Hemmed In by God: Finding Peace and Hope

He said, while you're in there, pray. Not for yourself. Make a list. Make a mental list and think of everyone you know who needs a touch from God and pray. And I did. I had a list. And for the next 39 radiation treatments, I laid down on that table and they strapped me in, and I started down my list of other people that needed to touch from God. When I stopped focusing on me, then peace came. [01:14:51] (43 seconds)  #PrayForOthers

That's the core. From that relationship flows all the rest. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control flow from that relationship with God. May we be a people of peace. May we be ready to say yes when it makes absolutely no sense because he knows us. He knows. He knows where we're going. He knows where we've been. He sees what lies on the horizon. And if we allow him to do exactly as it says, he hems us in front and back, which today in the center, we have a peace that can come only, only from him. Our God is good, and he brings us hope. [01:17:16] (60 seconds)  #FruitsOfFaith

I think a huge part of the brokenness of the world is that somehow, someway, Satan has convinced people that they can exist separate from God and have peace. He's convinced people that you can compartmentalize your relationship with God and still find the wholeness of relationship with him. He controls it all. He has it all in his hand. The number of his thoughts for us are as numerous as sand on the ocean beach. He thinks of us constantly. He knows us and his desire is for us to walk with him. [01:07:21] (58 seconds)  #NoSeparationFromGod

But the reality is this, God knows. There isn't a thing in the world you can hide from God. Period. He knows. So stop trying to build walls. Stop trying to keep those things separate. It's impossible. If you are a child of God, there is no wall because you're completely enveloped by the spirit of God. He is there every step of the way. He's gonna guide your steps. It may not always be clear, but he is gonna guide your steps. [01:11:37] (43 seconds)  #WallsDownToGod

Sometimes people who are as wicked as they can be have earthly gains that we think, oh my goodness, how did that happen? But our relationship with God, this promise of scripture that he walks with us, that he holds us, that he knows us, tells us that there's nothing that we can do to put ourselves out of his mind. God does not turn his back on us. We turn our back on God. God has not turned his back on us. [01:09:14] (44 seconds)  #GodNeverForsakes

The church has a lot of explaining to do because we focus on things that sometimes just don't really make sense if you look at it in the light of what god tells us. One of those things which is, I know we say it, it's a throwaway, we ask Jesus into our heart. It sounds like a really good line. In reality, what we're doing is acknowledging that Jesus has been there all along, but now we're giving him control of our heart. [01:10:32] (42 seconds)  #InviteJesusIn

Even when I was in the air force and running away from God, he found ways to get me to church. He put people in my life that brought me back and pulled me back in. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that God has control and that he knows what's coming next. Now, I can't say that's easy. I can't say the simplest thing you'll ever do in your life, but I can say from experience that if you let God do what he wants to do, amazing things will happen and you'll have a peace. [01:04:11] (41 seconds)  #SurrenderToGodsPlan

When Lisa was sick, it was a challenge in lots of ways, but probably the most challenging thing to me, the thing that breaks my heart to this day, is that when she was at her worst and feeling absolutely terrible, she would say, What did I do to deserve this? I must have done something wrong. And I would tell her, bad things happen to everyone. Rain falls on the just and the unjust. [01:08:20] (54 seconds)  #RainOnJustAndUnjust