The Seventh Beatitude

-


July 25
This past week I studied a series of devotionals by Lloyd John Ogilvie in his book Quiet Moments with God.
The Seventh Beatitude entry spoke a truth into my life, which I wish I'd been praying all my life.  I hope  this writing blesses you and therefore those who encounter you in your daily living!
I plan to turn this into a daily prayer for myself!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called Sons of God.  Matthew 5:9  
Blessed Father, I praise You for the peace that came through Christ and the blood he shed on the cross.  Your Son came to bring peace and has called me to be a peacemaker.  Today in my relationship with You, Father, I want to express my family likeness by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit of peace, and will accept my calling to be a peacemaker.

I pray that I will not sow discord, fan the flames of misunderstanding between people, take sides in petty conflicts, or participate in gossip.  Rather, I seek to be a peacemaker and share Your peace with those around me.  Help me try to bring healing of hurts and reconciliation of estrangement and brokenness between people.

My constant prayer to You is, “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.”  Work through me to communicate serenity, tranquility, and joy.  Help me be quick to forgive, slow to judge, and resourceful in conflicts.  I confess anything that robs me of Your peace so that I  can receive anew Your grace and commit on this day to be a peacemaker.

Popular posts from this blog

She Fought the Good Fight

-
Image
February 27 Bible Gateway's verse yesterday was: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him . 1 John 4:9 A fitting verse for the day my everyday friend, soul sister, monster of the faith and mischievous partner in crime, Kaye, left this world behind and headed to her heavenly home. My husband was able to be by her bedside and said he knew she heard the words of our faith that he shared. Her sweet daughter held the phone up to her ear so I could say good-bye and the brightest single star you have ever seen shown through my bedroom window as she exited this earth! Yesterday, my heart literally ached so badly that I told the Lord, "Take me too!" Wouldn't she have been surprised if I had snuck up on her in heaven and said, "Thought you were going somewhere without me, did ya." When we received the call she was ready to go, I called out to the Lord for comfort and He led me to the Bible Gat
Read more

Marriage Matters #1

-
Image
One of life's deepest hurts is when the one you love is unfaithful. Forty years ago, I remember an older friend, whose wife had been unfaithful and left him for another man saying to me..."Boo, I hope you never experience having the person you love and are married to, living 8 blocks away loving someone else." Deep hurt. They divorced. The wife of another friend of ours was having an affair with a fellow church member and a neighbor of theirs who lived 5 blocks away. She moved in with this man and our friend said one evening he was walking by the house where they were living together and saw them sitting at a table having a candlelight dinner. Ugh. The torment. I've always said it would be aweful to find out the person you were married to and  loved deeply loved another.  Hmm. We are the bride of Christ.  Is He our first love? 2 Peter 2:14 says: They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed
Read more

Are You Sinking... Being Tossed About?

-
Image
  A text came in from our neighbor recently, on a cold blustery day, when I was home with a stomach bug and awful headache. He said, "My canoe blew off our dock and has floated over to your shore."  And I'm thinking..."And you want me to do what?" I explained my husband was at work, but could help in the afternoon. I went to the window and could see the boat being tossed back and forth along our shore line. One minute it was close to our main dock and the next the winds had shifted and it was 200 feet in the opposite direction.  What I then realized is it had been taking on water. A text came again that he was in his car and driving around to our property.  Climbing out of my night shirt, I put on warm ups, UGGS boots and a hooded coat and limped outside to see how I could help. When I arrived to the shore line, the neighbor had tossed a 3 prong hook tied to a rope into the boat and was pulling it to the shore with one hand.  He had recently had hand surgery and
Read more