perfect peace.

and ONLY god can give it.

we had church last night. ahh what a study i needed. we're currently working our way through isaish. we're in chapter 26. our memory verse for the week was 26:3

You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

yeah. that's what i needed to be remembering this week. i wasn't. my mind wasn't 'stayed' on him. i wasn't completely trusting in him. and so i didn't have perfect peace.

because i'm human, that's why i forget. then god lovingly 'smacks' me on the head and says hey wake up. (maybe that's not what he does to you, but that's usually what i need...a good smack)

so last night at church was my wake up.

god's peace is perfect.

god's peace surpasses ALL understanding (Philippians 4:6-7)

Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus.

so that's my prayer this week. to be anxious for NOTHING and in EVERYTHING be in prayer. and with THANKSGIVING in my heart. and then and only then i'll be given the PEACE of GOD that surpasses all understanding.

during the study last night our pastor, mike, shared something that i found SO true. he actually heard jon courson (a super awesome calvary chapel pastor) preach once and said that if we can understand our peace about something, it probably isn't true peace from god. true peace is when everything around us is going crazy and then you're fine. calm. at PEACE.

i liked that. and it's true. until i completely and with my whole ENTIRE soul, heart and mind trust god and obey him, i'm probably not experiencing true peace. because you know...i've been that person who 'understands' the peace. and then i realized how i probably wasn't feeling so 'peacey' afterall.

i really love our calvary chapel. (check out the main calvary site, that link is really just to our church's address we have no official site) sure it's a small church. in a basement. but god doesn't care. and hey i don't care. as long as i'm being fed, and what is being teached is entirely BIBLE based. it's okay. and it doesn't matter 'where' it's being taught as much as WHAT is being taught.

some people/churches i think are trying to fit what they teach into what they want to hear. they don't want to hear the 'bad' stuff from the bible. or what god says about certain things. the truth is...god said it. i believe it. so hey...that settles it. i believe what god says to be true and the way i should live my life. do i fail? heck yeah. does god take me back? every time. i don't fail 'on purpose' but when it happens, and it does, god smacks me (remember i need that) and says

get back here.

i love you.

fall into my arms.

you won't hit the ground.

so i'm off to enjoy my perfect peace today. not anything i can do for myself but from my perfect loving father.

i encourage you to find perfect peace. get your ticket to heaven. it's the only way my friends. the only way. because why? you ask. well because god said so. i ain't messing with him!