Peace of Christ & Tribulation of The World (Can We Have Both?)

Saturday's Devotion (4-2-05)

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (KJV)

We as followers of Christ are faced with two different scenarios: On one side (The world) we are faced with troubles, and on the other side (In Christ) we are faced with peace. We have tribulation in the world, but peace in Christ. How is that? Because we trust God to get us through all things, and even though troubles come, we get through them, through Christ! Terri Schavio's parents had this to say, "After these recent years of neglect at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and care for her, [Terri] is finally at peace with God for eternity." Here we witness distress, we witness tribulation, but at the same time... we witness peace and faith in Christ. They have peace in knowing where there daughter went. They have that peace through Christ. They were faced with a tough road and they still are, but they walk that road with Christ and that gives them peace. That's the last I'm going to speak on the Terri Schavio thing, but I thought that was a perfect example.

No matter how tough things get, we need to be of good cheer. We need to be of good cheer, because Christ has overcome this world. When we're in good cheer in tough times, the devil hates that. It's like saying, "Christ defeated you, I'm not even worried about what you throw at me!" When we're in a bad mood, then we open the door for the devil in our lives. God knows that I know about that. I'm sure you all do! A bad mood is a sign of defeat and lack of faith. Let's say you go out tonight, to a store. The store hardly has anyone there and it's dark outside. As you get out of your car, you get mugged. The mugger takes all of your money, etc. The devil tells you in your mind, "What are you going to do now? You can't feed your family." When you go home and you say, "GRRR!! I'm so upset, I got mugged! Now, I don't know what we're going to do," when you do that, you're repeating the words of the devil! When you repeat his lies, his lies become reality! You will find yourself defeated! However, if you speak and act cheerfully through it all, then the devil is defeated. If he can't make you believe his lies, then he has failed. He has failed to take your faith away. When he fails to take your faith, you receive blessings! I was watching 700 Club tonight: A man and his wife had their daughter die on them. She was just about one year old. Immediately the husband had the thoughts, "What now? You've only got two kids left, get ready for the funeral." The man soon realized that, that talk was the devil! He pushed those thoughts aside and through faith he raised his daughter from the dead! Only through Christ, only through the Holy Spirit, will we find such miracles. Through all of it, we need to keep good cheer. Perhaps that point isn't stressed enough. Good cheer is an important part of today's scripture. Remember good cheer = victory and bad mood = a defeat over you. It's like a sports game: If you go into the game already defeated in your own head, then you're most likely going to lose! If you go into the game with victory on your mind, then victory is just a reach away.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us to trust in you, help us to have peace and to be of good cheer... in all times! In Jesus name. A-men!

God bless!

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