"God's Grace and His all Surpassing Peace"

Reflections4Life™ December 16, 2018

“God’s Grace and His all Surpassing Peace”

“Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel.” Philippians 4:7

Scripture Contemplation: Isaiah 26; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 4

T

here are many things that bring comfort to this world for some, and many things that bring no comfort to anyone. Yet, God’s grace and His peace should bring all man’s soul comfort. The comfort of knowing that God has us covered, even when we cannot cover ourselves, and that He can and will grant us peace in the midst of chaos, and the storms that continue to come. God is our anchor; the One that keeps us tethered to divine life and His ordained will for our lives.

I decree that this week’s Reflections will be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart mind and soul. Take some quality time this week and search your heart. Search your heart to know if the grace and peace of God are residing there. Do yourself a favor and make room for God, for His grace and His peace. You will never know the greatness you have been missing until your heart and mind aligns with the Spirit of God that is residing in you.

Do you really know the grace and peace of God? Many say they do but have truly yet to taste the goodness of God and all that He has made available for us. The Father’s love is encompassing. It surrounds us, fills us, calls to us, yearns for us to believe in it and accept it. Yet, we are a skeptical creation. Due to years of man’s manipulative ways, the lies, let downs, and disappointments, we do not truly trust in the goodness of God, let alone His grace and His peace. We do not really believe that the grace of God can be that easy to accept, nor His peace, that force, that quiets all the chaos in our lives. Yet they are.

Ephesians 2:8-9 You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you and not anything you have done on your own. It isn’t something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about.

God’s grace is a gift to us, not something that we can earn or buy. It just is. By His grace, we are saved and we are treated far better than our sinful lives have dictated. It is and will always be a gift from our Heavenly Father, who has extended to us, His unconditional love in many different ways, without pointing out our faults and flaws.

We walk around in this world carrying heavy burdens. Burdens from our past, from mistakes and failures, from the mouths of other people, that we forget the sovereignty of our God and that He is not a man, nor does He judge as man does. We cannot continue to place God on the same level that we do one another and walk in the fullness of His grace and love that He has ordained for each of our lives.

If we think we can take advantage of His grace, then we know nothing of God. The Father knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows what we are going to do before we do it. God allows things to happen because He knows and understands who we are. He knows the plans that He has for our lives. Make no mistake; God is in control.

Isaiah 26:3 The Lord gives perfect peace to those whose faith is firm.

Unbelievably, God blesses us with a peace that many others will never understand. A peace is far above our human consciousness. A peace that controls how we think and feel. A peace, that will have you calm and cool when everything around you is in utter chaos. It is the peace of God residing in us that surpasses all understanding and interpretation.

How do we get this kind of peace? We get it when we receive Christ as our personal Savior. This peace is already in us when God is in us. Think about this: Everything that God resides in us. Every character, power, strength—all of it—is inside of us when we accept Christ as our personal Savior. The moment we said yes to God, He immediately awoke in us, all that He ordained for us since creation. It is a matter of us believing it, accepting it and then receiving it. Allowing the peace of God to have ruled in our lives. This is the kind of peace that has us believing God, even when everything and everyone around us may be speaking the opposite.

My mother would answer our phone with the same greeting for years: “Grace and Peace!” She would say it in a sing-song voice, that would in some way, comfort whoever called. I finally got what my mother was doing: each time she spoke those words … those powerful words … she was making a declaration for her and the caller. She was declaring God’s grace and peace; God’s grace over her and the caller’s life, and the manifestations of the peace of God. Also, she was being certain that no matter what the call was concerning, there would continue to be the grace and peace of God. There is nothing more powerful that God’s grace and peace.

My Beloveds, may the spirit of peace and prosperity find permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. God’s grace is free. All we have to do is say, Yes, Lord. We maintain a level of peace when we maintain our faith. Our faith is maintained by spending quality time in the presence of God; accepting His grace and His instructions in our life. Declare and decree today, the grace and peace of God over and in your life. You are blessed. Now go … and be a blessing!

©2018. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.