How to maintain Peace in your Heart

Text: 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 16:8 

We must first of all believe that God is committed to giving us peace always by all means, then we must realize that we have a responsibility to keep our minds stayed on him to experience His peace. In John 14:27, the reason why Jesus said we should let not our hearts be troubled is because we can choose to not allow our hearts to be troubled. According to Matthew 14:24-32, Peter had the responsibility of keeping his eyes on Jesus if he wanted to have peace in the midst of the storm and it was when he (by himself) took his eyes off Jesus that he started to sink.

·         Importance of Maintaining Peace in your heart:

-  God can work only when our hearts are at peace.

-  Being at peace is a sign of faith and our faith pleases God.

-  Anxiety is not good for our health – there are so many sicknesses and diseases caused by fear and worry, even psychological – Prov.17:22

-  Peace guards our hearts and minds – Phil.4:7

 

·         Ways we can maintain Peace in Our Hearts:

-  Remember the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord - Lam.3:19-26

-  Fix your mind on God’s Greatness and His Great Love for you - Isa 26:3

-  Fix your mind on God’s Promises - 2 Thess. 3:16, Isa 54:10, John 16:33

-  Sing praises unto God - Rom. 4:20

-  Give no room for fear. Tell yourself that He is the God of your salvation (deliverance) and He will deliver you out of this situation - John 14:27, 2Tim.1:7

-  Be anxious for nothing /Pray with thanksgiving - Phil.4:6-7

-  Confess and declare God’s Word - Heb.13:5-6

-  Forgive people and have mercy on them - Heb.12:14

One major reason for lack of peace is confusion; not knowing what to do about a situation. We must believe God will make a way where there seems to be no way; He will make a way of escape and He will open our eyes to see and know the way. The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth.

Because Jesus is in your boat, no storm of life can sink you. Ask Him in faith and He will give you His peace in that situation. Speak to that mountain and it will move, Mark 11:23. Don’t doubt in your heart. You will have what you say. 

HOW TO RENEW OUR MINDS (Part Two)

TEXT:   Rom 12:2, Ephesians 4:23

Memory Verse:  “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind” - Ephesians 4:23           

In our previous study, we were able to establish certain facts, three (3) of which are given below;

•        With the mind, we exercise the power of reasoning, conceiving ideas, and judgment, the mind is the center of the soul; the center of our intellect, reasoning and emotions and the place where decisions are made; our minds determine our lives.

•        Our minds have been programmed with natural attitudes, including beliefs, thoughts, ideas, opinions, convictions that we have concerning us, others, objects, activities, and even God and these have been formed through the influence of parents, educational systems, society (books, television, movies, etc.), religious trainings, personal experience, etc.

•          When we got born again, our minds did not get born again; only our spirit, hence the need for constant renewal of our minds, to conform to the mind of Christ.

In this study, we will be looking at the effects of an un-renewed mind, benefits of having a mind being renewed, and how to renew our minds.

DISCUSSIONS

1.      Effects of an un-renewed mind on (1 Cor. 13, 1 Jn 2:15-16, Gal 5:19-21; 26);

·         Mind-set about ourselves - false sense of identity, external orientation (looks, etc), feelings of guilt, attitudes of worthlessness, inferiority, superiority, pride, etc.

·     Mind-set about other people - people pleasing, self-conscious, vain imaginations/fantasies, fears, phobias, attitudes of anger, impatience, hate, bitterness, resentment, revenge, suspicion, jealousy, unforgiveness, blame, depression

·         Mind-set about things – materialism/love for things, addictions to substances, objects, etc.

·         Mind-set about ideas – obsessions for knowledge, desire to be correct, accurate, right, etc

           2.      Benefits of a renewed mind

·         Transformation comes as a result of renewal of our minds - Rom. 12:2

·         Prosperity and good success - Josh 1:8

·         Life and Perfect peace - Rom 8:6, Isa 26:3

·         Mention others

           3.      How to renew our minds

·         Meditate (hâgâh - pronounced haw-gaw' - to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication to ponder: - imagine, mourn, mutter, speak, study, talk, utter.) on God’s word – Josh 1:8,

-  You have the mind of Christ - I Cor. 2:16

-  Whatever is true, right, pure, etc - Phil. 4:8

-  On things above - Col. 3:2

·       Avoid evil communications/re-focus your mind (friends, TV, magazines, music, etc) - 1 Cor. 15:33, Col. 3:2

·         Live by the Spirit of God (Gal 5:16-22)

                  

CONCLUSION

Our minds direct our attitude, and influence our actions. It follows, therefore, that if we are to act like Christ, we must think like Him. The mind however, does not act on its own, but operates on what it feeds on. Hence, if the people and circumstances that influence our mental processing are Godly, we will find it easier to fix our thoughts on Jesus, and act like Him.

Raising Godly Children

Gen 18:19, Prov 13:24, Prov 19:18

The best legacy every Christian parent should leave for their children should be more than wealth, education, cars, etc; the best legacy for posterity is not stored up wealth, but well behaved and well trained Godly Children in a corrupt generation. God had so much trust in Abraham that he (Abraham) would train his children after Him (God) and Abraham did not disappoint. Good communication is the life-blood of every strong and healthy family, and we must start this process (of communication and chastisement) while it is early (while there is still hope).

Positive steps to Developing Godly Children

All children from zero age to death pass through three (3) stages in life;

·         The stage of Regulation – this stage starts from the womb to the age of seven (7), where the parents regulate the destiny of the child by speaking words. Every child is a special specie manufactured by God to be delivered through an earthly vessel to cause a change in his/her generation (Jeremiah 1:10). Therefore at this stage of regulation, the parents must speak God’s word into the child; making sure that his/her life conforms to God’s plan. At the stage the child is likely to say lots and lots of nonsense, but the parents still should give a listening ear and regulate/correct whatever the child says; Learning starts from birth and what of the things we must teach our children at this stage is obedience. If a parent exercise control and bend the child early enough, they can relax later on in life (Prov 19:18).

·         The stage of Imitation – this is the stage where children imitate others especially in their lifestyle. This stage starts from age Eight (8) to Twelve (12) and it’s a stage where children are very restless, ask lots of questions wanting to know everything, and it is a stage where we must become role-models to our children and lead them by example. We must be attentive to their questions and not turn them away. We must observe them very well and correct every character or lifestyle not coming from us.

·         The stage of Inspiration – this stage starts from the age of thirteen (13) till when the child dies. This is the stage where we inspire the child and put them in the way (Prov. 23:19). Here the child needs to know that he/she is special and we should not rule them out, and where the parent must covert his/her love for the child to time. This is where we teach them by inspiring them, and one of the things we teach them to do is to value spiritual things. Rules, models, and examples must continue in this stage, and we as parents must continue speaking into their lives and set it in accordance to God’s plan.

Every child is special, made in God’s image and likeness. Every child is worth investing our time, effort and money on, and every well trained and Godly child will shape our tomorrow for the better.