“… It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” --Deuteronomy 31:8For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. --Jeremiah 29:11
"We're colored people, and we live in a tainted place
We're colored people, and they call us the human race
We've got a history so full of mistakes
And we are colored people who depend on a Holy Grace --DC Talk "Coloured People"
It's my will, and I'm not moving
Cause if it's Your will, then nothing can shake me
It's my will, to bow and praise You
I now have the will to praise my God
(We've got to be children of peace,
we've got to be children of peace)" --DC Talk "My Will"
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life." --St. Francis of Assisi
People often ask me why I put so much emphasis on peace and the war to get there. Well, with a disease that makes it hard for me-- and for anyone who is with me-- to have peace, just the thought of rest, of the blessing of peaceful golden silence after so many fears and voices in my head, of mutual peace between me and my family-- my friends-- my God... Just thinking about those things is a hope that I long after. After the war of trying to spread peace and failing miserably, and being unable to victor over the pain, it makes it difficult to live through these days. For so long, I can't get past the fact that I cannot be who God made me to be... I guess I ought not try all of this on my own, because, of course it falls apart that way...
Those days when waking up and moving forward are the hardest of things to do. It's a fight to look in the mirror and exhausting to chew your food, when these things discourage you from bathing and eating... That's when being a child of peace and light is the hardest of things to do and when fading into the grays sounds like the best direction. But, it's also the time that it's most important to be that child of peace.... spread the good news, comfort the broken, lift up the weary, carry the burdened, and love the neighbour-- and the enemy, forgive the hurts, live, love, laugh, and yes, even weep for and with the mission field... What's the mission field? It's the vast sea of faces... the entire world, no limits at all... All four corners of the world, to the end of the age... until your very last breath and the eternal and never-ending peace of the Kingdom is yours to taste and behold... But it is so hard, and we have so many fears... I know it all too well... But there isn't anything we can't do with God... He plans great things for us. My prayer now is that we will not let ourselves fade... because God will bring us into victory, He will crush Satan under our feet... and He will cry out with a loud voice to not be afraid and that this, our enemy is only one of the many He will slay beneath our feet.
Like when Joshua slayed the five kings in Joshua 10, God will conquer the enemies who were rulers over us when we trust in Him...
So it was, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, “Come near, put your feet on the necks of these kings.” And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. 25 Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” 26 And afterward Joshua struck them and killed them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging on the trees until evening. --Joshua 10:24-26.
So why do I put so much emphasis on peace with fellow man and God? Because "...we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Ephesians 6:10-13. With that known, to fight against these spirits, we must live a life of agape(unconditional love), joy, shalom(grace, mercy, and peace), hesed(lovingkindness), faithfulness and self-control... We spread the truth on those basis. That is why peace is so important to me...
