (well, all the time!) is what gives
me peace. It seems like shopping, checking email, all that sort of stuff, especially
if I do it at the beginning of the day, it robs me of my peace. It's no coincidence that
Paul, in a lot of his letters, started with "Grace to you, and peace from God the Father
and our Lord Jesus Christ". Because, peace is attainable. Philippians 4:6-7 says, "be
anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." So we have a chance to have the peace
of God! And that is huge! Don't let technology, shopping, relationships, or anything rob you
of the peace of God that you can have. How can you have that peace? It says right here
(looking down at Bible), let your requests be made known to God. Everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving. So, I'd like to encourage you. It's ironic that we
have Thanksgiving as a holiday and then the very next day is all about obtaining things.
And we can say, "Oh, we've got to get our shopping list complete, so it's really for
others, but, we really go around frantically this time of year and skip all of the peace
that can come through the Christmas season, realizing Christ's sacrifice for us and the
fact that Christ came to this earth as a baby is incredible! I have a newborn who's a little
more than a month old. I should be spending time daily with her, cherishing her, and appreciating
what God did in sending His Son, instead of constantly filling my mind with electronics
and things of this world. The Word says to not be entangled with the things of this world.
So I encourage you this Christmas season, this winter season, to enjoy time in a cozy
chair, take a look out and enjoy the peace of the holiday, not the frantic nature of
it! Thanks!