Peace

Peace.

Simple little 5 letter word has me blogging this AM. Up before 5 am, who'd have ever believed that! (and Mom it was without a fight and only one of the 4 alarms went off... yes I set four! LOL!!).

So what does peace mean? Wikipedia says "Inner peace (or peace of mind) refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Being "at peace" is considered by many to be healthy homeostasis and the opposite of being stressed or anxious."

So let me make a list here, in the last 2 1/2 years I've:
1) Moved too many times to count usually with a pack the whole house and move more than 5 hours one direction
2) Returned to work after being a stay at home mom, only to be driving all over 3 counties and then jumped ship and took a huge guaranteed pay cut and really uncertainty in hours
3) Grew and then gave birth to my sweet little curly haired youngest daughter
4) Discovered my marriage voes were a lie, confronted my now ex husband about it, only to then ask him to man up with God or move out and 18 months later and divorce was final 6 months later
5)  I am now a single mom, with three jobs... I'm mom, dad and I have paid employment

Ok so I think those are the major stresses in my life. But the odd thing is I sit here with the truest, deepest peace I've ever known. I get Phil 4:7 when Paul says "And the peace of God, WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING,..." There is only one explanation... I sit here with the Jesus Christ at the center of my life, acknowledging that He controls my future and when I seek Him, He promises to "prosper and not harm" me and to give me "hope and a future." So with my eyes fixed on how this story ends (I'm standing before my King, with the only acceptable representation Jesus Christ standing next to me and He knows my name!!!) I can get out of bed each day, face it head on, and have peace that even I can't explain.

And therefore I blog this AM about that simple 5 letter word. Peace is 100% crazy love (stole from Frances Chan), obedience and passion for our God. Peace that is indescribable comes through knowing Jesus Christ, knowing Him intimately, acknowledging Him daily with each breathe He gives.

My pastor challenges the church body to read His word individually and to know what it says for yourself. His challenge is 5 min a day for 7 days... let's just say I get up at 4:45 am now because I need and have a passion to be in His word for much longer than that. Anyway... I took that challenge late January 2010 really as a skeptic. I mean I knew God, I believed in Jesus but I had no idea of the life changing effect His living word would have in my life. Peace.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not LET your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (words spoken by Jesus).

So once again I close with "What if it changed your life?" But today I'll also ask... Do you know Him? Do you live each breath that He gives for Him? Do your actions, your thoughts, your attitudes, your service honor Him? If you know Him do you really acknowledge Him in your daily life? What if it changed your life?

And you could probably answer that for me without a closing but for those who might be reading this for the first time I'll answer with, "He (the Prince of Peace) has changed mine."