"I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you by the way you should go.
Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea... "
Isaiah 48:17-18 (NKJV)
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness ...
Psalms 23:2-3 (NKJV)
"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, neither let it be afraid."
John 14:27 (NKJV)
After the air we breath, water is most necessary element we take in to sustain our bodies. We are made of water. We are cleansed of toxins, inside and out, by water. Peace of soul is found in the very presence of water—rhythmic waves, babbling brook, crashing waterfall.
The healthy mind craves peace. The world defines peace as absence of conflict. Absence of conflict does not exist, so peace will not be found there. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but power, love and a sound mind in the face of conflict.
Conflict is neither cause for anxiety nor opportunity for pride, but simply presents challenges to strengthen us. And in the conflict between God's will and ours is opportunity for greatest peace. The Lord our God teaches us to profit, and leads in the way we should go. To heed Him is to know peace like a river—peace as essential to our souls as water is to our bodies.
Prince of Peace, Your ways are perfect. We can take no path more excellent than Yours. Please give us willing spirits, and the strength of Your Spirit to prevail over weak flesh. Please give us Your Spirit's power, love and sound mind. Let us know Your peace like a river.
"There is no peace for the wicked." ~ YHWH
Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy
And how easy to forget, we who live in lands of many rivers, how rare and precious a river, NHR -- or any source of water -- was to the people who under God's direction wrote the Bible.
ReplyDeleteNeither has that same arid, Holy Land known much of the world's definition of peace.
Yet, as you so beautifully write, from thence has come the very water of life and Prince of Peace.
So lovely, I enjoy your posts so very much.
ReplyDelete