Becoming Analise

OUR SOURCE OF PEACE Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Part One: God's Peace will Guard Our Hearts.                   This verse is such a beautiful promise! In a world full of turmoil, chaos, and devastation caused by sin, isn’t it a comforting thought to know that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds? I think it is a fitting description to say that His peace surpasses or transcends all understanding because there are many times that people try and fail to make sense of what is going on, and we simply cannot, nor can we explain the peace we feel when God gives it to us in situations that should be devastating or stressful. We just know that the only way that we can have peace in this broken world is through the Father. As believers, we know that we are not going to have the safest and easiest lives just because God is our ...

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Do you trust the Lord? Or do you trust in yourself? Is “trusting the Lord” a clich é statement that we have come to speak in a well-meaning but utterly meaningless way? I find it very difficult sometimes to trust the Lord in the midst of disheartening or uncertain circumstances in my life. To a fault, I love control. I absolutely despise not knowing what is going on. I am a planner, which means that when a season in my life arrives with few answers and many unknowns, my initial response is to worry instead of trust many times. You would think that after being alive for twenty-six years that I would know myself well enough to know that I am not a trustworthy source when it comes to planning my life in comparison with the sovereignty and wisdom that the Lord provides for us! My husband and I were married in November after dat...

Philippians 4:5 – REASONABLENESS AND GENTLENESS “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.   The Lord is at hand;” Philippians 4:4 talks about the inward fruit of joy. Verse 5 talks about how the personal fruit of joy in the believer’s life is supposed to affect others as “reasonableness” or “gentleness”. Sometimes, I think people find it difficult to be reasonable and gentle because it’s much easier to be critical and hard on people. Also, we may feel as though we have a right to something and therefore it must be “ok” to insist on those rights. Read the following quotes about living a life of reasonableness and gentleness in the context of our interaction with believers and nonbelievers.   “This is how other people are to experience the Christian’s joy in the Lord; the word everyone is literally ‘to all people’, and clearly refers to both Christians and outsiders.” [i] “In the present context, too, it is undoubtedly the gentleness of Christ who did not ...