December 11, 2023 • 44 mins
Each week of December, Anna and Sarah are going through Advent (Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love). They will each have a devotional prepared about each topic, and toward the end of each episode, Anna and Sarah will be reading what others have said about their own beliefs/opinions of that episode's topic.
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(00:00):
Hello friends, and welcome to week two of our admin series.
(00:20):
Today, hold on, hold on, you gotta restart.
You totally went to soft mode like, hello friends.
I'm being serious.
I know, but you know what it reminds me of?
Huh?
Have you ever heard the people who do like sleeping videos where they talk while you
sleep?
That's what I'm reminding me of.
(00:40):
I'm sorry.
No, it's okay.
I tried to pair my ears to sleep.
No, I don't, okay, we're good now.
Okay, I'm sorry.
You can start when you're ready.
Well, shoot, I was ready.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I can leave that part in.
No.
Hello, and welcome to...
Week two on our series on Advent.
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Today, Sarah and I are going to be discussing peace.
And as a reminder, Advent symbolizes the church's present situation in these last days.
But Advent specifically in the month of December is just a time to reflect and anticipate
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what Christmas represents in the coming of Jesus.
And so there's four weeks of Advent, hope, peace, joy and love.
And today, like I said, we're going to be discussing peace.
And if you missed our podcast on hope, you should go back and listen to that.
See.
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Okay, cool.
Well, we have decided...
Well, Anna decided.
I'll be going first.
So I'll warn you guys, I made these notes because we had to postpone when we recorded,
which was fine.
But I made these notes like over a week ago.
And I have this rule for myself that I'm not allowed to go back and review my notes for
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a certain amount of days because then I'll want to change everything.
But I'll be like mentally exhausted from thinking about it so much that sometimes I like put
my own exhaustion and stuff.
And it gets in the way of what God is telling me to do through it.
And so I just don't read it.
So that being said, I'm just going to have to read some of my observations to remember
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what all I was saying when I wrote these.
So hopefully it won't be choppy and it'll make perfect sense and everything will go
smoothly.
There's my disclaimer that no one really cared about.
But I don't think you mentioned this Anna.
But last week we said on the podcast that what we're doing is we each are just going
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to let God lead us in how I'm going to have something about peace to say and Anna's going
to have something about peace to say, but we have no idea what each other is really
saying.
We kind of talked about it a little bit before the podcast, but up until today we had no
idea what the other person was doing.
So it could be like a Bible study thing or a devotional thing.
It could be just like one verse or it could be like just our own personal life with peace
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without a lot of scripture, but it's still like it's still biblical, but like it could
be literally anything.
And then at the end of the episode, we will be reading what other people think about today's
topic.
So we've asked certain people two questions about peace and they each gave us answers
and we'll be reading those just for a different opinion and observation or whatever, or belief,
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I guess, on peace from other people, not just us.
Okay, so let's get started.
So my main point is freedom brings us peace.
That's like the overall theme here.
So I'm just going to jump right in.
Okay, so first off as like a little backstory slash introduction, I just want to remind
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us or remind everyone that the world is in bondage, even if the world meaning non-believers,
because you have Christians and you have non-Christians.
And so whenever we say worldly things, like if we're talking about quote unquote worldly
things, we're talking about non-believers.
So that's what I mean here when I say world.
So non-believers are in bondage, even if they don't realize it.
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To them, they might be living a free life doing whatever they want, but really they're
in bondage by the devil, by the enemy.
So I'm going to read a verse here, Second Timothy chapter two, verses 25 through 26.
This is the NLT version.
It says, gently instruct those who oppose the truth.
Perhaps God will change those people's hearts and they will learn the truth.
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Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap for they have been held
captive by him to do whatever he wants.
So that's just a reminder.
I'm not going to go into extensive detail about that, but just a reminder, maybe I'm
informing you for the first time that if you are not child of God, if you don't have a
relationship with him, then you are in bondage, but it's of the devil and that's not good.
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So my next point is when Christ came to earth, he brought peace.
He is the ultimate peacemaker.
Isaiah 9, 6 NLT says, for a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor,
mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace.
Another verse is Luke 2, 14 and it says, glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on
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earth to those with whom God is pleased.
So that's just another way of saying that through this and that was to the shepherds,
the angels or the heavenly hosts as it says.
When they were singing, they were singing this to the shepherds.
They were saying glory to God in the highest heaven, peace on earth to those with whom
God is pleased.
So that just is another way of showing that peace was brought through this event of Christ
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being born.
So when Christ came to earth, he brought peace through intimate relationship with God.
We experienced freedom of all things that have bound us emotionally, mentally, physically
and spiritually resulting in the peace that surpasses all human understanding.
I'll go into more detail about this in just a moment, but I first want to read Galatians
five 22 through 23 and it's about the fruits of the spirit and it says, but the fruit of
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the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self control against such things.
There is no law.
So I inserted this verse because as I said a moment ago, their intimate relationship
with God, we experienced freedom, yada, yada, yada.
So relationship with God is, is how we have fruits of the spirit coming out of us.
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It's how we have love coming out of us.
It's how we have joy coming out of our actions.
It's how we have peace.
It's how we have patience.
It's how we have kindness.
And the spirit in the sense is the Holy Spirit.
It's God's spirit.
It's not us.
It's not anything of our doing.
It's the Holy Spirit of God inside of us.
And as we have an intimate relationship with God, the closer and closer we get to him,
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the more fruit of the Holy Spirit is going to come out of us.
And peace is one of those things.
So that's why I kind of wanted to insert that.
My next verse that I want to talk about is also in Galatians.
It's chapter five verse one and it says, so Christ has truly set us free.
Now make sure that you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.
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This freedom looks like no longer being bound by anxiety and depression, alcoholism, narcissism,
pride, greed, fear, insert anything else you can think of.
So earlier whenever I said that when we have an intimate relationship with God, we experience
freedom of all things that have bound us emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.
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These are the things I'm talking about.
These are the things.
So if you are someone, something that is a very hot topic nowadays and it has been for
a while now, something that wasn't talked about way back in the day, but now it is a
lot more out in the open is depression and anxiety.
And it's something that a lot of people struggle with.
And I'm not going to go into way big detail about this, but really big, really quick side
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note.
The reason that people struggle with depression, anxiety specifically so much is because the
first place the devil attacks us is mental, is mentally.
That is the very first place he goes because he knows that if he can knock you down mentally
with your mental state completely, then you're no good for God.
And I'm not saying you're not good, like you're still worth it to God.
Obviously that's not what I mean.
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I'm saying you're not going to be able to do anything for God if you allow the devil
to completely consume your mind mentally.
And so that's why he attacks you mentally because God gave you, well anyway, so that's
basically all I'm going to say about that.
So same thing with all this other stuff though.
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All these things stem from the way you think, your thought processes and your heart set
and your mindset and all these things.
So that's why he attacks that first.
Anyway, so the freedom that I'm talking about, it looks like no longer being bound by those
things.
Anxiety, depression, alcoholism, narcissism, all the things I listed and then XYZ, anything
else here that you can think of.
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The things we struggle with the most, God gives us freedom from through intimate relationship
with him.
And when we have this freedom, we experience true peace that only God can bring to the
table.
The way that we rid ourselves from these chains is by fighting them with the guidance and
strength we have from God.
And through fighting these demons or these chains, this depression, this narcissism,
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this financial stress, this greed is with the sword, which is also known as the scripture,
the Bible.
And with his guidance and his strength, we get rid of all of them as time goes on, resulting
in freedom from them completely, which is also resulting in peace because we are not
bound anymore.
And when you truly are free inwardly, you really truly do have a peace that really does
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surpass all understanding of any human.
The only way you can understand it is if you have experienced it from God.
And then a quick, two small things and then I'll be done.
I didn't have too much on this.
I was talking to Anna about this part specifically before we started recording and it was about
how I was reminded that Jesus didn't come to bring peace, but to bring a sword.
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So his main purpose, peace resulted from it, but it wasn't his main purpose to bring peace
specifically.
He did bring peace, but that wasn't his main purpose.
And so I'm going to read this and then I'll go into a little bit of detail.
Matthew 10, 34 and it says, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
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I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
And so to me, this immediately just shows us that whenever he says sword, it shows his
real reason for coming to earth.
As we know, like as we know of the Christmas story, like he came to us, but to bring a
sword.
So that shows us that he came to save us in a war, in a battle.
He came to fight for us and he came to fight for his, for the glory of his name and for
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his father's name.
And so there is a spiritual war going on at all times between God and the devil.
And we are just by default, when you're born, you are just in this war.
It's happening.
You know, when you're conceived, like you're in the war, you're here, it's happening.
You don't have a choice, unfortunately.
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And so Jesus, because we are sinners, we naturally now are on Satan's side, but Jesus didn't
like that.
God didn't like that.
He wanted us to be able to be saved and not suffer for all of eternity in hell.
And so that's why Jesus came.
He is our savior because he came to save us.
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And that's why he came.
He didn't come to bring, I mean, yes, again, peace came from what his, like the real reason
behind why he came, yes.
But when he came, he didn't say, I'm here to bring peace only.
He said, I'm here to bring a sword.
In fact, he said, he renounced that idea.
He said, I have not come to bring peace.
That was Jesus speaking, but a sword.
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So he's here to give us a sword to fight against the devil.
And he came to fight against the devil and defeat death so that we can have an option
to go to heaven and have a relationship with God.
But if you think on a daily basis of a sword and how his sword, the word and him, you know,
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how that plays into our lives on a daily basis, it's what I was talking about earlier.
It's how we say no Satan, go away.
I don't want to be depressed anymore.
It's no Satan.
I don't want to be anxious anymore.
I want to have peace.
I don't want to have anxiety attacks every day.
It's no Satan.
I want to stop thinking about myself higher than others because when I do that, everything
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just falls to poop.
Like I want to think of others more than I think of myself.
I want to think of God first because when I do that, I have peace and I have joy and
happiness.
But I don't want to write, think of myself, you know, I don't want to be greedy anymore
because the more greed I have, the more anxiety I have because all I'm thinking about is money.
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You know, and if I don't have enough money or whatever, or if I don't know how to have
enough things, you know, I don't want to be afraid anymore.
Satan go away, fear be gone.
You know, whenever you say no to these things and you turn to the sword, which is God's
word, the Bible, and you allow God to fill up your mind with all of his word instead
of the devil's word, that's one of the biggest things you can do to say no to the devil and
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be free of those things.
And it doesn't just happen once, you know, you have to keep doing it over and over again.
But that's how you use the sword, you use the Holy Spirit and you use God's word and
you fight against the devil so that you can have this freedom and experience this peace.
And so that's why he came to us to bring us a sword to fight against the devil so that
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we can have peace.
Yeah.
And he came to defeat the devil himself.
But through that, we also can defeat the devil on a daily basis and have peace from that.
Yeah.
And then I want to say one very quick thing and then I'm all done, unless Anna has something
else to say about it, but about this.
But I put here in my notes, I forgot I did this, but this is a little picture of peace.
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So I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I encourage you to go read this chapter.
Acts chapter 16 verse 26 says, suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was
shaken to its foundations.
All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off.
So Paul and Silas were in prison and God literally caused an earthquake to happen and the doors
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were unlocked.
The prison doors were unlocked.
The chains that they had on them were literally knocked off like they were gone, like they
didn't have them on them anymore.
They were free.
So when we have a relationship with God and we are saved and we have the Holy Spirit inside
of us, our chains are no longer on us.
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That is the earthquake.
We are in bondage with the devil.
He has us with chains wrapped all around us where we are suffocating.
And then whenever we realize that God is there with us and he wants us to be free and he
wants to have a relationship with us and he has come to save us, that whenever we accept
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his gift of salvation, he knocks the chains off of us.
We no longer have those on us.
But then here's the next part of the story that I didn't read.
Do you think they just walked out of the prison?
No.
They stayed there.
They literally stood there.
They could have just walked out and escaped, but they didn't.
So I'm going to kind of twist this a little bit because this isn't what happened.
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But go back to the picture of us being in bondage and then when we are saved, the chains
have fallen off and the prison doors are open.
Jesus is standing at the door that has just unlocked and all we have to do is walk out
of the prison cell to him.
But whenever you don't walk out of the prison cell and you just stand there with no chains
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on you, that's the exact same thing as all these Christians that we see who have gotten
saved and then they don't walk out their faith at all.
They just keep living a sinful life.
They keep staying stuck in depression.
They keep wanting to kill themselves.
They keep wanting to get all these things in their house because they're greedy and
they just never have enough stuff and they want to fill up their house with stuff because
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they think that makes them happy.
And insert situation here, big or little.
If you keep doing those things, then yes you're going to go to heaven, but you're still going
to be miserable here on earth and you're not going to grow God's kingdom at all.
In fact you might do the opposite.
You might be leading people astray from God through your actions.
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So just imagine you're saved, chains have fallen off, door is unlocked and you're standing
there.
In order to experience freedom and ultimately peace like I've been talking about this whole
time, you have to walk out of the prison cell and hold Jesus' hand and let him guide you.
And what I mean by that is you open your Bible, you read it, you talk to God like I'm talking
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to you right now, like I talk to Anna.
Prayer is not this formal thing.
You just start talking to God with the knowledge and the heart set and mindset that he is your
creator and that he loves you and he's pursuing you.
And whenever you think, and the realization that he's with you at all times, and then
you just start talking to him and then you listen to him when he talks to you and how
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do you do that?
You have to read his word to know his voice.
So you read his word and you listen to him and you just live a life with God.
And when you start doing that, as time goes on, he's going to show you personally how
you, in that personal situation of yours, can get out of that depression or that anxiety
or that greed or that pride or whatever it is.
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And that's how you experience freedom, which leads to peace.
Yeah.
That's all I got.
Well, that's the podcast.
That was very good.
That was very good.
Dead out to everything you said.
But also, for some reason, when I was thinking about peace and the, I don't know, the first
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scripture that came to my mind was Isaiah 53 as a whole, but there's certain parts of
it that I would like to discuss today.
So I'm going to read from ESV and I'm going to read the whole chapter probably, but I
only hit on certain points.
So it starts off by saying, who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has
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the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no former majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire
him.
And so starting off, that's talking about Jesus did not come in this big grandiose way.
And he wasn't like, I don't know, he wasn't the this like very popular life of the party
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guy.
I mean, obviously people flocked him, people followed him.
But they didn't just immediately do that.
I mean, it wasn't like he was this good looking guy that everyone was like, oh, you know,
he must be a cool guy or whatever.
And then thinking about like the birth of Christ, how he came humbly in a stable to,
you know, Mary and Joseph, who had no like great standing in their community.
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I mean, I'm sure they were like looked up to in certain ways, but they weren't, you
know, they were just ordinary people.
For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root of dry ground.
He had no former majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and
as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not.
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Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken,
spitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him
was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
So obviously, I think the reason why this passage stuck out to me was because of verse
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five, which talks about he was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities,
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And so, like Sarah said, he ultimately, I mean, his main goal was to defeat sin and
death.
But through that, we got to receive peace, we got to be on the receiving end of peace.
And with his wounds we are healed.
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So I wanted to hit on that as well, that through this healing we can have peace as well.
It's crazy to me.
So we receive that peace because of what he went through, what he suffered for us.
So therefore we can safely say that, or we can, sorry, therefore we can say with confidence
Jesus brought us both peace, spiritual and physical healing.
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My point is, because of what Jesus has done to cross for us, we've been saved.
Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says, For, beguile so you save through faith, and that all of yourselves
is the free gift of God, not of works of the city man should boast.
And so we've been promised salvation through Jesus' death.
First Corinthians 1, 18 says, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved is the power of God.
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So we've been saved, people are continuing to be saved, and then as Christians as we
go closer in Christ, we're continuing, like, it's a promise that we're being, what's
the word I'm looking for, redeemed day by day, right?
And then 1 Corinthians 3, 15, If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though
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he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
So we've received this salvation, right?
But even so, even though we've been healed, we're continuing to be healed day by day,
one day there's going to become ultimate healing.
And so that's looking back at what Jesus did for us on the cross, but we still have
our fleshly bodies where we're still experiencing turmoil and like Sarah was mentioning, depression
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and we struggle with alcoholism and all these things, addictions, anxiety.
We have this earthly body, and we are being renewed day by day.
But ultimately, there is ultimate resurrection that's going to happen where we're going
to be brought peace once and for all, whether that's through earthly, like when we die
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and we go to heaven.
But when Jesus comes back one day, that's when he's going to bring ultimate peace to
this earth.
Yeah.
And he promises us that all throughout the Bible in his word.
That's like the biggest hope, like that's our where our hope comes from.
Yeah, knowing that we're on the right side of we have hope, we have hope that there will
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one day be peace.
Yes.
There's this ultimate peace.
There's this version that I found that says, with his stripes you are healed.
We notice that fact, the healing of a sinner does not lie in himself nor in what he is
nor in what he feels nor in what he does nor in what he vows nor in what he promises.
It is not in himself at all.
But there at Gebatha where the pavement is stained, which Kolkata, where the pavement
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is stained with the blood of the Son of God and there where the place of a skull beholds
the agonies of Christ, it is in his stripes that the healing lies.
I beseech thee, do not scourge thyself with his stripes who are healed.
And that's today.
And that's going to continue all throughout your life as you grow closer to him.
And then ultimately one day when he returns, there's going to be ultimate peace brought
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to this earth.
Let me go back to Isaiah.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to know his own way.
So again, we all have those daily struggles and our hearts are so, so terribly bent towards
our own selfishness and wickedness.
And yet the Lord still laid on Jesus all of our iniquities.
He was pressed and he was afflicted yet he opened out his mouth like a lamb that has
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led the slaughter and like a sheep that before it sheers is silent.
So he opened out his mouth by oppression and judgment.
He was taken away.
And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living,
meaning that he did in fact die, stricken for the transgression of my people.
And they made his grave for the wicked and with the rich man in his death, although he
had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.
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Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.
He has put him to grief.
When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offering.
He shall prolong his days.
The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.
By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make money to be accounted righteous
and he shall bear their iniquities.
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Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with
the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.
Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercessions for the transgressors.
So God willed that Jesus would come and be put to death to conquer death.
And then therefore we were brought peace.
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So how we can receive that peace every day is Romans chapter 8 verse 15.
Sorry.
Oh, I'm going to say starting in verse 15.
Oh no, I'll say 16.
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Oh yeah, verse 15.
Can you re-say the reference for them?
Yes, Romans 8.15.
I'm sorry.
So for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received
the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.
So because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, we can come to him and we become his children.
The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if
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children and heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with
him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
And then I'm going to go into verse 18 as well.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with
the glory that is to be revealed to us.
I'm going to keep going.
I'm sorry.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected
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it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage, corruption and
obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
So again, one day we can look forward to that future peace that will ultimately be brought
not just to us, but to all of creation when we're once again redeemed to the father,
completely healed.
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And so every day, how can we suffer with Christ?
I mean, looking at all he did through Isaiah 53, he bore so much for us.
But I think we need to make it our goal to suffer with it.
And that's not to say you have to give up your life and go be a missionary in a foreign
country and give up everything, but I don't know, it might mean giving up certain luxuries
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that you have in your day to day life and really just studying about Jesus and who he
was and striving to live like him in the little everyday interactions you have with people.
And that might mean small personal sacrifice.
It might mean big personal sacrifice, but it's so important to remember that we can
have peace even when we're making these sacrifices and therefore suffering because of what Jesus
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did for us.
And it's worth so much more.
Like it's not even, like it says in Romans, not even compared to the coming glory.
And I think I touched on this last week, but it's just been a big theme in my life lately.
Finally I'm going to read 2nd Corinthians 4, 16-18.
I think, did I read this last week as well?
I don't know, last podcast?
I can't remember.
But I feel like I might have.
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So sorry if I'm repeating myself, but it's just very, I think I did.
But that's just, I don't know.
So we do not lose heart.
There our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
So that daily resurrection or that daily redemption for this light momentary affliction is preparing
us for an eternal light of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that
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are seen, but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
And so as you live for Christ day by day, we can have peace in remembering the ultimate
healing that he's going to bring to this earth and the healing that he brings to us every
single day.
And that's how, I don't know, he brings us peace all the time.
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He brings us peace today and for all your tomorrows and the rest of your life.
And then ultimately one day he's going to bring peace to all of creation.
Finally I'm going to read, I just said, I said 2 Corinthians is my last, my last passage,
but I lied.
This is actually my last passage.
So Isaiah 54, I'm going to start in verse, verse 10, verse 54.
(29:24):
So Isaiah 54 10, which says, and earlier Jesus is, or not Jesus, Isaiah is talking to Israel
on God's behalf and he's saying like, he's talking about how God might have turned his
face away from them for a while because of their sin, but that he's turned back to them
because like his, his anger with them is for but a moment, but his love for them endures
(29:44):
forever.
And then it goes into verse 10, which says for the mountains may depart and the hills
may be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you.
And my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.
So he has made a covenant with peace or he has made a covenant of peace with us, right?
That we could be brought to the father through Jesus's death.
(30:05):
And so we therefore have peace with him and we can one day look forward and hope to the
peace that he's going to bring up to all of creation.
I think that's all I have.
Hopefully that made sense.
I did.
Okay.
Seriously, I think that was perfect because yes, you talked about daily redemption and
stuff like I did, but you also were talking about the end of times when Jesus comes back.
(30:27):
So it's like perfect because we're talking about peace on earth through mine and part
of yours.
And then you're also talking about like on our daily, daily peace.
But then you wrapped it up by talking about the peace that's coming.
Yeah, the ultimate peace that's coming.
So that's perfect.
Because man, he's the prince of peace who brought, I just, it's crazy because we don't
deserve any of it.
(30:48):
No, no we don't.
I mean like all we sheep have gone astray, we turn everyone to his own way.
That just gets me because.
Yep, that's good.
Yeah.
All right.
So now we're going to read our texts.
Yes.
I had some good ones this week.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
So I'll just say mine real quick.
(31:08):
So the first, oh, okay.
So for anyone who didn't listen to the last one, we asked people who, which I don't know
what Anna's list of people consists of, but like my people, for instance, one of the goals
we had with asking these questions was asking people from different maturity levels in their
spiritual walk.
So like some of them might be what we call baby Christians.
(31:30):
Right.
So they might be Christians who have been pursuing God avidly for like a few years.
So they might be way more knowledgeable about certain things or whatever when it comes to
like biblical terms or whatever, just in general.
So you never know what you're going to get out of these answers.
So the first question that we asked people was, what does peace mean to you?
And then the second one was what does peace mean to you when thinking about the birth
(31:53):
of Jesus?
So my first person said for what does peace mean to you just in general?
She said, peace to me is an unexplainable and supernatural calm that I have had in the
midst of my hardest experiences, a calm inner serenity that can only be born from hope and
faith, especially hope and faith in God.
(32:14):
It's an always present breath in the storms of life when you remember where to look.
That was the first one.
And then what does peace mean to you in thinking about Jesus's birth?
She said something that I had to really think about for a second because this is what we
do too.
But I never thought of it because at first she said, I don't really associate peace with
(32:34):
his birth.
But that's true because I don't associate peace completely with the actual just his
birth.
I associate peace with his death.
That is the reason that he came to earth.
And that's what she was saying here.
So she said, I don't really associate peace with his birth.
I associate peace more with his death.
I have faith in God and that Jesus's sacrifice paid my debt.
(32:56):
And because of that, I have hope in eternity.
I don't think I could have peace without those two things.
And that's true.
Like, you know, I feel like we do that too.
You know, we think of peace coming from his death, but that's the reason he was born.
And so that's true, though.
So anyway, that's my first person.
Okay.
My first person, I said, or for what does peace mean to you?
(33:17):
She said, peace means being able to accept that hard times will still come and things
won't be easy, but they're possible to face things to God so that we can well that we
have peace because we have God with us every day.
And so even when hard times come, you can face them with Christ.
And then I asked, what is it?
You know, when I asked, what does it mean to you?
(33:38):
And thinking about the birth of Christ, she said, I know for me personally, it's hard
to sometimes see the peace in my life.
But when I think about the birth of Christ, I can feel the peace I have even or the the
spiritual peace I have, even if my flesh is uneasy.
The birth of Christ gave us ultimate peace because he is our savior and our path to God
in heaven, even when we have worldly struggles.
(33:59):
Yeah, that's good.
OK, so this person, for what does peace mean to you in general?
Hold on.
The upstairs dog is quite loud going nuts.
OK, I'm really sorry, but the dog upstairs is not my dog, but he's making a racket.
So making a racket, making racket, isn't it?
No, making a racket.
(34:19):
Oh, wait, he's making a racket.
He's making a racket.
Yeah, it's a racket.
A racket is like a noun.
OK, OK, OK.
It just didn't sound right to me.
No.
All right, I guess if he said making racket, that's also a noun.
No, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
Y'all get the gist.
Making noise and it's a lot of noise.
OK, so this person said for what is peace mean to you in general?
(34:39):
He said, it's interesting.
I was actually thinking about peace this week because of Veterans Day.
Kind of weird, but here is my thought.
Peace, security, and freedom are all very closely tied together in my mind, mostly because
all of these things are obtained the same way.
Complete reliance on Jesus Christ.
When we don't know things, we worry, and that worry and uncertainty lead to bad decisions
(35:03):
and pitfalls.
The problem is, as humans, we cannot know everything.
That leaves us with that constant bit of worry eroding our confidence in peace.
But when we as Christians place our confidence in Jesus Christ, we can have complete peace
because he does know everything.
True peace is the feeling of serenity that comes from knowing the one who holds the future.
(35:25):
Wow.
Mic drop.
That was good.
This person also listens to every single podcast that goes out, so shout out to you, bro.
You know who you are.
You know who you are.
And we appreciate you.
Okay, so then when thinking about the birth of Jesus, he said, it is a bit of a contradiction
(35:46):
to think of the arrival of a baby and peace at the same time.
As any parent can tell you, that newborn stage is sweet, wonderful, and magical, but it is
not peaceful.
There is this tiny human that you are responsible for, and it doesn't matter how many books
you read or YouTube channels you subscribe to, you are not ready.
You just aren't.
It's a mess.
(36:07):
You can't spell bodily fluids that are just revolting.
They keep you up all night, and one of the worst things is that they can't communicate
with you.
It makes it a guessing game as you try to get them what they need, food, diaper change,
cuddles, but Jesus was different.
In many ways, but the one that strikes me most is that Jesus was born communicating
to us.
John 1 refers to Jesus as the word.
(36:32):
The word became flesh and dwelt among us.
A baby was the ultimate form of communication, the word.
And that communication brings me back to peace.
The arrival of baby Jesus was a communication, a pop-up notification might be most relatable
these days.
It was a notification that every promise God has made would be fulfilled.
And those promises was the most valuable, the promise of a savior who would take away
(36:56):
the sins of the world.
That is the ultimate peace of mind, knowing that the root cause of all our worry and shame
or sin is paid for by Jesus Christ.
That is why when I think of this baby, this son of God, I think of relief, reassurance,
and peace.
Wow.
So good.
That was very good.
Maybe we should have just read that for the podcast.
(37:20):
Honestly, that's a whole, wow.
That's like a whole sermon.
Not because of the link, I'm saying of everything he said, but so good.
My second person did not answer the second question, but they answered the first, which
I texted her on her lunch break, so it was probably on me.
But she said, in my personal experience, peace is a permanent calm that lives inside of you.
(37:44):
So while life is loud and crazy and seeming to be spinning out of control, I can still
feel that calm, that peace that breathes in me through Christ Jesus.
So that's true.
We have peace, again, in the craziness of life through Jesus.
That's good.
Yeah.
Okay.
(38:04):
So this person said to the first question, it's hard to put into words what peace is
to me.
When we lost our son and our hearts were broken, there was this feeling deep within my heart
that calmed me.
I think it's God talking to our spirit.
Some days when I feel like I'm at war with everything going on in my life, I feel the
(38:24):
same thing that I'm at peace within.
And then when thinking about the birth of Jesus, she said, I love that God sent our
Savior to us as a baby.
There's nothing more complex or simple as the birth of a baby.
I like the way she worded that.
When I think about the birth of Jesus, the simplicity of it always makes me feel calm
and joyful, just the way I felt when my own children were born and everything was right
(38:48):
in the world.
Peace fills my soul.
I think about how God truly does love us, that he would send us his son.
I like the way she worded that.
So true.
So true, but it is.
So true.
Yeah, that's good.
So my last person, when I asked what peace meant to them, they said, peace is knowing
God has a plan for your every thought and action.
(39:10):
It's insurance we must first subscribe to and talk to God about before we are completely
insured.
Peace is the love of a friend whom you can bury your thoughts and soul to without fear
of judgment and knowing for as long as you both live, there is someone aside from the
Lord who will always love you.
Peace is the hug of a gentle breeze and knowing somewhere near is a friend or family member
that has passed on watching and waiting for you to come home.
(39:32):
Which is very sweet because I know this person just lost their grandfather and he was really,
really special to her.
So and then I asked what does peace mean to you in thinking about the birth of Christ?
I can't think of a more peaceful moment than the night of Christ's birth.
After being scared of what others might think of Mary being pregnant, after journeying to
Bethlehem, after the struggle to find a safe place to stay for the night, after the pains
(39:57):
of birth, Christ is on earth.
I can only imagine the cries of this new child that would only bring peace and love into
the hearts of his parents.
Yes, more woke will now begin with raising a child, but for now in this moment, peace
and mercy are among them as their family, the family of all nations has a new addition,
the Prince of Peace.
Wow.
That's very good.
That's good.
(40:17):
Made me teary.
Yeah, that was really good.
I have one more person.
So this person said, for what does peace mean to you?
Peace means having comfort or calmness that gets you through any situation, no matter
if you are on a mountain top high or if you are in the trenches.
(40:39):
And then when thinking about the birth of Jesus, she said, Jesus is referred to as the
Prince of Peace, which doesn't mean that he isn't the author of peace, but shows that
he allowed himself to be made lowly in order to walk and dwell among us.
They believed that the Messiah would be a conqueror or warrior.
And while Jesus could have very well been those things for them in that time, he decided
(41:00):
to come and show love and compassion and showed peace through his encounters in his ministry.
And many lives were and are forever changed because of that.
Amen.
That's a good one.
That's very good.
All right.
Well, I think that's all we have for you guys for today.
If you have any thoughts on peace, you're welcome to message us on Instagram or go to
(41:23):
our face or not, sorry, our not our Facebook page, our website and go to our contact page.
Yeah.
And then we have some Bible study tools on there and we have on our Instagram and Facebook
page every Monday, we have Motivational Monday and every Saturday we have Scripture Saturday.
And so on both of those, we have like a Motivational Monday, we have a quote that goes out, a faith
(41:47):
based quote.
And then underneath in the description or whatever below the picture, you will see or
I guess on Facebook, it's above, but on Instagram, it's below.
You'll see some verses that kind of go along with what that quote is saying.
And then for Scripture Saturday, we'll have a verse or a few maybe in the picture.
And then in the description below or above, it has that verse plus some of the surrounding
(42:10):
verses to kind of add more context to it.
And then at the end of the month, we have wallpaper Wednesday where on our website,
those same exact quotes and scriptures are uploaded to our website in screensaver or
wallpaper format.
So you can hold it down on the screen if you're on your phone and or a tablet or something
(42:30):
and save it to your tablet or phone and make it into your wallpaper, your home screening
or your lock screen to better familiarize ourselves with God's word and with Christian
content on a weekly basis if we see that more often on our phone.
And so if you go to our Bible study tools page on our website, there is an option at
the very top above all of our Bible study tools to click that you can click on.
(42:54):
And it's our wallpaper Wednesday page and it's hidden.
So you can't just go to that page and you have to go to the Bible study tool page first,
click on the wallpaper Wednesday button or whatever at the top of the page and it'll
take you to a new page where you can pick whichever ones you like and hold it down and
save it to your device.
So yeah, and I encourage you to download the one you like to save on your tablet or phone
(43:16):
and send it to a friend or family member.
Maybe just encourage someone else.
Yeah, I just thought I would share that because I haven't really shared that on here.
I don't really think much that much.
So we just have our Thanksgiving.
Well, it's not Thanksgiving once there.
It's just our November and end of October ones.
So but yeah, and if you want to know what's going to come out for wallpaper Wednesday,
(43:37):
just go to our Instagram or Facebook page if you have either one of those and follow
our pages so you can see the Motivational Monday and Scripture Saturday posts.
All right, well, we are going to let you go.
So have a good week.
Unless you've already clicked out.
Yeah, you probably have because he wants to hear me talk about boring things, right?
I'm just kidding.
(43:58):
Not me, but I have to because I'm sitting here with you.
Right.
I'm just joking.
Just kidding.
Stop boring.
It's exciting.
No, it is.
It is.
It really is.
I know.
I'm just joking.
Yeah.
And go out and spread the peace of Christ this week.
Yeah.
Seriously, go show Jesus love to people.
Yeah, and go subscribe to our YouTube channel because we are about to record a video for
that, but it won't come out until the end of this month.
(44:19):
But I have some other stuff.
Me Sarah.
This is Sarah talking to me.
Me Sarah?
We have I have some videos coming out every Friday.
And then at the end of the month, we will have a video coming out, me and Anna and it's
gonna be a lighthearted one.
So go watch that.
Okay.
Peace.
Peace out.
Good one.
Good one.
Hello friends, and welcome to week two of our admin series.
(00:20):
Today, hold on, hold on, you gotta restart.
You totally went to soft mode like, hello friends.
I'm being serious.
I know, but you know what it reminds me of?
Huh?
Have you ever heard the people who do like sleeping videos where they talk while you
sleep?
That's what I'm reminding me of.
(00:40):
I'm sorry.
No, it's okay.
I tried to pair my ears to sleep.
No, I don't, okay, we're good now.
Okay, I'm sorry.
You can start when you're ready.
Well, shoot, I was ready.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I can leave that part in.
No.
Hello, and welcome to...
Week two on our series on Advent.
(01:03):
Today, Sarah and I are going to be discussing peace.
And as a reminder, Advent symbolizes the church's present situation in these last days.
But Advent specifically in the month of December is just a time to reflect and anticipate
(01:26):
what Christmas represents in the coming of Jesus.
And so there's four weeks of Advent, hope, peace, joy and love.
And today, like I said, we're going to be discussing peace.
And if you missed our podcast on hope, you should go back and listen to that.
See.
(01:46):
Okay, cool.
Well, we have decided...
Well, Anna decided.
I'll be going first.
So I'll warn you guys, I made these notes because we had to postpone when we recorded,
which was fine.
But I made these notes like over a week ago.
And I have this rule for myself that I'm not allowed to go back and review my notes for
(02:10):
a certain amount of days because then I'll want to change everything.
But I'll be like mentally exhausted from thinking about it so much that sometimes I like put
my own exhaustion and stuff.
And it gets in the way of what God is telling me to do through it.
And so I just don't read it.
So that being said, I'm just going to have to read some of my observations to remember
(02:33):
what all I was saying when I wrote these.
So hopefully it won't be choppy and it'll make perfect sense and everything will go
smoothly.
There's my disclaimer that no one really cared about.
But I don't think you mentioned this Anna.
But last week we said on the podcast that what we're doing is we each are just going
(02:58):
to let God lead us in how I'm going to have something about peace to say and Anna's going
to have something about peace to say, but we have no idea what each other is really
saying.
We kind of talked about it a little bit before the podcast, but up until today we had no
idea what the other person was doing.
So it could be like a Bible study thing or a devotional thing.
It could be just like one verse or it could be like just our own personal life with peace
(03:18):
without a lot of scripture, but it's still like it's still biblical, but like it could
be literally anything.
And then at the end of the episode, we will be reading what other people think about today's
topic.
So we've asked certain people two questions about peace and they each gave us answers
and we'll be reading those just for a different opinion and observation or whatever, or belief,
(03:43):
I guess, on peace from other people, not just us.
Okay, so let's get started.
So my main point is freedom brings us peace.
That's like the overall theme here.
So I'm just going to jump right in.
Okay, so first off as like a little backstory slash introduction, I just want to remind
(04:04):
us or remind everyone that the world is in bondage, even if the world meaning non-believers,
because you have Christians and you have non-Christians.
And so whenever we say worldly things, like if we're talking about quote unquote worldly
things, we're talking about non-believers.
So that's what I mean here when I say world.
So non-believers are in bondage, even if they don't realize it.
(04:25):
To them, they might be living a free life doing whatever they want, but really they're
in bondage by the devil, by the enemy.
So I'm going to read a verse here, Second Timothy chapter two, verses 25 through 26.
This is the NLT version.
It says, gently instruct those who oppose the truth.
Perhaps God will change those people's hearts and they will learn the truth.
(04:47):
Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap for they have been held
captive by him to do whatever he wants.
So that's just a reminder.
I'm not going to go into extensive detail about that, but just a reminder, maybe I'm
informing you for the first time that if you are not child of God, if you don't have a
relationship with him, then you are in bondage, but it's of the devil and that's not good.
(05:13):
So my next point is when Christ came to earth, he brought peace.
He is the ultimate peacemaker.
Isaiah 9, 6 NLT says, for a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor,
mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace.
Another verse is Luke 2, 14 and it says, glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on
(05:36):
earth to those with whom God is pleased.
So that's just another way of saying that through this and that was to the shepherds,
the angels or the heavenly hosts as it says.
When they were singing, they were singing this to the shepherds.
They were saying glory to God in the highest heaven, peace on earth to those with whom
God is pleased.
So that just is another way of showing that peace was brought through this event of Christ
(06:01):
being born.
So when Christ came to earth, he brought peace through intimate relationship with God.
We experienced freedom of all things that have bound us emotionally, mentally, physically
and spiritually resulting in the peace that surpasses all human understanding.
I'll go into more detail about this in just a moment, but I first want to read Galatians
five 22 through 23 and it's about the fruits of the spirit and it says, but the fruit of
(06:27):
the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self control against such things.
There is no law.
So I inserted this verse because as I said a moment ago, their intimate relationship
with God, we experienced freedom, yada, yada, yada.
So relationship with God is, is how we have fruits of the spirit coming out of us.
(06:48):
It's how we have love coming out of us.
It's how we have joy coming out of our actions.
It's how we have peace.
It's how we have patience.
It's how we have kindness.
And the spirit in the sense is the Holy Spirit.
It's God's spirit.
It's not us.
It's not anything of our doing.
It's the Holy Spirit of God inside of us.
And as we have an intimate relationship with God, the closer and closer we get to him,
(07:11):
the more fruit of the Holy Spirit is going to come out of us.
And peace is one of those things.
So that's why I kind of wanted to insert that.
My next verse that I want to talk about is also in Galatians.
It's chapter five verse one and it says, so Christ has truly set us free.
Now make sure that you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.
(07:32):
This freedom looks like no longer being bound by anxiety and depression, alcoholism, narcissism,
pride, greed, fear, insert anything else you can think of.
So earlier whenever I said that when we have an intimate relationship with God, we experience
freedom of all things that have bound us emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.
(07:54):
These are the things I'm talking about.
These are the things.
So if you are someone, something that is a very hot topic nowadays and it has been for
a while now, something that wasn't talked about way back in the day, but now it is a
lot more out in the open is depression and anxiety.
And it's something that a lot of people struggle with.
And I'm not going to go into way big detail about this, but really big, really quick side
(08:16):
note.
The reason that people struggle with depression, anxiety specifically so much is because the
first place the devil attacks us is mental, is mentally.
That is the very first place he goes because he knows that if he can knock you down mentally
with your mental state completely, then you're no good for God.
And I'm not saying you're not good, like you're still worth it to God.
Obviously that's not what I mean.
(08:36):
I'm saying you're not going to be able to do anything for God if you allow the devil
to completely consume your mind mentally.
And so that's why he attacks you mentally because God gave you, well anyway, so that's
basically all I'm going to say about that.
So same thing with all this other stuff though.
(08:57):
All these things stem from the way you think, your thought processes and your heart set
and your mindset and all these things.
So that's why he attacks that first.
Anyway, so the freedom that I'm talking about, it looks like no longer being bound by those
things.
Anxiety, depression, alcoholism, narcissism, all the things I listed and then XYZ, anything
else here that you can think of.
(09:17):
The things we struggle with the most, God gives us freedom from through intimate relationship
with him.
And when we have this freedom, we experience true peace that only God can bring to the
table.
The way that we rid ourselves from these chains is by fighting them with the guidance and
strength we have from God.
And through fighting these demons or these chains, this depression, this narcissism,
(09:38):
this financial stress, this greed is with the sword, which is also known as the scripture,
the Bible.
And with his guidance and his strength, we get rid of all of them as time goes on, resulting
in freedom from them completely, which is also resulting in peace because we are not
bound anymore.
And when you truly are free inwardly, you really truly do have a peace that really does
(10:03):
surpass all understanding of any human.
The only way you can understand it is if you have experienced it from God.
And then a quick, two small things and then I'll be done.
I didn't have too much on this.
I was talking to Anna about this part specifically before we started recording and it was about
how I was reminded that Jesus didn't come to bring peace, but to bring a sword.
(10:27):
So his main purpose, peace resulted from it, but it wasn't his main purpose to bring peace
specifically.
He did bring peace, but that wasn't his main purpose.
And so I'm going to read this and then I'll go into a little bit of detail.
Matthew 10, 34 and it says, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
(10:47):
I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
And so to me, this immediately just shows us that whenever he says sword, it shows his
real reason for coming to earth.
As we know, like as we know of the Christmas story, like he came to us, but to bring a
sword.
So that shows us that he came to save us in a war, in a battle.
He came to fight for us and he came to fight for his, for the glory of his name and for
(11:11):
his father's name.
And so there is a spiritual war going on at all times between God and the devil.
And we are just by default, when you're born, you are just in this war.
It's happening.
You know, when you're conceived, like you're in the war, you're here, it's happening.
You don't have a choice, unfortunately.
(11:31):
And so Jesus, because we are sinners, we naturally now are on Satan's side, but Jesus didn't
like that.
God didn't like that.
He wanted us to be able to be saved and not suffer for all of eternity in hell.
And so that's why Jesus came.
He is our savior because he came to save us.
(11:52):
And that's why he came.
He didn't come to bring, I mean, yes, again, peace came from what his, like the real reason
behind why he came, yes.
But when he came, he didn't say, I'm here to bring peace only.
He said, I'm here to bring a sword.
In fact, he said, he renounced that idea.
He said, I have not come to bring peace.
That was Jesus speaking, but a sword.
(12:14):
So he's here to give us a sword to fight against the devil.
And he came to fight against the devil and defeat death so that we can have an option
to go to heaven and have a relationship with God.
But if you think on a daily basis of a sword and how his sword, the word and him, you know,
(12:34):
how that plays into our lives on a daily basis, it's what I was talking about earlier.
It's how we say no Satan, go away.
I don't want to be depressed anymore.
It's no Satan.
I don't want to be anxious anymore.
I want to have peace.
I don't want to have anxiety attacks every day.
It's no Satan.
I want to stop thinking about myself higher than others because when I do that, everything
(12:54):
just falls to poop.
Like I want to think of others more than I think of myself.
I want to think of God first because when I do that, I have peace and I have joy and
happiness.
But I don't want to write, think of myself, you know, I don't want to be greedy anymore
because the more greed I have, the more anxiety I have because all I'm thinking about is money.
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You know, and if I don't have enough money or whatever, or if I don't know how to have
enough things, you know, I don't want to be afraid anymore.
Satan go away, fear be gone.
You know, whenever you say no to these things and you turn to the sword, which is God's
word, the Bible, and you allow God to fill up your mind with all of his word instead
of the devil's word, that's one of the biggest things you can do to say no to the devil and
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be free of those things.
And it doesn't just happen once, you know, you have to keep doing it over and over again.
But that's how you use the sword, you use the Holy Spirit and you use God's word and
you fight against the devil so that you can have this freedom and experience this peace.
And so that's why he came to us to bring us a sword to fight against the devil so that
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we can have peace.
Yeah.
And he came to defeat the devil himself.
But through that, we also can defeat the devil on a daily basis and have peace from that.
Yeah.
And then I want to say one very quick thing and then I'm all done, unless Anna has something
else to say about it, but about this.
But I put here in my notes, I forgot I did this, but this is a little picture of peace.
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So I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I encourage you to go read this chapter.
Acts chapter 16 verse 26 says, suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was
shaken to its foundations.
All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off.
So Paul and Silas were in prison and God literally caused an earthquake to happen and the doors
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were unlocked.
The prison doors were unlocked.
The chains that they had on them were literally knocked off like they were gone, like they
didn't have them on them anymore.
They were free.
So when we have a relationship with God and we are saved and we have the Holy Spirit inside
of us, our chains are no longer on us.
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That is the earthquake.
We are in bondage with the devil.
He has us with chains wrapped all around us where we are suffocating.
And then whenever we realize that God is there with us and he wants us to be free and he
wants to have a relationship with us and he has come to save us, that whenever we accept
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his gift of salvation, he knocks the chains off of us.
We no longer have those on us.
But then here's the next part of the story that I didn't read.
Do you think they just walked out of the prison?
No.
They stayed there.
They literally stood there.
They could have just walked out and escaped, but they didn't.
So I'm going to kind of twist this a little bit because this isn't what happened.
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But go back to the picture of us being in bondage and then when we are saved, the chains
have fallen off and the prison doors are open.
Jesus is standing at the door that has just unlocked and all we have to do is walk out
of the prison cell to him.
But whenever you don't walk out of the prison cell and you just stand there with no chains
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on you, that's the exact same thing as all these Christians that we see who have gotten
saved and then they don't walk out their faith at all.
They just keep living a sinful life.
They keep staying stuck in depression.
They keep wanting to kill themselves.
They keep wanting to get all these things in their house because they're greedy and
they just never have enough stuff and they want to fill up their house with stuff because
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they think that makes them happy.
And insert situation here, big or little.
If you keep doing those things, then yes you're going to go to heaven, but you're still going
to be miserable here on earth and you're not going to grow God's kingdom at all.
In fact you might do the opposite.
You might be leading people astray from God through your actions.
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So just imagine you're saved, chains have fallen off, door is unlocked and you're standing
there.
In order to experience freedom and ultimately peace like I've been talking about this whole
time, you have to walk out of the prison cell and hold Jesus' hand and let him guide you.
And what I mean by that is you open your Bible, you read it, you talk to God like I'm talking
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to you right now, like I talk to Anna.
Prayer is not this formal thing.
You just start talking to God with the knowledge and the heart set and mindset that he is your
creator and that he loves you and he's pursuing you.
And whenever you think, and the realization that he's with you at all times, and then
you just start talking to him and then you listen to him when he talks to you and how
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do you do that?
You have to read his word to know his voice.
So you read his word and you listen to him and you just live a life with God.
And when you start doing that, as time goes on, he's going to show you personally how
you, in that personal situation of yours, can get out of that depression or that anxiety
or that greed or that pride or whatever it is.
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And that's how you experience freedom, which leads to peace.
Yeah.
That's all I got.
Well, that's the podcast.
That was very good.
That was very good.
Dead out to everything you said.
But also, for some reason, when I was thinking about peace and the, I don't know, the first
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scripture that came to my mind was Isaiah 53 as a whole, but there's certain parts of
it that I would like to discuss today.
So I'm going to read from ESV and I'm going to read the whole chapter probably, but I
only hit on certain points.
So it starts off by saying, who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has
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the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no former majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire
him.
And so starting off, that's talking about Jesus did not come in this big grandiose way.
And he wasn't like, I don't know, he wasn't the this like very popular life of the party
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guy.
I mean, obviously people flocked him, people followed him.
But they didn't just immediately do that.
I mean, it wasn't like he was this good looking guy that everyone was like, oh, you know,
he must be a cool guy or whatever.
And then thinking about like the birth of Christ, how he came humbly in a stable to,
you know, Mary and Joseph, who had no like great standing in their community.
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I mean, I'm sure they were like looked up to in certain ways, but they weren't, you
know, they were just ordinary people.
For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root of dry ground.
He had no former majesty that we should look at him, no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and
as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not.
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Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken,
spitten by God and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him
was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
So obviously, I think the reason why this passage stuck out to me was because of verse
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five, which talks about he was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities,
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And so, like Sarah said, he ultimately, I mean, his main goal was to defeat sin and
death.
But through that, we got to receive peace, we got to be on the receiving end of peace.
And with his wounds we are healed.
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So I wanted to hit on that as well, that through this healing we can have peace as well.
It's crazy to me.
So we receive that peace because of what he went through, what he suffered for us.
So therefore we can safely say that, or we can, sorry, therefore we can say with confidence
Jesus brought us both peace, spiritual and physical healing.
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My point is, because of what Jesus has done to cross for us, we've been saved.
Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says, For, beguile so you save through faith, and that all of yourselves
is the free gift of God, not of works of the city man should boast.
And so we've been promised salvation through Jesus' death.
First Corinthians 1, 18 says, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved is the power of God.
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So we've been saved, people are continuing to be saved, and then as Christians as we
go closer in Christ, we're continuing, like, it's a promise that we're being, what's
the word I'm looking for, redeemed day by day, right?
And then 1 Corinthians 3, 15, If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though
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he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
So we've received this salvation, right?
But even so, even though we've been healed, we're continuing to be healed day by day,
one day there's going to become ultimate healing.
And so that's looking back at what Jesus did for us on the cross, but we still have
our fleshly bodies where we're still experiencing turmoil and like Sarah was mentioning, depression
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and we struggle with alcoholism and all these things, addictions, anxiety.
We have this earthly body, and we are being renewed day by day.
But ultimately, there is ultimate resurrection that's going to happen where we're going
to be brought peace once and for all, whether that's through earthly, like when we die
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and we go to heaven.
But when Jesus comes back one day, that's when he's going to bring ultimate peace to
this earth.
Yeah.
And he promises us that all throughout the Bible in his word.
That's like the biggest hope, like that's our where our hope comes from.
Yeah, knowing that we're on the right side of we have hope, we have hope that there will
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one day be peace.
Yes.
There's this ultimate peace.
There's this version that I found that says, with his stripes you are healed.
We notice that fact, the healing of a sinner does not lie in himself nor in what he is
nor in what he feels nor in what he does nor in what he vows nor in what he promises.
It is not in himself at all.
But there at Gebatha where the pavement is stained, which Kolkata, where the pavement
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is stained with the blood of the Son of God and there where the place of a skull beholds
the agonies of Christ, it is in his stripes that the healing lies.
I beseech thee, do not scourge thyself with his stripes who are healed.
And that's today.
And that's going to continue all throughout your life as you grow closer to him.
And then ultimately one day when he returns, there's going to be ultimate peace brought
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to this earth.
Let me go back to Isaiah.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to know his own way.
So again, we all have those daily struggles and our hearts are so, so terribly bent towards
our own selfishness and wickedness.
And yet the Lord still laid on Jesus all of our iniquities.
He was pressed and he was afflicted yet he opened out his mouth like a lamb that has
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led the slaughter and like a sheep that before it sheers is silent.
So he opened out his mouth by oppression and judgment.
He was taken away.
And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living,
meaning that he did in fact die, stricken for the transgression of my people.
And they made his grave for the wicked and with the rich man in his death, although he
had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth.
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Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.
He has put him to grief.
When his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offering.
He shall prolong his days.
The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied.
By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make money to be accounted righteous
and he shall bear their iniquities.
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Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many and he shall divide the spoil with
the strong because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.
Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercessions for the transgressors.
So God willed that Jesus would come and be put to death to conquer death.
And then therefore we were brought peace.
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So how we can receive that peace every day is Romans chapter 8 verse 15.
Sorry.
Oh, I'm going to say starting in verse 15.
Oh no, I'll say 16.
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Oh yeah, verse 15.
Can you re-say the reference for them?
Yes, Romans 8.15.
I'm sorry.
So for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received
the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.
So because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, we can come to him and we become his children.
The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if
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children and heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with
him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
And then I'm going to go into verse 18 as well.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with
the glory that is to be revealed to us.
I'm going to keep going.
I'm sorry.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected
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it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage, corruption and
obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
So again, one day we can look forward to that future peace that will ultimately be brought
not just to us, but to all of creation when we're once again redeemed to the father,
completely healed.
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And so every day, how can we suffer with Christ?
I mean, looking at all he did through Isaiah 53, he bore so much for us.
But I think we need to make it our goal to suffer with it.
And that's not to say you have to give up your life and go be a missionary in a foreign
country and give up everything, but I don't know, it might mean giving up certain luxuries
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that you have in your day to day life and really just studying about Jesus and who he
was and striving to live like him in the little everyday interactions you have with people.
And that might mean small personal sacrifice.
It might mean big personal sacrifice, but it's so important to remember that we can
have peace even when we're making these sacrifices and therefore suffering because of what Jesus
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did for us.
And it's worth so much more.
Like it's not even, like it says in Romans, not even compared to the coming glory.
And I think I touched on this last week, but it's just been a big theme in my life lately.
Finally I'm going to read 2nd Corinthians 4, 16-18.
I think, did I read this last week as well?
I don't know, last podcast?
I can't remember.
But I feel like I might have.
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So sorry if I'm repeating myself, but it's just very, I think I did.
But that's just, I don't know.
So we do not lose heart.
There our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
So that daily resurrection or that daily redemption for this light momentary affliction is preparing
us for an eternal light of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that
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are seen, but to the things that are unseen.
For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
And so as you live for Christ day by day, we can have peace in remembering the ultimate
healing that he's going to bring to this earth and the healing that he brings to us every
single day.
And that's how, I don't know, he brings us peace all the time.
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He brings us peace today and for all your tomorrows and the rest of your life.
And then ultimately one day he's going to bring peace to all of creation.
Finally I'm going to read, I just said, I said 2 Corinthians is my last, my last passage,
but I lied.
This is actually my last passage.
So Isaiah 54, I'm going to start in verse, verse 10, verse 54.
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So Isaiah 54 10, which says, and earlier Jesus is, or not Jesus, Isaiah is talking to Israel
on God's behalf and he's saying like, he's talking about how God might have turned his
face away from them for a while because of their sin, but that he's turned back to them
because like his, his anger with them is for but a moment, but his love for them endures
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forever.
And then it goes into verse 10, which says for the mountains may depart and the hills
may be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you.
And my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.
So he has made a covenant with peace or he has made a covenant of peace with us, right?
That we could be brought to the father through Jesus's death.
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And so we therefore have peace with him and we can one day look forward and hope to the
peace that he's going to bring up to all of creation.
I think that's all I have.
Hopefully that made sense.
I did.
Okay.
Seriously, I think that was perfect because yes, you talked about daily redemption and
stuff like I did, but you also were talking about the end of times when Jesus comes back.
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So it's like perfect because we're talking about peace on earth through mine and part
of yours.
And then you're also talking about like on our daily, daily peace.
But then you wrapped it up by talking about the peace that's coming.
Yeah, the ultimate peace that's coming.
So that's perfect.
Because man, he's the prince of peace who brought, I just, it's crazy because we don't
deserve any of it.
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No, no we don't.
I mean like all we sheep have gone astray, we turn everyone to his own way.
That just gets me because.
Yep, that's good.
Yeah.
All right.
So now we're going to read our texts.
Yes.
I had some good ones this week.
Okay.
Oh, okay.
So I'll just say mine real quick.
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So the first, oh, okay.
So for anyone who didn't listen to the last one, we asked people who, which I don't know
what Anna's list of people consists of, but like my people, for instance, one of the goals
we had with asking these questions was asking people from different maturity levels in their
spiritual walk.
So like some of them might be what we call baby Christians.
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Right.
So they might be Christians who have been pursuing God avidly for like a few years.
So they might be way more knowledgeable about certain things or whatever when it comes to
like biblical terms or whatever, just in general.
So you never know what you're going to get out of these answers.
So the first question that we asked people was, what does peace mean to you?
And then the second one was what does peace mean to you when thinking about the birth
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of Jesus?
So my first person said for what does peace mean to you just in general?
She said, peace to me is an unexplainable and supernatural calm that I have had in the
midst of my hardest experiences, a calm inner serenity that can only be born from hope and
faith, especially hope and faith in God.
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It's an always present breath in the storms of life when you remember where to look.
That was the first one.
And then what does peace mean to you in thinking about Jesus's birth?
She said something that I had to really think about for a second because this is what we
do too.
But I never thought of it because at first she said, I don't really associate peace with
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his birth.
But that's true because I don't associate peace completely with the actual just his
birth.
I associate peace with his death.
That is the reason that he came to earth.
And that's what she was saying here.
So she said, I don't really associate peace with his birth.
I associate peace more with his death.
I have faith in God and that Jesus's sacrifice paid my debt.
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And because of that, I have hope in eternity.
I don't think I could have peace without those two things.
And that's true.
Like, you know, I feel like we do that too.
You know, we think of peace coming from his death, but that's the reason he was born.
And so that's true, though.
So anyway, that's my first person.
Okay.
My first person, I said, or for what does peace mean to you?
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She said, peace means being able to accept that hard times will still come and things
won't be easy, but they're possible to face things to God so that we can well that we
have peace because we have God with us every day.
And so even when hard times come, you can face them with Christ.
And then I asked, what is it?
You know, when I asked, what does it mean to you?
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And thinking about the birth of Christ, she said, I know for me personally, it's hard
to sometimes see the peace in my life.
But when I think about the birth of Christ, I can feel the peace I have even or the the
spiritual peace I have, even if my flesh is uneasy.
The birth of Christ gave us ultimate peace because he is our savior and our path to God
in heaven, even when we have worldly struggles.
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Yeah, that's good.
OK, so this person, for what does peace mean to you in general?
Hold on.
The upstairs dog is quite loud going nuts.
OK, I'm really sorry, but the dog upstairs is not my dog, but he's making a racket.
So making a racket, making racket, isn't it?
No, making a racket.
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Oh, wait, he's making a racket.
He's making a racket.
Yeah, it's a racket.
A racket is like a noun.
OK, OK, OK.
It just didn't sound right to me.
No.
All right, I guess if he said making racket, that's also a noun.
No, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
Y'all get the gist.
Making noise and it's a lot of noise.
OK, so this person said for what is peace mean to you in general?
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He said, it's interesting.
I was actually thinking about peace this week because of Veterans Day.
Kind of weird, but here is my thought.
Peace, security, and freedom are all very closely tied together in my mind, mostly because
all of these things are obtained the same way.
Complete reliance on Jesus Christ.
When we don't know things, we worry, and that worry and uncertainty lead to bad decisions
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and pitfalls.
The problem is, as humans, we cannot know everything.
That leaves us with that constant bit of worry eroding our confidence in peace.
But when we as Christians place our confidence in Jesus Christ, we can have complete peace
because he does know everything.
True peace is the feeling of serenity that comes from knowing the one who holds the future.
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Wow.
Mic drop.
That was good.
This person also listens to every single podcast that goes out, so shout out to you, bro.
You know who you are.
You know who you are.
And we appreciate you.
Okay, so then when thinking about the birth of Jesus, he said, it is a bit of a contradiction
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to think of the arrival of a baby and peace at the same time.
As any parent can tell you, that newborn stage is sweet, wonderful, and magical, but it is
not peaceful.
There is this tiny human that you are responsible for, and it doesn't matter how many books
you read or YouTube channels you subscribe to, you are not ready.
You just aren't.
It's a mess.
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You can't spell bodily fluids that are just revolting.
They keep you up all night, and one of the worst things is that they can't communicate
with you.
It makes it a guessing game as you try to get them what they need, food, diaper change,
cuddles, but Jesus was different.
In many ways, but the one that strikes me most is that Jesus was born communicating
to us.
John 1 refers to Jesus as the word.
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The word became flesh and dwelt among us.
A baby was the ultimate form of communication, the word.
And that communication brings me back to peace.
The arrival of baby Jesus was a communication, a pop-up notification might be most relatable
these days.
It was a notification that every promise God has made would be fulfilled.
And those promises was the most valuable, the promise of a savior who would take away
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the sins of the world.
That is the ultimate peace of mind, knowing that the root cause of all our worry and shame
or sin is paid for by Jesus Christ.
That is why when I think of this baby, this son of God, I think of relief, reassurance,
and peace.
Wow.
So good.
That was very good.
Maybe we should have just read that for the podcast.
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Honestly, that's a whole, wow.
That's like a whole sermon.
Not because of the link, I'm saying of everything he said, but so good.
My second person did not answer the second question, but they answered the first, which
I texted her on her lunch break, so it was probably on me.
But she said, in my personal experience, peace is a permanent calm that lives inside of you.
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So while life is loud and crazy and seeming to be spinning out of control, I can still
feel that calm, that peace that breathes in me through Christ Jesus.
So that's true.
We have peace, again, in the craziness of life through Jesus.
That's good.
Yeah.
Okay.
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So this person said to the first question, it's hard to put into words what peace is
to me.
When we lost our son and our hearts were broken, there was this feeling deep within my heart
that calmed me.
I think it's God talking to our spirit.
Some days when I feel like I'm at war with everything going on in my life, I feel the
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same thing that I'm at peace within.
And then when thinking about the birth of Jesus, she said, I love that God sent our
Savior to us as a baby.
There's nothing more complex or simple as the birth of a baby.
I like the way she worded that.
When I think about the birth of Jesus, the simplicity of it always makes me feel calm
and joyful, just the way I felt when my own children were born and everything was right
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in the world.
Peace fills my soul.
I think about how God truly does love us, that he would send us his son.
I like the way she worded that.
So true.
So true, but it is.
So true.
Yeah, that's good.
So my last person, when I asked what peace meant to them, they said, peace is knowing
God has a plan for your every thought and action.
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It's insurance we must first subscribe to and talk to God about before we are completely
insured.
Peace is the love of a friend whom you can bury your thoughts and soul to without fear
of judgment and knowing for as long as you both live, there is someone aside from the
Lord who will always love you.
Peace is the hug of a gentle breeze and knowing somewhere near is a friend or family member
that has passed on watching and waiting for you to come home.
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Which is very sweet because I know this person just lost their grandfather and he was really,
really special to her.
So and then I asked what does peace mean to you in thinking about the birth of Christ?
I can't think of a more peaceful moment than the night of Christ's birth.
After being scared of what others might think of Mary being pregnant, after journeying to
Bethlehem, after the struggle to find a safe place to stay for the night, after the pains
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of birth, Christ is on earth.
I can only imagine the cries of this new child that would only bring peace and love into
the hearts of his parents.
Yes, more woke will now begin with raising a child, but for now in this moment, peace
and mercy are among them as their family, the family of all nations has a new addition,
the Prince of Peace.
Wow.
That's very good.
That's good.
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Made me teary.
Yeah, that was really good.
I have one more person.
So this person said, for what does peace mean to you?
Peace means having comfort or calmness that gets you through any situation, no matter
if you are on a mountain top high or if you are in the trenches.
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And then when thinking about the birth of Jesus, she said, Jesus is referred to as the
Prince of Peace, which doesn't mean that he isn't the author of peace, but shows that
he allowed himself to be made lowly in order to walk and dwell among us.
They believed that the Messiah would be a conqueror or warrior.
And while Jesus could have very well been those things for them in that time, he decided
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to come and show love and compassion and showed peace through his encounters in his ministry.
And many lives were and are forever changed because of that.
Amen.
That's a good one.
That's very good.
All right.
Well, I think that's all we have for you guys for today.
If you have any thoughts on peace, you're welcome to message us on Instagram or go to
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our face or not, sorry, our not our Facebook page, our website and go to our contact page.
Yeah.
And then we have some Bible study tools on there and we have on our Instagram and Facebook
page every Monday, we have Motivational Monday and every Saturday we have Scripture Saturday.
And so on both of those, we have like a Motivational Monday, we have a quote that goes out, a faith
(41:47):
based quote.
And then underneath in the description or whatever below the picture, you will see or
I guess on Facebook, it's above, but on Instagram, it's below.
You'll see some verses that kind of go along with what that quote is saying.
And then for Scripture Saturday, we'll have a verse or a few maybe in the picture.
And then in the description below or above, it has that verse plus some of the surrounding
(42:10):
verses to kind of add more context to it.
And then at the end of the month, we have wallpaper Wednesday where on our website,
those same exact quotes and scriptures are uploaded to our website in screensaver or
wallpaper format.
So you can hold it down on the screen if you're on your phone and or a tablet or something
(42:30):
and save it to your tablet or phone and make it into your wallpaper, your home screening
or your lock screen to better familiarize ourselves with God's word and with Christian
content on a weekly basis if we see that more often on our phone.
And so if you go to our Bible study tools page on our website, there is an option at
the very top above all of our Bible study tools to click that you can click on.
(42:54):
And it's our wallpaper Wednesday page and it's hidden.
So you can't just go to that page and you have to go to the Bible study tool page first,
click on the wallpaper Wednesday button or whatever at the top of the page and it'll
take you to a new page where you can pick whichever ones you like and hold it down and
save it to your device.
So yeah, and I encourage you to download the one you like to save on your tablet or phone
(43:16):
and send it to a friend or family member.
Maybe just encourage someone else.
Yeah, I just thought I would share that because I haven't really shared that on here.
I don't really think much that much.
So we just have our Thanksgiving.
Well, it's not Thanksgiving once there.
It's just our November and end of October ones.
So but yeah, and if you want to know what's going to come out for wallpaper Wednesday,
(43:37):
just go to our Instagram or Facebook page if you have either one of those and follow
our pages so you can see the Motivational Monday and Scripture Saturday posts.
All right, well, we are going to let you go.
So have a good week.
Unless you've already clicked out.
Yeah, you probably have because he wants to hear me talk about boring things, right?
I'm just kidding.
(43:58):
Not me, but I have to because I'm sitting here with you.
Right.
I'm just joking.
Just kidding.
Stop boring.
It's exciting.
No, it is.
It is.
It really is.
I know.
I'm just joking.
Yeah.
And go out and spread the peace of Christ this week.
Yeah.
Seriously, go show Jesus love to people.
Yeah, and go subscribe to our YouTube channel because we are about to record a video for
that, but it won't come out until the end of this month.
(44:19):
But I have some other stuff.
Me Sarah.
This is Sarah talking to me.
Me Sarah?
We have I have some videos coming out every Friday.
And then at the end of the month, we will have a video coming out, me and Anna and it's
gonna be a lighthearted one.
So go watch that.
Okay.
Peace.
Peace out.
Good one.
Good one.
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