“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
I want to focus in on the “surpasses all understanding“ part.
In life we go through so many things, good and bad and everything in between.
We make plans that we really hope play out, but they don’t always.
We have dreams that we pray hard for, but sometimes those dreams don’t come true. It can be really hard to understand why things go the way we don’t want them to. It can be hard to understand why our plans didn’t pan out how we wanted, or why those dreams haven’t come true.
But God.
He has peace that surpasses all understanding.
His plan is better than we can ever imagine. His peace surpasses all understanding!
When we don’t understand things or we can’t quite figure out what happened, just trust in the peace of the Lord.
Trust in His plan over yours.
Rely on the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Corrie ten Boom once said, “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” She didn’t say this lightly. She lived through the horror of a concentration camp, watched her sister die, and faced evil up close. But even in that place of darkness, she found that the love of God was deeper still. That truth remains for us today.
Maybe you’ve been a believer a long time, but somewhere along the way, your love for God has grown cold. You still go through the motions, still show up at church, but something inside feels numb. I want you to know that He hasn’t moved. He’s still pursuing you. There’s no distance or silence or dryness that His love can’t break through.
Or maybe you’ve become a Sunday-only kind of Christian. Life’s gotten busy, routine has taken over, and faith has slipped into the background. It can happen. But God didn’t save you so you could check a box once a week. He wants to walk with you daily, not just visit on Sundays. And He’s still inviting you back into that kind of relationship where you feel His love being poured out on you and then through you every single day.
And maybe you’ve never really known the love and forgiveness of Jesus. You might feel like your past disqualifies you, like the things you’ve done or the pain you’ve carried put you in too deep of a pit. But the truth is, there’s not a single place His love can’t reach. No mess too messy. No heart too hard. No life too far gone.
His love is deeper still!
So wherever you find yourself today, distant, distracted, or discovering, know this: He’s not done with you! His love goes further than your failure, your apathy, or your brokenness. All you have to do is turn toward Him. His great love is already reaching for you!
Yesterday was a good, good day with a huge reminder that we serve a good, good God.
One of my dearest friends, my prayer warrior, received amazing news. News that reminded us all that God is still working miracles. A reminder that God is still the same yesterday, today, and forever.
I’m thankful.
Don’t give up on praying for God’s miracle for your life.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
“With a mighty voice he shouted: “ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “ ‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
“They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out: “ ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
In ONE HOUR,such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’
Revelation 18:2-8, 14-17 NIV
Those are some serious words. How often do we get caught up in Babylon? How we perform, what we look like, what we wear, what we post, the pictures we take, the things we have, the house we live in, the success we accomplish, the success of our children, the car we drive, the list goes on and on and what an exhausting list it is. If God gave us back a double portion of what we’ve done, of how much glory and luxury we’ve given ourselves in torment, what would your portion look like?
Today I want you to be reminded that at the end of the day all the mess we worry about, all the excess we strive for, all the riches we slave after, it will, in the end be destroyed with nothing to show for it. God has placed us in a place of influence for such a time as this. Don’t be discouraged about all the junk in your life, be encouraged that with God you are victorious and today is your day to make an impact for the Kingdom!
The thing I love most about the Bible is that every single time you read it you gain new perspective.
And that perspective – that’s Jesus communicating with you.
This past Sunday as I listened to the 4th and 5th Grade Sunday School teacher read the Easter story (I’m the assistant in that room), my mind went to a place it had never gone to before.
I started thinking about the fact that Jesus was in the absolute worst state He could possibly be in – enduring a horrific, slow death – but He was more worried about the two people on either side of Him.
That’s my Jesus.
This “Do You” mentality that our social media driven world is trying to indoctrinate us in isn’t it, y’all.
It’s not it at all.
If you find yourself stuck in an awful place. A place so dreadful that you don’t know what to do or where to go – turn to your neighbor and see how you can help them instead.
Let’s start being like Jesus.
Acting like Jesus.
Serving like Jesus.
Let’s start loving like Jesus.
That’s why God put us here.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
As we celebrated Easter yesterday, I know we, as Christians, were filled with joy and hope. We celebrate because we truly believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice gives us hope of eternal life, forgiveness for sins, and reconciles us to God.
This is our salvation. It is a free gift from God that we do not have to earn through good works or any other way but our belief. Though it is free, I still wonder what it means to truly walk in salvation!
When we are saved our lives should be transformed. We are born again which means we are a new person in Christ. There should be evidence of this in our everyday lives. Our actions, words and attitudes should reflect our faith. We learn to overcome sin and live a more godly life. It doesn’t mean that we won’t fail daily, but that we will try our best not to and when we do sin we will instantly know and repent to the Lord.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Walking in our salvation means making Jesus our Lord. Our desires should change to His desires. We should honor Him in all we do. Sometimes this means letting go of things that could cause a hindrance in our Christian walk. It is doing the will of the Lord no matter the cost. We should walk in love and righteousness because it is truly in our hearts to please the Father. It is an act of denying our flesh because let’s face it our flesh wants the opposite of God’s will. It is a choice we make in obedience to God.
“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
There is so much more to salvation than just believing. We are children of the one true God and we should walk a walk of faith and obedience. Everything we do here on earth should be to further the Kingdom of God! Our hearts should be burdened for the lost enough that we can show them the love and character of Jesus and be able to live out our salvation as an example to others so that they want what we have!!!!
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13
Have you ever heard of National Opposite Day? Yep, it’s a fact. It is recognized in January as a day when kids (and playful adults) say the opposite of what they mean-“yes” means “no,” and “up” really means “down”, etc. An actual day set aside to catch a glimpse of what the world would be like if the opposite of everything happened.
Funny thing is, the way God does things often looks backwards to us. Jesus says in Matthew 20:16, ” So the last will be first, and the first last.” Paul makes a declaration about his suffering and hardships, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Giving leads to gaining according to Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”
The empty tomb of Jesus stands as the greatest reversal of all. What looked like tragedy became triumph. What seemed like an ending was really a beginning. An empty tomb holds the fullness of life. To use the words empty and full to describe the same thing doesn’t sound right. It’s like staring at an empty pitcher, clearly void of content, and yet insisting it’s full. By the world’s standards, empty is lacking—an absence, a void, a loss.
If our wallet is empty, we are poor. If there’s an empty chair at the table, we are lonely. If our children have moved out, we call it an empty nest. An empty house echoes. An empty heart aches. The world tends to look at emptiness as something to avoid-something sad, something broken.
But God doesn’t define empty the way we do. “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” (Luke 24:5-6). The tomb is empty- and this holy emptiness changed everything. It’s a paradox the world may never understand. The emptiest space in history-the tomb of Jesus Christ-is also the fullest. It is through that emptiness that we are given fullness.
Fullness of salvation. Fullness of peace. Fullness of healing. Fullness of riches-not of gold or silver, but of grace. Fullness of resurrection power. Fullness of eternal hope. Fullness of joy in the presence of a risen Savior.
May you and I look to The One we can trust with our own empty places-the ones we fear, the ones we don’t understand. May we be reminded that if God can bring life from a grave, He can bring purpose from anything. Let the fullness of Jesus’ resurrection fill every corner of our hearts today.
One of the basic needs of the human race is friendship. Man was not made to walk alone, nor is it good for man to be alone. We need people. We need a community around us. We need to socialize and to fellowship because we were actually made for it.
If you look into the creation of man in Genesis 1-2, you’ll notice two words that describe how man was made. These two words are “image” and “likeness.” In these terms, we can see that when God said, “Let us make man in our image,” we were instantly made for relationships (Gen. 1:26). If God created us in His image, we are then made to be relational just as He is within Himself as the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Spirit). On top of this, we can also see that God created us to be in relationship with Him!
Now why would this matter?
This matters because it is so vital and important to have the right relationships with God and with those surrounding us.
In the miracle of Jesus healing the paralytic, the Bible states that Jesus saw the faith of his friends, the ones who lowered him through a strangers roof “and then” He healed the man. The faith of the paralytic’s friends led to the paralytic being saved.
The Son of Man Himself also had friends to fellowship with. Jesus chose 12 men to walk with Him, and fewer to be in his close circle. He prayed with these men, ate with them, traveled with them, and gave them power and authority to do mighty works for the kingdom. He even gave them the hefty charge to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” and without their obedience to this command, the world would not know the Gospel.
This relates to us in many ways. It shows us that if the Son of Man needed a circle, so do we. We need friends that uplift and encourage us as we walk alongside them towards Christ. It shows us that we were made for relationships and community!
With Easter coming up this Sunday, I’m not only reminded of Jesus’s death on the cross. I’m reminded of His friendship too.
The same one who walked out of the tomb is the one who wants to hear about our day so talk to Him today! Build that friendship. He wants to know you and wants to hear from you. He died so that we could know Him. Take advantage of that!! Happy Easter! He is Risen indeed!!
God is so good, y’all. It’s easy to praise Him. He has never failed me. Not even once. In my 40+ years of life, I’ve never had a moment where God did not come through for me. I have had my own blind eye healed and deaf ear made to hear again. I’ve seen God bring the dead back to life. I have known Him as the God who supernaturally intervened to protect the lives of my children while we were serving Him in the mission field. I have watched Him open doors for us to miraculously pay off debt. I have known Him as the God who restored my marriage after divorce. I have known Him as the God who kept my son from dying in his sleep because his tonsils and adenoids had his airway so blocked the doctors were marveled that he was even alive. I have known Him as the God who removed anger and bitterness from my heart without me even asking. I have known Him as the God who kept me alive and even conscious after a car accident where no one thought I should have lived let alone been walking immediately after. I have known Him as the God who has spoken to me in dreams. I have known Him as the God who was my father in the moments my earthly father failed me. I have known Him as the God who blessed me with great parking spots and items on sale or way cheaper than I expected just because He loves to wink at His daughter. I have known Him as the God who has held me together when my world was falling apart. I have known Him as the God who protected my life and life of my son when I had placental abruption, and we both should have died. I have known Him as the God who was patient with me when I was angry and wanted to know, “WHY?!” I have known Him as the God who was with me in moments of success and in moments of defeat. I have known Him. Tell me. Have you? Testify.
The world is filled with distractions that slowly pull us away from God. They can be as simple as to-do lists, worries, people pleasing, notifications, and more. Many times we forget to include God in our day to day lives because we are overwhelmed and busy.
Colossians 3:2 tells “set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.
The world throws so many things at us that we forget what God is calling us to do. We start to put our time and dedication into worldly things rather than spending time with him.
Jesus promises us that if we seek him first and trust his timing, every little piece will fall into place.
Prayer:
God, I acknowledge the distractions that surround me. Help me Lord to prioritize you and lean on you. I ask for strength to ignore the distractions that steal me away from you. May my focus be clear, heart steady, and mind set on you.
Rays of Sunshine inc 