First Steps – November 9, 2020

Everyone wants peace, but very few care for the things that produce it. God’s peace is with the humble and the gentle, and especially with the patient. If you will listen to God and act accordingly, you will enjoy much peace. Here is what to do. Care for nothing other than pleasing God. Do not judge others or meddle in things which do not concern you. Following this advice will spare you needless trouble. But remember that it is impossible to be entirely free of trouble and fatigue in this life… Peace can be found in offering your whole heart to God. Forget your own will, in great things and small things, thanking God equally for the pleasant and the unpleasant. Weigh everything in the same balance…

These words were written in the 15th Century, yet they still ring true today. Peace is never the absence of struggle, but the knowledge that you belong to God. What assurance we have as a child of God. As God gives himself to us, we give ourselves to him. A bond of faith is formed, meaning that as we give ourselves to him, he gives us his peace.

Peace is internal, something on the inside, a calm resolve that sees one through the struggles of life. Remember – you belong to a God of peace.


This Week’s Readings:
  • Monday – Galatians 3
  • Tuesday – Galatians 4
  • Wednesday – Galatians 5
  • Thursday – Galatians 6
  • Friday – 1 Corinthians 1
Please Pray for:
  • Families in crisis.
  • Friends and family members battling illness.
  • Those seeking to find their way.
  • The St. Paul Church family and our ministries.
  • The United Methodist Church family.
  • Our leaders, our country, and our world.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” – Philippians 4:6