Peace

•  John 14:27

New International Version (©1984)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
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• Philippians 4:7

King James Bible
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


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Definition:

1 : a state of tranquility or quiet: as a : freedom from civil disturbance
2 : freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/peace
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My Reflections:

If it were possible to buy peace, it would perhaps be the hottest item on the market. But there's  none rich enough to buy it, nor one so poor that he cannot afford it. Peace with oneself, peace with others and ultimately, peace with God, is only possible through Christ. We see in John 14:27 that the peace He gives is in far greater measure than that which the world can afford us. 

Illustrations:

• Duke University did a study on "peace of mind." Factors found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are: 1) the absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness. 2) Not living in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression. 3) Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it. 4) Force yourself to stay involved with the living world. Resist the temptation to withdraw and become reclusive during periods of emotional stress. 5) Refuse to indulge in self-pity when life hands you a raw deal. Accept the fact that nobody gets through life without some sorrow and misfortune. 6) Cultivate the old-fashioned virtues--love, humor, compassion and loyalty. 7) Do not expect too much of yourself. When there is too wide a gap between self-expectation and your ability to meet the goals you have set, feelings of inadequacy are inevitable. 8) Find something bigger than yourself to believe in. Self-centered egotistical people score lowest in any test for measuring happiness. - Source Unknown.

• Peace that Jesus gives is not the absence of trouble, but is rather the confidence that He is there with you always. - Source Unknown.

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Links for Further Reading:

• True Peace in Your Life
• Peace in the Midst of the Storm
• Blessed with Peace beyond Measure

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Prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus. May your peace that exceeds all understanding be mine today and always. Quiet the raging storms within me, and grant me to always behold your presence even in the worst of storms. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Obedience

Anchor Passages:
New Living Translation (©2007)

• Philippians 2:8

He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. ( NLT, 2007)

• 
  
  
  
  

  Romans 6:16 

¹⁶Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (NIV)

•  I Samuel 15:22 

But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. ( NIV )

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Definition: 

The act of obeying, or the state of being obedient; compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control. 

http://www.brainyquote.com/words/ob/obedience195278.html
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My Reflections:

Dogs can be trained to obey their handlers - in fact almost all animals are capable of such training. It still amazes me how wild elephants can be tamed and made to perform intricate roles at the circus, or how dogs can be trained to perform services such as guiding the blind through traffic jammed streets! It does appear to me sometimes that it's easy to teach obedience to an animal that it is to train myself into it. Paul tells us in Romans 6:16, that we obey whom we offer ourselves to. If we offer ourselves to God, we will learn to obey Him, otherwise, we will obey the whims of our sinful nature.

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Illustrations:

• On Dec. 4, 1893,  Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham of Toronto, Canada, and Thomas Kent of  Buffalo, N.Y., landed at Lagos, Nigeria. Their aim was to establish a witness among the 60 million people of what was then commonly known as the Soudan, the area south of the Sahara between the Niger River and the Nile. Gowans and Kent died in the first few months. Bingham returned to Canada, formed a council, and went back to Africa in 1900. That attempt, too, was unsuccessful. In 1901 Bingham sent out a party that succeeded in establishing the Mission's first base, at Patigi, 500 miles up the Niger River. When these first SIM pioneers landed in Nigeria, Gowans was 25 years old, Bingham was two weeks away from his 21st birthday, Kent was 23.

It is not the multitude of hard duties, it is not constraint and contention that advance us in our Christian course. On the contrary, it is the yielding of our wills without restriction and without choice, to tread cheerfully every day in the path in which Providence leads us, to seek nothing, to be discouraged by nothing, to seek out duty in the present moment, to trust all else without reserve to the will and power of God.
Source Unknown.

• Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love. - Aristotle 

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Resources for further Reading: 

• The Pleasure of God in True Obedience
• The School of Obedience by Andrew Murray 

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Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank you for the lesson on Obedience.  I pray that you may help me to be Obedient to you everyday of my life, to do your Will whatever the cost. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
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Humility

Anchor Passages: 

• James 4:10

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

• I Peter 5:6

6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

• Philippians 2:8

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. -  King James Bible

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Definition: 

The state or quality of being humble; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth; a sense of one's own unworthiness through imperfection and sinfulness; self-abasement; humbleness. 
- An act of submission or courtesy. 
http://www.brainyquote.com/words/hu/humility174717.html
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Illustrations:

1. Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. - Saint Augustine    
2. The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own estimation. Not because he is comparing himself with people, but because he is comparing himself with the Lord God.-- Charles Spurgeon
3. Be humble or you'll stumble. D.L. Moody.

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Links for Further Reading: 

1. http://www.twopaths.com/humility.htm
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfZyBZ_gcyQ 

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Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for the lesson on humility. You humbled yourself even to death so that I may receive eternal life. Help me to humble myself in your sight every day in my life. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Self-Control

Anchor Passage:
Galatians 5:22,23
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Passage 2
Proverbs 25:28 English Standard Version ( ESV )
28A man(A) without self-control
is like(B) a city broken into and left without walls.
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Definition:
• SELF-CONTROL (noun)
The noun SELF-CONTROL has 2 senses:

1. the act of denying yourself; controlling your impulses
2. the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior
www.AudioEnglish.net
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Illustrations:

1. British statesman Edmund Burke argued, "men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their own appetites. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there is without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."

Imprimis, Vol. 20, No. 9.

2. During his term as President of the U.S., Lyndon Johnson was somewhat overweight. One day his wife challenged him with this blunt assertion: "You can't run the country if you can't run yourself." Respecting Mrs. Johnson's wise observation, the President lost 23 pounds.


Unknown.
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Links for Further Readings

1. http://www.swartzcreek.net/assets/sermons/SelfControl.pdf
2. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2001/1172_The_Fierce_Fruit_of_SelfControl/
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Prayer

Dear Lord, thanks for your word today on Self-Control. Help me to be self-controlled in all matters of life. May I not be slave to sinful desires, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, may I learn each day to master them. This I pray in Jesus Name. Amen.

Love

Passage 1
New International Version

John 13:34

34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Passage 2
New International Version (©1984)
Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
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Definition:

unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1) : the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2) : brotherly concern for others b : a person's adoration of God - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love
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Illustrations
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1. If a man loves a woman for her beauty, does he love her? No; for the small-pox, which destroys her beauty without killing her, causes his love to cease. And if any one loves me for my judgment or my memory, does he really love me? No; for I can lose these qualities without ceasing to be.

Pascal.
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2. What is love?

It is silence--when your words would hurt.

It is patience--when your neighbor's curt.

It is deafness--when a scandal flows.

It is thoughtfulness--for other's woes.

It is promptness--when stern duty calls.

It is courage--when misfortune falls.

Source Unknown.
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3. It is natural to love them that love us, but it is supernatural to love them that hate us.

Source Unknown.
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Links for further reading:

. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/139/

Faithfulness

Passage 1
Anchor Bible Passage: New International Version (©1984)
Psalm 117:2
For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.
Passage 2
New Living Translation (©2007)
Luke 16:10
"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities.
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Definition: adjective

1. keeping faith; maintaining allegiance; constant; loyal: faithful friends
2. marked by or showing a strong sense of duty or responsibility; conscientious: faithful attendance
3. accurate; reliable; exact: a faithful copy
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Illustrations
1. Dont' waste your time waiting and longing for large opportunities which may never come. But faithfully handle the little things that are always claiming your attention.

F.B. Meyer.

2. If You Cannot Keep a Little House Clean . . .

A friend of mine once told me that his wife wanted to move to a larger house. She had a problem keeping their smaller house clean but promised him if they bought a larger house she would keep it spotless.

He lovingly told her, “Honey, if you can’t keep a little house clean, how do you expect to keep a big house clean?”

Our earthly duties are the “little house” to prepare us for eternity (Luke 16:10).
(Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 150-151)
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Further reading links
http://www.spirithome.com/faithfulness.html
http://www.allaboutgod.com/truth-topics/faithfulness.htm
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Endurance

Anchor Passage: Hebrews 12:1,2
1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Definition:
n.

1. The act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress: A marathon tests a runner's endurance.
2. The state or fact of persevering: Through hard work and endurance, we will complete this project.
3. Continuing existence; duration.
http://www.answers.com/topic/endurance
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Illustrations:
The Greeks had a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. I want to run all the way with the flame of my torch still lit for Him.

J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 32.
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There is nothing so fatal to character as half-finished tasks.

David Lloyd George.

Christlikeness

Anchor Passage: Philippians 2 : 5 -11


5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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Illustrations
When the wife of missionary Adoniram Judson told him that a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, "I do not want to be like a Paul...or any mere man. I want to be like Christ...I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings, drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints...Oh, to be more like Christ!"

Source Unknown.
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On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom." No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But the likeness of the Son who makes us free can be seen in the lives of His true followers.

Bill Morgan.