Several years ago Anita and I travelled to Nigeria to speak at a pastor’s conference. On our way back home, we had seated ourselves on the airplane and were awaiting takeoff. There was a ruckus in the back of the plane and several flight attendants moved to the rear. After more yelling, the head flight attendant moved down the aisle past us and said out loud, “That’s it! I want both of them off my plane!”
It seems two Nigerian tribesmen (whose tribes are always competing with one another) were fighting over space in the luggage compartment. Neither would back down and they were both kicked off the plane. Of course, the plane had to sit there while the luggage handlers had to unload all the luggage to find these two idiots’ luggage, before we could fly. That threw everything off schedule.
Disagreements are human nature. Even Paul and his partner Barnabus had a big fight that separated them as a team. Even the angels in heaven had a disagreements and God had to kick one-third of them out of heaven.
God, however, expects better of Christians. I believe there is a better way for Christians to behave. After all, we’ll be living next door to each other all eternity.
Tags: disagreements, fights, peace
A man, not happy with his wife’s mood swings, bought her a mood ring for her birthday so he could monitor his loved one’s moods. When she is in a good mood, it turns green. When she is in a bad mood, it leaves a great big red mark on his forehead.
We all have ups and downs in our emotions. Some of us a pretty radical in those extremes. Emotions are a quality of the soul and are therefore connected to how we see ourselves and what we are experiencing. Anger is an emotional reaction to something we are experiencing, as is crying.
The source of real peace through all these emotional reactions is to continually put our lives into the hand of God. If we can really trust God when our world is falling apart, it helps smooth out our emotions and our lives.
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Tags: emotions, humor, peace
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:2)
The author, David, continues the word picture here in verse 2. The shepherd sets things up in our lives so we can “lie down in green pastures”. Sheep are forever grazing and searching for greener pastures. If I were a sheep, I would much rather eat green grass than brown grass from a bale. Sheep never stop grazing until they’re full. In other words, the Shepherd will lead me to where I will be so full I just want to lie down and rest. What a picture of God’s abundant blessings in our lives.
He also leads us to where the water is still. They tell me sheep don’t like to drink running water. It reminds me of me. I don’t like turbulence in my life. I like things calm and peaceful. The Psalm is teaching us that Jesus (the Shepherd) takes us down the path of peace and calm. That’s what I’m looking for. The Hebrew word here translated “leads” actually means, “tugs” or “pulls”. He puts gentle pressure on us to walk down that peace path.
How has the Shepherd put gentle pressure on you to find His peace?
Tags: peace, Shepherd
Jesus said that in the last days we would hear of wars and rumors of wars, and that nations would rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms (Matthew 24:6-7). Have these signs just come upon us or have they been around for a long time?
In the above scripture Jesus was predicting the beginning of the Great Tribulation to come upon the earth in the last days. Yet history tells us that these same signs have been around for centuries. Someone is always going to war with somebody else.
The world is fallen and military conflicts are a natural result. Take what’s happening in the Holy Land as an example. Israel has agreed to relinquish the West Bank and Gaza to appease the Palestinians, yet Hamas continues to attack Israeli settlements with missiles. The United Nations called for Hamas to stop, but takes no action. So, Israel is forced to respond with air strikes in self-defense. But, Israel now runs the risk of turning public opinion against itself, as Islamists sworn to destroy Israel now reside all over the civilized world.
No wonder we are told to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6). Now would be a good time.
Tags: peace, wars