Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Follow-Up on Tozer

Part of the passage I quoted yesterday from Tozer’s Pursuit of God says, “The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.” We live in turbulent times. The world is in an economic crisis. There is fighting is various parts of the world. Violence seems to be the norm in many of our cities across America. Peace is seemingly nonexistent.

The Bible holds the answer (doesn’t it always!).
Philippians 4:4-9 says this:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Are you missing out in peace in your life? Here is the answer. Rejoice, don’t worry, and pray. Then think the right thoughts and do the right things. Simple, right? Well, I admit that it is easier said than done. When you are wondering whether or not the next round of layoffs will include you or there is a mysterious lump in your body peace can be hard to find.
The good news is that God cares. He knows you better than you know yourself. Therefore we need to trust Him at His Word; rejoice, don’t worry, pray, think right thoughts, and do the right things. When we do these things, we will truly find the peace of God. Peace that you will never find in the world. Peace that transcends all understanding.

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!

2 comments:

Rosella said...

You are preaching to one in the pews today. With all the strife and animosity in our church right now, this is a breath of hope. Thanks for the reminder. I will pass it on to my class sunday and hope we will live the word. Shalom

Amy Florence said...

When I missed an interview a few weeks ago, you told me something along the lines of what you blogged about today. You were right. I got the job and if I would have remembered my first appointment, I would be having to call them up right now asking to change the timing of my placement. As it was, I learned all that in between the times so I was able to talk about it in the interview and it worked out for the best.