Jesus' Peace Is Not the World's.

 Note- Jesus did not sugarcoat what our lives would be like! Jesus did NOT tell us this world would give us happiness! Jesus told us we would have tribulation! Jesus told us we would SUFFER! So why are we so surprised at all the suffering? We should be horrified by it, agonize over the awfulness of it all, but we shouldn't be surprised it exists. We shouldn't let it touch even the tiniest bit of our faith in Jesus!

Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jesus left His peace with us.
Jesus gave us His peace.
Jesus told us His peace wouldn't be peace that the world offers.
Jesus doesn't want our hearts to be troubled.
Jesus doesn’t want our hearts to be afraid.

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Jesus gave us His words so we might have peace.
Jesus told us that in the world we will suffer.
Jesus told us to be of good cheer, knowing, HE overcame the world.

Do YOU have any tribulation in your life? Any at all? Do you know anyone who has tribulation in their life? Do you recognize that people have tribulations in their lives?

Tribulation- 'a cause of great trouble or suffering'

Great trouble, great suffering.

These are subjective to a point, yes? I say that because there are lives filled with nothing but torturous pain from illness, disease, enemies, and there are lives filled with lesser degrees of these things, and still other lives even less- minimal suffering. There is emotional agony some endure just from having minds that don't function in the proper way- and their lives are full of personal tribulation- suffering and trouble.

Tribulations - suffering and troubles truly are subjective to each individual though many who suffer even the worst of horrors will still agree that there are horrors still worse than their own. Witnessing others suffering is its own kind of suffering and trouble, sometimes having to witness another immersed in great tribulations is its own greatest of tribulations.

Jesus did NOT lie to us! Jesus did NOT try to sell us a song and a dance of peace and safety here upon earth! Jesus is truth and He told us TRUTHFULLY there would be GREAT SUFFERING, GREAT TROUBLE in our lives! He told us?! HE TOLD US! He never tried to spin a great yarn of peace on earth, peace in our lives, peace in our existence. He told us we could have peace, but not the world's peace. He told us He would leave us peace, He would give us HIS peace.

HIS PEACE.

And His peace overcame the world!

Hope to overcome. Hope for a better world. Hope real hope in a life of the truest of peace. A future of hope- this is His peace for us. This is why during ALL the horribleness of life, and there is so much, we can have peace where our hearts aren't troubled, where we aren't afraid. I'm not talking about the natural fear that springs up in us all the time. I'm talking about the fear that steals the hope of salvation, the hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Please, Lord Jesus, let us know the peace you left with us, the peace you give to us, not the peace of the world, but the peace you gave and continue to give!

All through Your amazing love! Thank you! All glory, all honor, all praise to YOU LORD JESUS now and forever! Amen!!!!!!!

Accountable God.

 

Christ Expectations!

 

Come and Dine.

 

Logic

 

Signs

 

Idols- Tear Them Down

 Hos 3:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. 

The Lord told Hosea to love a sinful woman, strange? Very. Yet the reason why the Lord told Hosea this was because it mirrors the Love of God toward his backsliding people.

A wayward husband or wife-- who doesn't know about such things? Some know firsthand how it feels to be cheated on, others don't. Most people know someone who was cheated on. There are way too many divorces from this very thing for people not to know anyone at all who wasn't cheated on. Barring any personal experience with infidelity- either yourself, family members, relatives of any sort, friends, co-workers-- friends of friends … we have television, movies, and books that are filled with this sort of behavior. The truth is, you know about cheating even if you don't have experience with cheating.

Still, and I have to bring this up, right or wrong, many people live in relationships where they say it's fine to look (lust) upon others and find them arousing, as long as they don't touch (commit the physical act) of adultery. It's true, you hear about it all the time. Men will be men, women will be women, and it's all natural to do this, God made us this way, it's normal for human beings to lust after each other that's how the species keeps going, and so on.

When God told Hosea to find… no, that's not right, God told Hosea to go LOVE an adulteress He was telling Hosea to go LOVE a woman KNOWN to stray from her husband.  

God's people then and still right now, are prone to adultery - straying from HIM and taking other 'gods' into their lives that they shouldn't. 

The Book of Hosea tells of how Hosea's love of this adulteress and her continued cheating on him resulted in a very hard relationship. We are shown that Hosea's unrelenting love is just that- a love so deep it cannot be lost. 

Am I saying a person should stay with a cheating spouse? I'm saying if that person desires to stay because they truly love that spouse even though that spouse is unfaithful- well, that's a personal decision the person has to make and no other.

God chooses to stay with His people. God chooses to have a people upon a corrupt earth filled to the brim with mostly cheating people- people cheating on Him. God chooses to believe there will be an adulteress people who will cease their adulteress acts and love only Him, a faithful people.

In the parable of the prodigal son we know that the wayward son returning was more joyous than anything to the father! But, the wayward son was not joyous to the father while he was being wayward, it wasn't until he returned, leaving his wayward existence.

It is extremely hard living in a world so full of evil that only a few out of the many will truly belong to God. We live in a time where God has been altered to fit into a sinful existence. Changing God to suit a sinful life makes it all the more harder to recognize sinning because we no longer recognize the adultery for what it is, we've made what was once considered adultery (straying from God) into something acceptable. Satan has done his job very, very well.  We've erected false idols covered in the apparel of God and bow down to worship them fooling ourselves that we are worshiping God when we aren't. We don't recognize our adultery and this is why when our Lord returns He is going to tell many, many people that He doesn't know them. 

Look at the God you are worshiping very, very closely. Go to God's word and study it like never before! Get on your knees and pray like your life depends upon it because it does. Seek God with all your heart! Search for God with all your heart! God will be found if there is even a sliver of sincerity in our searching, our seeking!

Don't lie to yourself, don't blind yourself to truth, don't stop up your own ears to keep from hearing truth because it might mean destroying the beloved idols of your life. Those idols whatever they are- will gladly holdfast to you all the way to non-existence.

Hosea was told to love an adulteress as God loves his people- God loves his people and wants them to be true to Him, to turn away from the adultery in their hearts, the idols they cheat upon Him with. God wants us wayward people to return to a true love of Him.

God please help us do this, please! Bring our hearts back to the true love of Your love. God, give us all we need to tear down and rid ourselves of the idols in our lives- especially the idols we've decked in the garb of Your appearance. Don't let us fool ourselves any longer that we are worshiping you in truth if we are not! Create in us clean hearts! Renew in us right spirits! Take us back into Your fold, let us filthy, desperate, prodigals come home, show us the way back to You and let us walk in that way while all around us the world wallows in the filth of deception. Let us not be deceived, help us! Save us! We know You love us with an unwavering love, You sacrificed all because You loved us, love us still and always!  

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Yours is the glory, the praise, the honor now and forever! Amen!