TURN ON YOUR PEACE ALARM!

Proverbs 4:23 NIV Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

A lot of houses today have smoke alarms and when there’s a hint of smoke they start wailing and the peace of the house is shattered till we stop the cause of the smoke and turn it off!

I wonder if you ever watch or hear things that set off your inner peace alarm? Just listening to the news can disturb our peace and God knows that, which is why He warns us to guard our hearts more than anything else! We have to do the guarding, we have to choose what we allow in, to block the fear or the offence.

When we lose our peace it affects the way we think, which then affects our words and actions. When we’ve heard or seen something that activates fear in us then we need to stand against it with our faith in God’s promises in His word. If we don’t do that, then fear will rule instead of faith. We need to spread faith in our hearts, and in those around us, not fear!😊

God gives us very specific instructions for guarding our hearts and if we actively follow His commands then we shall experience His peace. All we have to do is follow the Maker’s instructions. And here is phase one…

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Now phase two is this…
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

If we’re not at peace about something, we need to go back and check to see if our heart’s peace alarm is turned on and if it isn’t then we need to reread the above instructions and change some things because we’ll be glad we did, if we do!😊 

As God says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Amen.

NO LONGER TIED DOWN

Galations 5:1 NLT So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Spiders and their webs give me the heebee-jeebies and as I looked out my window the other morning I saw a little beetle caught by one leg in a spider’s web on the window sill. He was tied down and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t free himself. I felt so sorry for it I went out and set him free as there was no spider there anymore!

It made me think how we can be caught by just one thing, maybe by one weakness, one bad habit and it has us tied down and we feel like we can’t get free. But the good news is Jesus came to set us free from everything that the enemy has tried to hold us down with.😊

It might just be a wrong thought which keeps recurring, a worry that won’t leave us alone, or a bad attitude that pops out our mouths when we least expect it, but shows what is really in our hearts! Maybe it’s a physical addiction you’ve tried and tried to break free from but with no success. The wonderful truth is Jesus has already set us free if we’ll recognise what He has already done at the cross.

I heard of a man who had unsuccessfully tried for years to give up smoking and the pastor told him to keep thanking the Lord all through the day that he was already free from it and that he didn’t need to do it anymore, even though he was still lighting up cigarettes all day! It made no sense to him but he obeyed and after several weeks of confessing Jesus had already set him free, the revelation of it hit him one day, and he suddenly realised he really was free and he didn’t want to smoke any more! He was completely delivered.😊

Jesus is our Deliverer, the only One who redeemed us from the curse of the law and all it tied us to, which means He has set us free as well. So let’s ask for greater revelation of our freedom, and lay hold of it for ourselves. 

Holy Spirit give us a breakthrough of understanding of all we already have in Jesus, so we can enjoy the freedom He died to give us. Thank You Lord. Amen.