Have you been stressing out lately?
Been feeling like you're losing control?
Like everything around you is tumbling down?
Trust me girl... I've been there
Today were going to be going over finding true inner peace through Christ Jesus. We will be diving deep into scripture and reflection to reveal inner peace in our hearts that can only come through Christ.
This episode is number 3 of 9 episodes about the fruit of the spirit. The first episode I went over was on what Jesus says about love. Last week we went over letting your joy shine through. If you haven't checked out those episodes, go check them out first and come back to this because all of these episodes are going to go hand in hand with the fruit of the Spirit. To really take this journey of transformation with me, you need to make sure you check out each episode and do the reflection on each episode. I know that if you take this journey with me to really dive deep and reveal the fruit of the Spirit in our hearts, that it can and will transform your heart.
The first thing I want to do is just pray with you guys and open up our hearts to receive peace. Lord I lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up our hearts to receive the peace that we can only get from you Lord, not the peace that the world can give us, but the true and lasting peace that only you can give Lord. I pray that we open up our eyes to see the truth of your words, we open up our minds and our hearts to you, and that you reveal peace in our hearts today and every day going forward. I love you so much Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
So now that our hearts are open to receiving peace, I'm going to go ahead and just get into some Bible verses about peace:
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." -John 14: 27
So in this verse, Jesus was actually talking to his disciples about how the Holy Spirit is going to come to them whenever it's his time to go back to heaven and be a counselor to them. And then right after that, he says this verse that I just read for you guys and this verse is so powerful because it's so true. Jesus gives us a peace that is unlike any other peace. We can have temporary calmness or things that can calm us down for a moment, but having that true inner peace is something that you can only receive through Jesus Christ and through the Holy spirit. Because like he says in verse 26 that "the counselor, the Holy spirit, whom God the Father will send in his name" will teach us all things and will remind us of everything that he said to us. Which I know that he specifically said that to his disciples at the time, but like I've said many times before, whenever we're saved and we have the Holy Spirit within us, we seek to follow Jesus Christ, we spread the gospel, and all of that, we are his disciples. So anything in here that he directly says to his disciples, he's also saying to us.
So in order to get true peace that doesn't come from this world, we have to ask God to reveal it in our hearts, just like we did at the beginning of this episode. We can only get that peace through the Holy spirit and through Jesus Christ. Before I get into any other Bible verses, I just wanted to tell you guys a little story about the inner peace that I have received by following Jesus Christ.
So a lot of you may know, but I was diagnosed with anxiety when I was 15 years old and I'm now 26 years old. So for the past 11 years, I've struggled with anxiety. There have been so many sleepless nights, so many panic attacks, jobs that I've gotten fired from because of my anxiety, I mean it's been a lot, and I'm not going to come on here and say that I don't have anxiety at all anymore. But it is insane the difference that it has made with my inner peace now that I have this relationship with Christ and I strengthen it every day. Everyday I study my Bible, I talk to the Lord, I pray to him, I listen to Christian music, and I'm constantly doing these things to get closer and draw closer to Christ. The peace that I receive whenever I start feeling anxious, or whenever I feel a panic attack coming on, is unlike any other peace that I've ever experienced. Click here to hear the full story on how that.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4: 6-7
When I really started practicing praying o God throughout the day, every day, when I wake up in the morning, before I go to bed, before every meal, just to thank him, whenever I really started practicing praying and giving thanksgiving and presenting my requests to God, is when I really started feeling that inner peace and having that true inner peace that I can only receive from God.
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
-Colossians 3: 15
This verse says it all you guys. Anytime that you start to get anxious or stressed out, or you can feel anxiety coming on, just pray to God and ask him to reveal peace in your heart. And if you can't muster up the thoughts or the words to say to him, just be still for a moment, close your eyes, and God will give you that peace. He has done it for me time and time again and I know he will do it for you.
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what the nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of a sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;" -Romans 8: 5-6
So in these verses here, whenever we have the Holy spirit within us, and when we live in accordance to the Spirit, whenever we're disciples of Jesus Christ, whenever we're letting the spirit guide us, we no longer let the sinful nature control our minds, but our minds are controlled by the Spirit, which gives life and peace. Just like I've said before, we're dead in sin and we have everlasting life with Christ Jesus. Whenever we're letting the Holy Spirit guide us and we're not letting the sinful nature or our worldly desires control us, we will have that true inner peace by Christ Jesus.
"Humble yourselves. Therefore under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
-1 Peter 5: 6-7
Now I know a lot of you may have heard 1 Peter 5: 7, especially if you have anxiety. I'm sure people have said this to you, or you've looked up this verse, but I wanted to also read verse 6 because the context of these verses are very important. Before you can cast your anxiety on God because he cares for you, first, you have to humble yourselves under his mighty hand so that he may lift us up in due time. How do we humble ourselves under God's mighty hand? We repent (ask for forgiveness) for the things that we've done in our lives that we know are not okay, we pray to him, we thank him, we practice studying our Bibles everyday, let him guide us, seek the truth of his words and guidance from the Holy Spirit. Once we humble ourselves under his mighty hand, then we can cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for us. That is so important to remember.
We have to devote time every day to reading our Bible, to praying to the Lord, and having that close relationship with him. We don't have to start with hours of our day. We don't have to start with dedicating so much time every single day, because that's how we experienced burnout. We can start with small steps. But we have to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand and he will give us this true inner peace that we've never experienced before. If you're not sure where to start with drawing closer to Christ, if you're not sure what steps to take every day to have a close relationship with him, I have a podcast episode about that. It's episode number 52 on 5 daily habits to grow closer to Christ and develop a strong relationship with him. If you haven't checked that episode out, I definitely recommend checking it out.
"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace."
-1 Corinthians 14: 33
Here are some questions that I want you to write down and reflect on during this next week about peace and having true inner peace through Christ:
1. What is currently stressing you out?
-Let it all out, write down every single thing that's stressing you out.
-A lot of times just writing down the things that stress you out can really help you to start releasing those things.
2. Before you go any further with writing things down, I want you to stop right there and just pray
-Pray to God and release those things to the Lord.
-Whatever's stressing you out, give it all to God.
-This is your own personal prayer with God, so whatever you want to say to him say.
3. What has God given you that is good in your life?
-Maybe it's your kids, your husband, your job, a talent or skill that you have, whatever the case may be, just think of some things that are good in your life that God has given you.
4. What is one thing that you can do each day that gives you peace or that calms you down?
-When you're thinking about this, I really want you to think of heavenly things that you can do each day.
-Ex: Something that I do every single day that gives me peace is I pray.
-Another thing that gives me peace is listening to Christian music. When I'm feeling stressed out I pull out my headphones and put some music one and it reminds me of God's love, mercy, peace, and it automatically will start to calm me down.
So I really want you guys to reflect on these three things, and also say that prayer to release the things that are stressing you out. For the next week I really want you to focus on strengthening your relationship with Christ and letting him reveal that true inner peace in your hearts, peace that only comes from God.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, business, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes every week.
For weekly Bible Studies, tune in every week to my podcast. Every week I go over a new chapter/s of the Book of John.
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