23 "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
24 "The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." '
27 "So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them."
The presence of the Lord brings peace. I would even say that if we want to see peace in our society, an application of God's principles with regard to human relations are in order. From our right relationship with God, we can reflect that peace to others, who will hopefully be attracted to it. Adopting God's view of others and seeking to put aside our own ambitions or agendas can lead to greater understanding and the release of spiritual wisdom in order to solve the issues that we face as a culture.
+++++
As he closed out the book of 2nd Thessalonians, the apostle Paul wrote in chapter 3:
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Recently, if you happened to be visiting Mobile, you may have seen a lady standing at the corner of Airport Boulevard and Hillcrest Road. She has been holding a sign that says "Pray for Peace" and encouraging drivers to honk if they agree with that message.
Her name is Maureen Maclay. She told WKRG Television, “With all of the violence in the world, I just turned the tv off and thought there might be one thing I could do," adding, “I thought there was a real need for expression of how much people in this country are desiring to have peace.”
This unique form of communication attracted others to come. The story says that Maureen "was joined by a few other concerned community members that wanted to help." Valerie Flout-Bridges said, “We felt compelled to come and meet her.”
According to Yellowhammer News, "The prayer warriors have also gotten attention from Mobile’s mayor, Sandy Stimpson. 'Thank you Maureen. I pray for peace everyday' he wrote on his Facebook page.
The WKRG story said that:
First of all, prayer needs to be a top priority for people of God who desire to see change in our culture. I often speak of surveys that show Americans feel our country is heading in the wrong direction. And, while we want to lay the blame at the feet of politicians, I think that the political decisions are an outgrowth of a huge spiritual need. We need to release the power of God in order to correct our culture. It's a matter of the Holy Spirit being unleashed to change human hearts.
So, prayer for peace involves a change of direction. We have to recognize that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, and while Jesus wants to bring people into a relationship with Him, our spiritual enemy, the devil, is determined to thwart that relationship and keep people apart from God. The peace that many are desperately seeking flows from having a peace with the Lord.
We have to ask ourselves what peace looks like. I think it starts through our own hearts being right with Him, but the principle of peace flows as people adopt a view of other humans that is consistent with God's love for people. In an age in which people have a diminished view of the value of life, we fail to put the needs of other people before our own. These are conditions of the heart, but we can rely on the power of Almighty God, Who, when He is brought into a situation, can cause people to change attitudes toward one another and work in tandem to craft solutions that are consistent with His truth.
Pray for peace - people want it, they realize we need it, but are we willing to do what it takes to see it come to pass?
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
14 And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
15 Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Recently, if you happened to be visiting Mobile, you may have seen a lady standing at the corner of Airport Boulevard and Hillcrest Road. She has been holding a sign that says "Pray for Peace" and encouraging drivers to honk if they agree with that message.
Her name is Maureen Maclay. She told WKRG Television, “With all of the violence in the world, I just turned the tv off and thought there might be one thing I could do," adding, “I thought there was a real need for expression of how much people in this country are desiring to have peace.”
This unique form of communication attracted others to come. The story says that Maureen "was joined by a few other concerned community members that wanted to help." Valerie Flout-Bridges said, “We felt compelled to come and meet her.”
According to Yellowhammer News, "The prayer warriors have also gotten attention from Mobile’s mayor, Sandy Stimpson. 'Thank you Maureen. I pray for peace everyday' he wrote on his Facebook page.
The WKRG story said that:
According to Maclay and Flout-Bridges, their best ambassador is a young girl who loves to hold the signs and scream at cars to honk. If you drive through the intersection, you will probably hear Simone Flout yelling, “Honk ’em everybody!”The signs are hand-made, the group is small, but the message is simple and powerful. Those three words, "Pray for Peace," can remind us of several things:
First of all, prayer needs to be a top priority for people of God who desire to see change in our culture. I often speak of surveys that show Americans feel our country is heading in the wrong direction. And, while we want to lay the blame at the feet of politicians, I think that the political decisions are an outgrowth of a huge spiritual need. We need to release the power of God in order to correct our culture. It's a matter of the Holy Spirit being unleashed to change human hearts.
So, prayer for peace involves a change of direction. We have to recognize that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, and while Jesus wants to bring people into a relationship with Him, our spiritual enemy, the devil, is determined to thwart that relationship and keep people apart from God. The peace that many are desperately seeking flows from having a peace with the Lord.
We have to ask ourselves what peace looks like. I think it starts through our own hearts being right with Him, but the principle of peace flows as people adopt a view of other humans that is consistent with God's love for people. In an age in which people have a diminished view of the value of life, we fail to put the needs of other people before our own. These are conditions of the heart, but we can rely on the power of Almighty God, Who, when He is brought into a situation, can cause people to change attitudes toward one another and work in tandem to craft solutions that are consistent with His truth.
Pray for peace - people want it, they realize we need it, but are we willing to do what it takes to see it come to pass?
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