SERENITY NOW

The term Serenity Now was a line taken from Seinfeld, a comedy sitcom. A character, in the comedy, recited this term when his blood pressure was in danger of going up. The word, serenity, means to be serene, or clear and free from storms or unpleasant changes.

Peace is a state of tranquility or quietness. Or, a state in which there is no war or fight. I am going to pose these questions. Do you have the state of tranquility, in your heart, and a friendly attitude toward yourself and others, no matter what is going on in your life? How can you offer peace to others, when you lack it within yourself? Or, do you go out of your way to attempt to give peace to others and you have no idea how to get it for yourself? Do you know how to pursue peace and keep it?

First of all, peace is something we have already been given, by God. And He placed peace, in our hearts. It is a free gift among many other gifts God has given.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith… Galatians 5:22 (KJV).

The challenge is the fight to keep your peace. The peacekeeping battle may come daily, hourly, and other times minute by minute.

I would be remiss in not reminding you that, the Accuser, the devil wants to rob us of all good things that includes our peace. He will use people and situations to carry out his dirty deeds.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 (KJV)

How do we keep in our hearts and stop the devil. The battle begins in our minds. The Word of God is the only medicine to battle against all negative things we say about ourselves, what other people say about us, and all trials that may arise. One scripture, I recite, when I feel my peace is being attacked.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 (KJV)

Out of that one scripture there are 5 components God wants us to ponder.

Peace I leave with you… In this section, God states what he is giving us. He freely gives the present of peace. Peace is one of His greatest treasures.

My peace I give unto you… This clearly reflects who gave the peace. Peace came from God, My peace. God’s peace.

Not as the world giveth… This portion of the scripture delineates God’s peace from the world’s peace. The world wants to sell us peace and peace of mind through purchases. Car alarms, home security, expensive electronic gadgets on our phone offers peace of mind. Purchasing extra life insurance policies and pre-arranging your funeral arranges are other examples of how the world sells us and our loved ones peace. There is nothing wrong with owning any of the above, however true peace cannot be bought.

Let not your heart be troubled… God will never instruct us to do something that He did not give us the power to achieve. We can do all things through Him. He states do not let your heart (character, spirit, soul) be agitated, irritated, anxious, distressed or disturbed. All of these terms reflects to be troubled. If God says not to be anxious, He has given us the ability not to be anxious.

Neither let it be afraid… It refers to our hearts. Don’t let your heart be fearful, scared or frightened. This is not to indicate that we will never feel scared, afraid, anxious or distressed.  We will feel all of these feelings and more. But, when we put our trust in God, the feelings will be abated by His Word.

When the hot emotions of irritation and fear rages in your heart, the cool emotions of God’s peace douse them out. Serenity now Allow the peace of God flow in your heart.

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