Seek Peace

Seek peace. 

Jesus has granted us eternal life in heaven, but does this allow us to remain peaceful in our daily lives? Hardly.

Seeking peace has become more and more difficult in our society for many reasons. The distractions of technology, TV, and computers take away our concentration from our inner worlds and from God. Human stress levels are the highest they have ever been in history. The issues of survival and of making money often hinder us from praying and maintaining our sense of mental balance. Peace can also be lost through sin. Small things like anger and gossip is enough to harm your sense of peace. The idea of attaining mental peace is common knowledge in other religions like Buddhism and Hinduism and seeking peace is the motivational goal of the practice of meditation. But it is also something that Jesus wants us to strive for.

1. (John 14:27) - "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
2. (John 16:33) - "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace..."

How is it that we can actually seek peace and be successful? 

The first is through prayer. When we pray, God comes upon us and we are lifted up and granted comfort. The second is by becoming aware. When we become aware of those incidences that trigger us to lose our peace, we can pray to control these thought patterns for God to help us avoid in the future. When we can identify those thought processes and patters that cause us to lose our peace, we can see that it is our job actually to control this sense of peace within our minds. It does not fall outside of us. It is our responsibility.

When you do find that you have lost your peace, you can immediately pray to regain it. If you have sinned, immediately pray for forgiveness and for the blood to cover that sin and close all doors through which any evil may have entered. God is always there to answer our prayers. All it takes is your willingness to ask. 

Another important thing to realize is that Satan will use the people around you to try to shake your sense of peace. When you are feeling your best, you can be sure that something is around the corner waiting to knock you down. We must be able to identify those circumstances and resist the urge to react negatively. Even in those moments of conflict and hardship, we need to make great efforts to maintain that sense of peace within. Through Jesus we are granted the ability to have true peace inside. But we must seek peace in every moment by controlling our minds if we are to fully experience the peace He has to offer.