Tag: Peace

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How Do We Pursue Peace?

Peace should be a high priority for all believers. We should do all we can to ensure that the church is a harmonious and pleasant place to worship. Each Christian should be peaceable. But what does it mean to be peaceable?

Wilhelmus à Brakel, in his Reformed classic The Christian’s Reasonable Service, offers this definition of peaceableness:

Peaceableness is a believer’s quiet and contented disposition of soul, inclining him toward, and causing him to strive for, the maintaining of a relationship with his neighbor characterized by sweet unity—doing so in the way of truth and godliness. (4:91)

Continue reading “How Do We Pursue Peace?”

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What Christmas Teaches Us About Joy

“Joy to the world” sings Clark Griswold as he prepares to flip the switch that will transform his home into a luminous display of Christmas joy for the entire neighborhood.

Only it doesn’t. Somewhere, there is a disconnect.

That’s how Christmas can be for many people. Christmas comes. We flip the joy switch, and it doesn’t turn on. We keep trying to turn it on, but the joy never lights up.

Christmas is an opportunity to reset and reconnect to our true source of joy. Christmas teaches us something about joy that is absolutely crucial. In order to live a life of joy, we have to have a source of joy that is not based on changeable circumstances. Continue reading “What Christmas Teaches Us About Joy”

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Keeping Sane and Productive in an Insane World, Principle #1: Don’t say, “I can’t do that.” Say, “I can’t do that today.”

Principle #1: Don’t say, “I can’t do that.” Say, “I can’t do that today.”

It’s easy to look at hard things and say, “I can’t do that.” That’s only partly true. You can’t do that today. But there are many things that you can’t do today that you could do if you worked at them over a period of time.

Many of the things that we admire in others are things that they worked at for a long time. Obviously, certain people’s bodies are better built for professional football than others, but those who become pro football players have put in thousands of hours of work to get there.

Whether it’s playing an instrument, speaking a foreign language, delivering a speech, writing a book, or running a marathon, these skills take time to develop. You may not be able to run a marathon today, but you could run one if you worked on it over a long period of time.

What is true in the area of physical skills is also true in relationships. You may not feel like you are good at connecting with people. However, you can work at it. You relate better to people. For example, you may think that your relationship with your child is not good. Say instead: it’s not good today, but it can be better in the future, if I work at it. Continue reading “Keeping Sane and Productive in an Insane World, Principle #1: Don’t say, “I can’t do that.” Say, “I can’t do that today.” “

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5 Steps to Grow in Faith, Hope, and Love for Greater Joy, Peace, and Hope

Key thought: when we grow in the characteristics of faith, hope, and love, we will have greater joy, peace, and hope. But how do we do it?

Over the past couple of months, I have explained that the book of Romans is a book that is designed to lead us to greater joy, peace, and hope. As Paul wrote, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (15:13). This was Paul’s prayer for what this letter would accomplish.

The key to growing in joy, peace, and hope was greater faith in what God had done in Christ to forgive us and will do to transform us. The key was greater hope in a brighter future for ourselves individually and for the world. The key was greater love that would love others better, even when it was hard. The key was growing in the virtues of faith, hope, and love.

Becoming people of greater faith, hope, and love is much harder to do than to say. So, how do we do it? I want to conclude this series on Romans with an explanation of how to grow in faith, hope, and love so we can feel greater joy, peace, and hope. I hope that this will serve as a guide for you to study and review the principles of this great letter to the Roman Christians. This advice is derived from what the Apostle Paul is doing in this letter.

If you want to read the rest of the series, you can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, part 5 here, part 6 here, and part 7 here. You can read part 8 here.

How to Grow in Virtue
1. Pray specifically to grow in faith, hope, and love. This is what Paul is doing at the end of his letter in the blessing he declares over them. He is asking God to increase the faith of the Roman Christians. That’s what we should do. We have not because we ask not. Ask, and it will be given you. God delights to give us the gifts of greater faith and love. Pray specifically each day that God will give you faith, the gift that opens the door to all other gifts. Continue reading “5 Steps to Grow in Faith, Hope, and Love for Greater Joy, Peace, and Hope”

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Is There Hope for the Future of the World? (Study of Romans, Part 6: Romans 9–11)

Key thought; we grow in joy, peace, and hope by developing a brighter view and expectation for the future of the world.

Note: How do we find joy, hope, and peace in our lives? The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans is all about that. He teaches that we do it by having more faith, hope, and love. In the 6th part of this study, we consider, is there hope for my the world? This is the 6th of an 8 part study of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. You can read part 1 here, part 2 here, part 3 here, part 4 here, and part 5 here.

The Heartbreak of the World
Right now, there is a war going on in the Middle East. Israel is vowing to defeat Hamas. But will it bring peace? Where is the hope in this complicated situation for a lasting solution?

Immigrants make the hard trek to the United States because of the miserable and insecure living conditions in which they live. It breaks the heart.

Beyond these bigger issues, We all have families, churches, communities, or businesses that have failed us. We thought they were in one place, but they were in another. Few things can grieve our hearts like a community gone wrong. Few things can rob us of hope for the future like seeing the communities we relied on totally fail us.

That’s what the Apostle Paul was experiencing. He had hoped that his people would accept Jesus, but they had not. This broke his heart. He saw them as being on a destructive road. “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” for his own people (Romans 9:1–2). They should have accepted the Messiah, but they missed him. Paul understood because he was one of them. He did not see it at first. God had to get his attention in dramatic fashion (read part 1 of this study here to read about Paul’s story).

So, how did Paul process his grief over his community going in the wrong direction? He saw God’s purposes above it. He recognized that God’s purposes are not tied to any particular community. He is not bound to them or dependent on them. He can do what He wants. Continue reading “Is There Hope for the Future of the World? (Study of Romans, Part 6: Romans 9–11)”

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