PEACE: Not As The World Gives

 I recieve daily emails from Joel Osteen and as I read today's devotional, I immediately knew it was meant for someone who might be going through something right now.  I've added a little bit to it and went a little more in depth with it and I pray that this helps someone as it has me.  May God speak to your heart.  Open your heart and let God take and embrace you in His arms as you deal with whatever you may be dealing with today or this week, or even next year.  Remember, we are here for you if you need us.  Give us call and we will be glad to talk to you or just listen.  If you need prayer, we will pray for you.  Ask for Minda 573-421-5024

PEACE: Not As The World Gives

John 14:27- Peace I leave with you, My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] (Amp)

So many people today are in search for true, inner PEACE.  They search through relationships, addictions, money, religion, etc to find something that will fill the void inside.  I myself, don't rely on RELIGION to give me peace.  I could never find PEACE in RELIGION...no one will be able to.  True peace isn't found in anything this world has to offer.  This true peace can only be found thorugh a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Only He can satisfy the longing in our souls and give us true, lasting peace.

In this world, Peace doesn't come without a price.  To get peace, in this world we have to fight wars.  We have to endure things.  But according to the Word of God, TRUE EVERLASTING PEACE through Christ is FREE!  You can't earn it and you can't buy it.  There's absolutely no catch, no fine print and no strings attached!  And you can rest assured that He is never going to take His Peace away, His peace is eternal!  A life of peace, true peace begins when you invite Jesus into your life and let Him be your Lord and Savior!  Why do I need to give Christ my life?  Why do I need to ask Him to come in?  Simple.  God created you, you are His creation.  If you created something, wouldn't you want the credit for it?  I, myself am a photographer on the side, and if someone took my work, I would be a little upset because I worked so hard and did so much on my creation by editing, cropping, etc.  Well God does the same to us.  He created us, He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.  He knows what He's doing, after all, He created us the way we are for a reason.  We may not know why we are the way we are, or why things happen to us, but it's all going to be okay.  Trust me. I've had so much happen in my life and I've heard many more stories of worse things that people went through and they made it out----with God's help! 

As you align your thoughts, attitudes, and actions with His Word (The Bible, if you don't have one, contact me at 573-421-5024 and I'll do my very best to obtain one for you), that peace will flood every area of your life! Peace is how we know we are following God's plan because God's plan ALWAYS leads us to peace! 

If you're looking for peace, call upon His name.  It's the name above all names---Jesus!  Invite Him to be your Lord and Savior.  Follow His Word and allow His peace to fill every area of your life!

Prayer of Salvation:

Lord,

I come to You today, I ask You to give me this Peace.  The Peace that surpasses All Understanding!  I ask that You be the Lord of my life.  I ask that You forgive me of my past faults and failures and lead me down Your path to peace.  I know I have tried everything besides You and I long to be FREE from that false peace.  Guide me Lord, in Your ways.  Help me as I go along this journey to knowing You and I pray that You help me adjust my thoughts, attitudes and actions to what You want for me.  In Jesus' Name, AMEN

If you prayed this prayer, contact Minda at 573-421-5024 or send an email to arisetonewlife@gmail I would really love to hear from you and help you along your journey.  If you would like to talk to me on any issue you can also do the same.  

God Bless!
Minda

What Does the Bible Say About Drugs and Alcohol?

What Does the Bible Say about Drugs and Drinking Alcohol?

FAQ: What does the Bible say about using drugs and alcohol, other than for diseases and cooking?

In English translations, there is no verse of Scripture that clearly and specifically addresses the use of recreational or hallucinogenic drugs, but we will see that the Greek word pharmakeia does refer to this. There are, however, quite a few verses that speak to the wrong use of alcoholic beverages, which produces a similarly altered mental state. Let us look at a few of them to give us a framework to examine this topic.

Ephesians 5:18 (NKJ)

Proverbs 23:21a (NKJ)

1 Corinthians 5:11

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty.
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation [the Greek word for “dissipation” means “an abandoned, dissolute life; profligacy; prodigality”].

Despite what some

Why does God tell us not to get drunk? Because life is a

1 Peter 1:13 (NKJ)

Romans 12:2

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8
(6)

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled [KJV=sober].
(7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
(8) But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled [KJV=sober], putting on
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober [self-controlled], and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) says that

In Scripture, God uses the word “heart” to refer to the inner core of one’s being, the depths of the mind where either true faith or unbelief resides. He admonishes believers to guard our hearts so that we allow no evil influences to come in, because if they do get in, they may have devastating consequences.

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

When one is drunk, he is, in reality, out of his mind. He cannot guard his heart, and it is difficult or impossible for him to serve God or God’s people in an effective way. A person who is drunk is not effective in praying for, or ministering to, others. Furthermore, a drunk opens himself up to the possibility of evil spirits entering his mind and causing confusion or harm to himself or others.

The Bible puts using drugs in the same category as getting drunk (Gal. 5:19-21): both are forbidden by God because of what they do to the individual personally, and how they make him unfit to minister to others. However, before we go into the specific verses that mention drugs, we need to understand something about God’s Word. The Bible is written in such a way that people who are seeking God’s will are able to find it. It is impossible for God to write a book that covers every sin—we can sin in ways today that no one in the biblical world would have even conceived of, such as child pornography on the Internet. The Word of God is “instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16 KJV), general instruction that can be applied by wise people. LSD, crystal meth, crack, crank, etc., did not exist in biblical times, so God did not mention them in the Bible. What God does say, in many different ways, is that the Christian is a minister of God to His people, and should be alert and prepared to serve at all times, even if that is just being alone

Drugs used to alter one’s mental state and thus “escape reality” do the same thing that excess alcohol does, that is, they render a person “out of control” of his mind. As with alcohol, the individual who is “high” on drugs is in no position to fulfill the command to “be alert and self-controlled.” Many drugs are hallucinogenic, and a hallucination is “a false notion, belief, or impression; illusion; or delusion.” In the Bible, the Greek word for “truth” means “reality.” Satan’s goal is to get people to act upon a false reality.

Scripture does indirectly address the illicit use of drugs, and connects it to drunkenness, as per the following verses, where the Greek word for “witchcraft” is pharmakeia, which includes “the use or the administering of drugs,” “poisoning [by drugs]” (Thayer’s Lexicon), and the variant, pharmakon, in Revelation 9:21 focuses upon “the use of certain potions or drugs” and the casting of spells (Louw Nida Greek Lexicon).This same root word is also translated as “sorcerer” and “sorceries” (see Rev. 9:21, 18:23, 21:8, 22:15). The translation “witchcraft” is used in most English versions because pharmakeia also referred to the witchcraft or sorcery in which drugs were used for potions, spells, etc. Understanding that pharmakeia is related to the use of drugs, notice how it appears, along with drunkenness, in the list of the “works of the flesh” in Galatians.

Galatians 5:19-21
(19)

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
(20) idolatry and witchcraft [pharmakeia]; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
(21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Recreational and hallucinogenic drugs were not invented in Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s. They have been weapons in Satan’s arsenal for thousands of years, and they have contributed significantly to the destruction of millions of people’s lives, as both Scripture and history confirm.

There are other biblical truths that make it clear that the use of recreational and hallucinogenic drugs is harmful. We are to take care of our bodies so as to be able to serve God for many years, and drugs are physically debilitating. Also, we are to steward the financial resources that God gives us, and using our money to buy such drugs is hardly good stewardship. Beyond that, many drug users turn to crime to support their habit, and those crimes range from stealing from other addicts to murdering innocent people to get their “fix.” Thus, beyond the sin of the drunkenness or drug use itself are the sins of lying, stealing, and murder to which such a lifestyle leads. In short, using drugs robs us of “the life that is truly life.”

Many users say they are looking for peace, joy, and the “high” that such drugs give them. How sad. Anything someone categorizes as something good that a drug does for him is something only God, our heavenly Father, can give us through Jesus Christ. God designed us to enjoy life and be engaged in it, and the so-called benefits of drugs and alcohol are a counterfeit at best. Recreational drug use and getting drunk is selfish and dangerous, and addiction is not an escape from pain; it is pain in the worst way, as countless thousands of ex-addicts sadly testify. In contrast, an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus brings us all those things, and more. Thus we need not despair and grope for artificial means of altering our mental state. We will be so full of

Christians teach, there is no prohibition in God’s Word against drinking alcoholic beverages. It is not a sin to drink beer, or even whiskey. There is, however, a clear prohibition against getting drunk. A Christian might then conclude that drinking no alcohol at all would surely eliminate the possibility of abusing it, and choose never to partake. Each of us must choose for ourselves how we relate to “booze,” but we have no biblical basis to think less of our brethren in Christ who enjoy a drink once in a while, but do not get drunk.spiritual battle, and we must be self-controlled and alert (1 Thess. 5:6). First, we need to be alert in order to serve God. God wants us constantly tuned into Him, and people have needs at very unexpected times. The servant of God is always “on call,” and must be ready and willing to serve. Second, our enemy, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan’s evil spirits usually infiltrate people through their minds, and Scripture is replete with instructions about properly managing our minds by controlling our thoughts and making them godly thoughts. For example:be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.as one thinks, so he is. That is because thoughts are the seeds of our words and deeds. The way we “renew our minds,” and “be sober” is by choosing to think what the Word of God tells us to think. 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls this “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” That is how we steel our minds against our enemy, Satan, who is constantly bombarding us with stimuli designed to hijack our thoughts in an ungodly direction, cause us to act in an ungodly fashion, and eventually open our minds to evil spirit influence.praying for people. Being drunk or high on drugs renders one incapable of being effective for God.joy and peace that anything that alters it would be “a downer.”