Inspirational Thoughts about Peace

Daily Inspirational Thoughts

to bless your life.

The week of December 18, 2023

Monday through Thursday

~

This week we have

Inspirational Thoughts

highlighting

the topic

of

Peace

"For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name

will be called

Wonderful,

Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6  NKJV

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Monday 

Christmas is about

Celebrating the Prince of Peace.

* * *

Jesus

came to bring us Peace.

Jesus said,

"Peace I leave with you,

My peace I give to you;

not as the world gives do I give to you."

John 14:27a NKJV

Why is it that Christmas

has become

the most hectic time of the year?

Jesus didn't live a life of rushing.

Jesus could move

quickly

if that is what was needed,

but

he didn't demonstrate

creating

an atmosphere

of tension and a continual flurry of actions.

His unvoiced advice could translate into "Slow down."

Have we put too much on our plate?

Could it be

that bringing more

Peace

into our holiday

could be as important

as some of the other things we place as vital?

Could it be that we don't have to

have the house spotless,

or cook everything from scratch,

or find every perfect gift,

or decorate a perfect tree,

or post every holiday picture to Facebook,

or continually text,

or send out Christmas cards every year

or _____________? (fill in the blank)

Could it be that adding more

Peace

to the holiday is a worthy goal -

as worthy as some of our other Christmas goals?

Where could we modify

our thinking and our doing

so that we receive

the gift of peace in our holiday season?

Tuesday

"Slow down

so that you can speed up."

- -

One of the definitions of

Peace

deals with a calmness in your life.

-

Another definition

highlights contentment in your life.

The following is a devotion about adding

"Peace" to your life.

"Slow down so that you can speed up."

That sentence is special to me.

Several years ago, God told me that.

(I heard it in my head not in an audible voice.)

What God was saying is that

I was so busy and my life was so hectic

that the

most important things

were not

getting done.

Also,

I was so busy and tired that

I wasn't hearing God's guidance clearly

so I was frequently missing out on his help.

For example, if family is important to you - but you get overly busy and tired  - you miss out on making warm memories with your family.

Children grow up quickly

and

our aging parents will one day not be here to enjoy.

Being overly busy and allowing life to get hectic means that you may miss out on exploring your favorite hobby, or engaging in ministry for God, or - or - or.

So your goal for this Christmas season may be

to have more time

to work on a Christmas project -

but being too busy will keep you from your goal.

Also, being too busy means

that we don't have time for

Bible reading, prayer, or reflection.

 So sometimes we have to slow down

our life

in order to

speed up working on our heartfelt goals.

Sometimes

we accept added responsibilities

that take us away from our main life goals.

Slowing down frequently adds much-needed peace in our life.

That peace comes in the form of

calmness, relaxation,

and

time to do the most important things in life.

When we slow down,

we see

and

enjoy things

we normally miss.

- -

The following is a short excerpt from a

prayer

that will be shared further down the page.

I want to delight in watching

thick, rich, chocolate sauce

slowly

running down

a mountain of cold, vanilla ice cream;

I want to see the beauty

of a kitten's eyes flicker

as she wakes up

and

stretches

with one of those l-o-n-g feline stretches...

Below is a prayer I wrote in my book Praying for your Child.

My book shares Bible principles in a context of teaching the reader insights into the four basic personality styles.

The above quote is found in the chapter called the

"S" Personality Style. 

Many people with the "S" personality style naturally take life a little slower than others.

The following prayer was written for the parents of an "S" child in order for them to more fully appreciate their "S" child.

Even if you do not have a child, I encourage you to read the prayer and see if you can glean some new insights from it.

Note: In the book, I wrote each prayer twice - once for a son and once for a daughter. I chose to share the one "for a daughter" below.

Abba Father,

You give us such a beautiful picture of the life of Jesus in your Holy Scriptures. We see his loving compassion, we hear his timeless wisdom and we feel his unhurried pace.

Lord, my child's pace is slow, and slow is beautiful.

My daughter adds calmness to every life that is open to her influence. Through living with her, I am realizing that I sometimes buy into the frenzy of busyness that is taking over this world. I will take time to reflect on the beauty of the calm, relaxing style that represents my daughter.

There are so many things that are enriched by being done slowly. Bring new revelation and appreciation to me in this area. Slow me down, so that I do not miss the unique wonders that are all around me.

I want to experience the first snowflakes of the season drifting down to settle and disappear into the fabric of my favorite coat; I want to delight in watching thick, rich, chocolate sauce slowly running down a mountain of cold, vanilla ice cream; I want to see the beauty of a kitten's eyes flicker as she wakes up and stretches with one of those l-o-n-g feline stretches; I want to feel the heavenly contentment of holding my precious child in my arms as I drink in the moment in an attempt to memorize our embrace. Yes, so many things in life are more beautiful in the slow mode.

Thank you for the relaxed style of my child.

I praise you that my child is fearfully and wonderfully made.

Amen

Copyright © 2004 from the book Praying for your Child

---

Wednesday 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those words are a

frequent greeting in the New Testament.

Those words are found in Romans 1:7b, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, and Philemon 1:3.

A similar verse is found in many other

New Testament books:

1 Timothy 1:2, "To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord."

2 Timothy 1:2, "To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."

Titus 1:4, "To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior."

1 Peter 1:2b, " Grace to you and peace be multiplied."

2 Peter 1:2, " Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

2 John 1:3, "Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love."

Jude 1:2, "Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you."

Peace

The writers of the New Testament

felt that peace

was a

really important thing that people needed.

~ ~ ~

In our world today, we don't hear

as much about pursuing peace as we did a few years ago. 

~ ~ ~

Maybe it is time that seeking "Peace"

and wishing people "Peace"

becomes more common in the Christian world.

Note:

The definition of "Peace" from each of those verses

is given

near the bottom of the page.

---

Thursday

Henry Ford invented the car to need gas.

God created us to need Him.

Mini-Devotion for Thursday:

God created us in such a way

that deep contentment and deep peace

could only come through knowing Him.

Perfect peace has a name - Jesus Christ.

Highlighted Bible Verse
for the Week:

Seek Peace and Pursue it.

Psalm 34:14 NKJV

Keeping the Main Thing -
the Main Thing

This Christmas,

Will you determined

to keep

the main thing - the main thing?

Loving Father,

With all the hustle bustle of the holiday season, I am stopping right now and spending some warm moments with you.

You are the most important thing in my life. You are my Alpha and my Omega. You are the beginning and the ending of each of my days.

You made me, and I am your delight.

And Lord…… I delight in you.

Amen

Copyright © 2012 Beth McLendon of Inspirational - Prayers.com

Taken from our Christmas Prayers Page.

Definition of  "Peace"

In Strong's Concordance, the Hebrew word “Peace” in Isaiah 9:6 has these possible meanings:

1) completeness, soundness, welfare, peace
1a) completeness (in number)
1b) safety, soundness (in body)
1c) welfare, health, prosperity
1d) peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment
1e) peace, friendship
1e1) of human relationships
1e2) with God especially in covenant relationship
1f) peace (from war)
1g) peace (as adjective)

In Strong's Concordance, the Greek word “Peace” in all the Wednesday scriptures has these possible meanings:

1) a state of national tranquillity
1a) exemption from the rage and havoc of war
2) peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord
3) security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and
harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous)
4) of the Messiah's peace
4a) the way that leads to peace (salvation)
5) of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its
salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and
content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is
6) the blessed state of devout and upright men after death

Please consider praying the following prayer

so that others may know the

Prince of Peace.

Hanukkah Prayer

Dear Lord,

Last week the Jewish people celebrated Hanukkah. 

As they reflect on this Festival of Lights, I pray that the light of the world, JESUS Christ, would be revealed to each one as his or her Messiah.

During this year, may all the Jewish people have the opportunity to recognize and accept Jesus as their Messiah.

Amen

Copyright ©2013 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

We have a page to explain

Hanukkah.

For a list of all our Christmas pages

see: Holiday Pages

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Thank you for visiting our page.

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Page originally presented December 2, 2013.