LeMonique

The angels proclaimed, "Peace on Earth" when the Baby Jesus was born.

We all need two kinds of peace in our lives. We need inner peace, but we also need peace with others. God addresses both. He tells us what to do to find that peace.
Inner peace begins with a relationship with God and it continues as we focus on His strength and allow Him to fill us.

God's Word says, "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is focused on You because He trusts in You" ~ Isaiah 26:3 ~. Personalize this verse with your own name in it. "God will keep me in perfect peace as my mind focuses on Him and trusts Him". Peace with others begins as we understand that God has called us to be peacemakers in our world. "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God" ~ Matthew 5:9 ~

Pray: Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy... Divine Master; grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life, Amen".

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"Joy to the world!" We hear the refrain every Christmas. The old, familiar song suggests that joy has come because the Lord has come. Joy! Think about it.

Most people I talk to these days answer my, "How are you"? question with, "Tired," Busy," "Getting by," "Surviving," "OK," or "Pretty good".

Very few seem to exude this joy that we, as children of God, claim to have because the Lord has come. The Bible actually gives us a blueprint of how to find joy. In poetic language the book of Isaiah tells us why Jesus came to this earth.
"...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning ~ Isaiah 61:3 ~
Mourning occurs whenever there is a loss. The losses in our lives are the things that have disintegrated. Loss is different for all of us. Yet for all of us, loss represents a sadness in our souls... a lack of true joy... a place where the oil of healing needs to be applied. It is the place where God desires to bring beauty out of our ashes.

Jesus came to this earth to bring beauty out of the ashes in your life. How does it happen? It happens when you acknowledge your losses... the disappointments and sadness you carry in your heart. Ask His forgiveness for the times you have helped cause ashes. Invite Him to come into your life in a fresh way and begin His redeeming work. Opening the places of loss to Him enables Him to come in and bring His healing. As He does, a joy will surface in your soul that is truly a miracle! You can experience "Joy to the world" this Holiday Season!