INTRODUCTION
This post contains the content of a pamphlet, which includes a photograph relevant to the passage, I distribute. I hope you find this post encouraging. If you would like some copies, please email me.
JESUS PROMISED TURMOIL IN THIS WORLD
Matthew 24:3-12 records Jesus’ prophesy that circumstances will become terrible as we approach the end of this age. International tensions moving us closer to nuclear war, inflation, surging crime, and moral decline exemplify those circumstances. In addition, we have personal challenges that can be “peace stealers” that generate the question:
Amid this turmoil, is there a way I can have peace?
The answer is: Yes! You can experience peace – Hebrew šālôm – in which you sense completeness, wholeness, harmony, and fulfillment. This unique peace can only happen by possessing the ultimate peace with God through Jesus Christ as promised in Romans 5:1, and to which Jesus refers in John 14:27.
If you have “peace stealers” please feel free to write them down. Let’s see how God can, through Psalm 29, eliminate your “peace stealers”
EXAMINING PSALM 29
Psalm 29, verses 1-2 (NLT) read, “1 Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength. 2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” It is essential to fully appreciate that the Almighty Triune God of the Bible – the One who from the burning bush characterized Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14) – is the only One who is due honor and worship. It is blasphemy to worship anything or anyone other than the one true living God.
Verses 3-9 (NLT) read:
3 The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5 The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning. 8 The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, ‘Glory!’
These verses display the power and might of God over all creation. Visualize the images as you ponder or meditate upon these verses. God is all-powerful and can take away your “peace stealers” and give you peace no matter the circumstance.
Verse 10 (NLT) reads, “10 The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever.” God is sovereign and eternal. There are no coincidences with God. As with verses 3-9, verse 10 should give you confidence that God can defeat your “peace stealers.”
Verse 11a (NLT) reads, “11a The Lord gives his people strength.” God is so very good to give His people – those who are His children by salvation through Jesus Christ – strength to have victory over their “peace stealers.”
Finally, verse 11b (NLT) reads, “11b The Lord blesses them with peace.” God blesses believers in the Lord Jesus Christ with peace which implies He removes their “peace stealers.”
First and foremost, the recipients of God’s blessings are “His people” (verses 10-11). To fall within the category of “His people,” you must be saved – someone who has repented to their sins and trusted alone in what Jesus Christ did for them.
You need to skip to the back page if you are not saved. Then, please (1) read through “God’s Plan of Salvation” so you can understand what God did for you through His only unique Son, Jesus Christ, and (2), from the bottom of your heart, pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” meaning every word. If you do, you will be reconciled to God – saved – through Jesus Christ.
Upon your salvation, you must find a spiritually solid Bible-believing church that (1) teaches that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, (2) believes in the doctrine of the Trinity, which means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and each Person is fully God, and (3) teaches that salvation is by grace through faith and not by works (e.g., water baptism by immersion).
Please do not make the mistake of thinking that once you become a Christian, your life will become easy. Most likely, it will become more difficult. God’s blessing of salvation and life’s difficulties are not mutually exclusive. Jesus told His disciples, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” John 15:18 (NLT). Always keep in mind that you have an eternal home in heaven waiting for you per John 14:2–4 (NLT):
2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
Second, as a child of God, you must begin studying the Bible to better know the One who saved your soul and took away your “peace stealers.” The Gospel of John is a good place to start.
Third, as a child of God, the better you know God, the more you can give Him honor and worship because, among many things, He is the God Who removes your “peace stealers.”
Fourth, as a child of God, the closer you draw to God, the better you see Him work in your life as He removes your “peace stealers,” and gives you strength to carry on, so you shout “Glory to the LORD!!”
Fifth, as a child of God, He will eliminate your “peace stealers” and bless you with peace – the special peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
After reading this pamphlet, do you feel that your situation is not as hopeless as you first thought? I hope that is the case.
For more information, please contact Steve Belsheim at steve@stevebelsheim.com. (Devotional No. 2 Rev 2.0)
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved
GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION
In the beginning, God, who is holy, created the entire universe. As a part of His creative actions, He made humans in His image to know Him. For a while, everything was right between God and our ancestors, Adam and Eve. But Adam sinned, and his sin was passed down to all of humankind whereby we became separated from God. Nothing we could do on our own could bridge that separation so that without God’s intervention, hell would be our eternal destination.
Fortunately for us, in His great love and mercy God provided humankind with the only means of salvation, which is through Jesus Christ who is God’s only unique Son. While retaining His deity, God the Son became a man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law Himself and taking on Himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever repent and trust in Him for their salvation. Jesus rose from the dead, showing that God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us has been exhausted. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust alone in what Christ did to save us.
If we repent of our sins and completely trust in Christ alone that He died for our sins and rose to life from the dead, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God.
Scripture References: Genesis 1:1, 27, 31; Habakkuk 1:13; Genesis 2:7, 18, 21-25; Genesis 3:1-7, 23-24; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:19-20, 23; 5:17-19; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16-18; Mark 1:15; Romans 1:4; 4:25; John 3:5-8; 1 Peter 1:3.
“SINNER’S PRAYER”
Lord, Jesus Christ, the only unique Son of God, thank You for Your free gift of eternal life. I know I’m a sinner who cannot save myself no matter what I do, and I deserve to spend eternity in hell. But, I know that because You loved me so much, You voluntarily died on the cross for me taking my sins upon Yourself, and You physically bodily rose from the grave showing that Your sacrificial death was sufficient payment to give me eternal life in Heaven. I now repent of my sins and trust alone in what You did for my eternal salvation. Please take control of my life as I now receive You as my Lord and Savior. Thank You so much for saving me. I am now Yours forever! (Scripture references: John 1:1-4, 11-14; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:21-26; Isaiah 53:4-6; Mark 1:15; Acts 16:31; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-10, 13; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; John 10:27-29).
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