Pray for Peace
If we can’t control our circumstances physically, we will fixate on them mentally; our thoughts loop around and around. This is exactly why Paul tells us not to be anxious. He understands the ramifications.
Paul, the author of Philippians, writes: do not be anxious about anything. This is not a suggestion or a recommendation. Reading his warning as optional results in our constant state of fear and we become anxious about everything.
Teaching us how to break the cycle of worry, Paul offers three antidotes:
Prayer. Present your worries to God. Let go of your mental turmoil and trust God’s sovereign power over your circumstances.
Petition. Make an earnest request to the One who has the authority to intervene. His power is strong enough to mend what’s broken in your life.
Praise. Giving thanks protects our hearts. Adoration loosens anxiety’s grip. Thank God for a breathtaking sunset, flowers blooming, snow falling, food to eat, and a warm blanket on a cool day. We can always find something to thank God for.
Paul promises God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus when we practice prayer, petition, and praise. We won’t be anxious about anything when we go to God with everything. Nothing is too small or insignificant. If it matters to you, it matters to God. He cares about each detail of your life. Let prayer change the way you feel, exchanging worry for peace.
Jude
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Jude, a servant[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for[b] Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Judgment on False Teachers
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of ...