The Experience of His Peace

0:00Life this side of heaven is played with all kinds of stress and anxiety. None of us is immune to this reality, but thankfully we have Jesus, who the Bible tells us is Himself our peace. What a beautiful comfort we have found in Him. May you lose yourself in Jesus today and allow Him to wrap you in His peace afresh. Bring whatever fears, stresses, or worries you have to the risen Christ today and experience the very real breath of heaven. Welcome to the first fifteen podcast. Our Scripture for today comes from 2 Thessalonians 3, 16.

1:12Scripture says, Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. One of the most heavenly aspects of experiencing God is His abounding peace. Peace is not something this world can offer us. This world is run on chaos, stress, confusion, striving, and frivolous pursuits with no satisfaction. Even in this life, God offers us the peace of heaven, the peace that comes from having our hearts wrapped up in true relationship with Him. Philippians 4, verses 6-7 says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

2:16let your requests be made known to God. In the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. God exchanges our earthly cares and stresses for His heavenly sustaining peace. He is such a good Father to us that He takes that which troubles our hearts, promises to take care of us down to the smallest burden and offers us incomprehensible peace from His Spirit. Jesus says in John 1633, I have said these things to you that in me, you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. When we seek relationship with Jesus, we are seeking relationship with the one who

3:19conquered death and destroyed any and every scheme of the enemy against us. To know Him is to know a true conqueror. And in knowing Him, our lives become wrapped up in His. Our worried and fearful hearts become wrapped up in His heart of peace. Isaiah 263 says, You keep Him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because He trusts in you. It longs for us to so encounter His trustworthiness that our lives are marked by His peace. He longs for us to so trust Him that this world cannot rob us of the peace that comes from knowing our God will always prove Himself faithful. All He has promised to do, He will do. All He has said of Himself, He truly is.

4:23Peace comes from keeping our mind stayed on the perfect character of our Heavenly Father and letting who He is be at the foundation of all we do, think and feel. God has heavenly peace in store for you today. The peace He offers you isn't of this world and therefore will sustain you through any of its troubles. And before your loving Heavenly Father and cast your cares on Him, let your requests be made known to Him, place your trust in His trustworthiness and receive the perfect sustaining peace of your loving Father. May your day-to-day be marked by the fruit of whole-hearted relationship with the God of peace. Fill your heart as you enter guided prayer.

5:49As we begin, meditate on the peace available to you in relationship with God. Allow Scripture to help you not settle for stress, burdens and cares that aren't your portion in Jesus. In John 1427, Jesus says, Peace, I leave with you, my peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled. Be there, let them be afraid.

7:08And next, what has been causing you stress? What's been stealing your peace? What thoughts, people, situations, fears or spiritual attacks do you need to bring before your loving Heavenly Father? 1 Peter 5 verses 6-7 says, Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.

8:30Take time to bring before God all that's bothering you. May all your anxieties at His feet choose to trust that He will take care of them and help you through them and receive His peace that surpasses all understanding. Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

9:31Romans 8 verse 6 says, For to set the mind on the flesh is death. But to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. We have the choice moment by moment to set our minds on the things of this world or on the things of God. When we choose to set our minds on the Spirit, we are positioning ourselves to be people marked by the fruit of His presence in our lives. When we choose the world, we are only setting ourselves up for failure, anxiety and trouble.

10:35Choose today to set your mind on the Lord in every situation. The things of this world are fleeting, but our God spans throughout the farthest reaches of eternity. May His power, faithfulness and nearness bring you peace today. Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast, The Experience of His Peace. In a world where stress has become our new normal, peace can be so hard to find. If you start to feel stressed at all today, take a moment to stop, breathe and set your

11:36mind on God meeting with you in the present, right where you are. God has given you everything you need for this moment and He'll give you everything you need for the next. Have a wonderful rest of your day and may God bless you as you seek Him. Do you ever feel like your faith is solid, but the world around you just feels so heavy? You trust God, you believe He's good, but then you read the news and anxiety creeps in. The future feels uncertain and you're not sure what to do with that tension. My friend Dr. Jim Denison wrote a book called Bright Hope for Tomorrow that meets you right in that place. It explores ten of Jesus' parables and shows how His timeless stories still speak peace

12:41in our hardest days. When you give to support First 15 today, we'll send you a copy as a thank you. But here's what your generosity really does. It helps create daily devotionals, guided prayers, and worship resources that invite people around the world into God's presence every single morning. Visit supportfirst15.org to give and get your copy of Bright Hope for tomorrow today.