Filled with Peace When I Feel the Pressure

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' " - Luke 2:13-14

One of the things that just grieves me is when I think about how we picture the nativity scene. I mean how we picture the people there with glowing faces and embroidered clothing. That is so NOT the way it was. Those people were under pressure! Jesus came to regular people overwhelmed by challenging and difficult circumstances and I believe that peace is the antidote to pressure.

So what makes me feel pressure? Has this ever happened to you? Do you feel like sometimes people are making decisions about your life and no one really checked with you? That's when I need peace, when stuff just comes suddenly out of nowhere.

That happened with Joseph for sure. Joseph must have been thinking, "What's some guy at the other end of the Mediterranean Sea doing? And right when my wife's getting ready to have a baby. Someone lost my reservation and there's nowhere to stay but some cold, nasty stable, and then Mary tells me that the baby is coming NOW." That's pressure. Joseph needed peace. So do we.

We need peace with God. That's the peace I feel when I feel conversion. Romans 5:1 says "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." You can't have any other peace until you have that - peace with God.
Peace from God is descriptive of a covenant relationship with Him. The Old Testament concept is shalom, it means peace, but is the complete state of wholeness and wellbeing. It's the sense that I'm living in a close, covenantal, relationship with God. It means great things about my life and future because of His grace toward me.

Then there's the peace of God. It's the calm assurance that what God is doing is best. It doesn't matter what comes in the mail today, it doesn't matter what the doctor says, it doesn't matter who rings my phone, it doesn't matter what comes my way today I have something guarding my heart.

You can get off the emotional rollercoaster and let this peace guard your heart. Nothing can penetrate that except that you open the door yourself. God's gonna take care of me. It's an awesome thing. And listen it's a real thing.

Peace with God, peace from God, peace of God. That's what the angels were talking about.

James MacDonald – Walk in the Word

The Benefits of Waiting

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord." - Psalms 40:1–3

The longer I live, the more I come to understand that life doesn't have a lot of green lights. There are hardly any times where God is like, "Do you want that? Have it right now. Why didn't you ask sooner?" More often God is like, "I'd like you to wait."

"No! I want it right now!"

God is like, "Listen! You might think you want it now, but I'm going to give it to you when you're fit to receive it. I'm going to use the process of waiting to shape you into the woman or the man that I want you to be. Getting it now wouldn't advance My purposes for you. I want you to wait."

Waiting is not an easy thing. Waiting is not passivity. Waiting on God is not the absence of efforts. Waiting is "I've done everything I know how to do but it's not enough and now I am waiting on God to do for me what I could not do for myself."

That is such an important lesson to learn. Let me tell you about some of the benefits that you get when you wait on God. Here are five verses that spell them out.

• According to Psalm 40:1 when we wait on God, He hears our prayers: "I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry."
• According to Isaiah 64:4 when we wait on God, He acts on our behalf: "Nor has the eye seen a God like You who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him." That's what God is fired up about. He works for the people who wait. I wonder how many things we don't get because we're out there working for it ourselves beyond what we should and God's like, "Would you just stop that? I act on behalf of the people who wait for Me."

• Psalm 25:3 says that when we wait on God, He keeps us from shame: "Indeed none of those who wait for You O God will be ashamed."

• Isaiah 40:31 says that He gives strength to those who wait: "Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength."

• Psalm 37:34 tells us that those who wait for God are exalted: "Wait for the Lord and He will exalt you."

Bottom line; God always makes it worth our while to wait for Him!
James MacDonald - Walk in the Word

Angola Prison

Hello everyone, just wanted to give you a quick update on an adventure that we are about to embark on. We have been invited to the Louisiana State Prison (aka Angola or “The Farm”) to facilitate a four day conference. We have been invited by Awana Lifeline which God has used to make a significant impact in the lives of many of the inmates. Angola is the largest maximum security prison in the United States and houses just over 5,000 inmates. 4,000 of the inmates are serving a life sentence and those that remain average a sentence of 90+ years. What used to be the considered the most violent and dangerous prison in America is now considered one of the safest! Only one reason, God at Work! Awana Lifeline has started a program called the “Malachi Dads” which is having the largest impact of any program that the prison has ever experienced, and they have asked us to come alongside and help continue on with what the Malachi dads program has begun.

Then link below is for a video highlighting what is happening with the Malachi Dads program at Angola. The interesting thing is that it was produced by USA Today. I would encourage you to take a look at the video to get a glimpse of what has been happening that we have been given opportunity to be part of.

I had the opportunity to take a trip to Angola this past August to do some preliminary work in regards to our days there. I have attached a picture below.

Fathers for Life Video
Angola State Prison Website

I will be sending updates through Twitter and Facebook while at the Prison. Check it out.