Category: peace

The Calm of Christmas

Posted on by Susan Panzica

Today, I thank Pastor Jan Rizzo of the Maranatha Church of the Nazarene for contributing this beautiful post. May we take heed to her words and experience true calm!

What an odd definition of Christmas with all that we find ourselves doing this time of year! The Calm of Christmas enables us in the midst of our busyness to stop and ponder the true meaning of this glorious time of year! For it is not in the giving, as wonderful as that may be; but it is in receiving the One who came for us and desires to live within us.



The Apostle Paul in Galatians tells us that In the Fullness of Time God sent His Son to redeem (4:4-7). That time in history was anything but calm with persecution under Roman domination and a people waiting for the Messiah. But in the middle of such history … His-Story began and The Calm of Christmas heralded throughout the sky as the angels proclaimed: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14).


Someone once said … it is not easy to hear the angels sing. There is so much in our lives and in our world that would persuade us that there is no angelic music, and certainly nothing to sing about. But if we listen with faith, we can hear the angel’s sing, and we find that we also can sing!


It was The Calm of Christmas that enabled Mary to say: Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38) as she lived in calmness of strength and pondered all things in her heart. It is the calmness of faith … not an easy faith … but a faith that still believes when life is anything but calm that enables us to say yes to what God has for us!

CeCe Winans states: Faith is about how you live your life in the meantime. How you make decisions when you don’t know for sure what’s next. What you do with yourself between the last time you heard from God and the next time you hear from Him is the on-going challenge of the life of faith.


Has your faith been challenged in 2009? If yes, then I pray The Calm of Christmas brings you serenity, quietness, stillness and peace as you ponder the true meaning of this year … as you say let it be to me according to your word … as you sing with the angels and as you live by faith in the meantime.

Pastor Jan Rizzo, Maranatha Church of the Nazarene, Paramus, NJ

Joseph Mohr penned the words, “Silent night, Holy Night…  All is calm. All is bright.”
Dear Lord, may we experience such calm in the midst of the busyness.

Rope in the Blizzard – Stop, Look & Listen

Posted on by Susan Panzica

In his book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” Peter Scazzero shares a story about farmers in the Midwest who prepare for blizzards by tying a rope from the back door of their house out to the barn as a guide to ensure they could return safely home. During these fierce and dangerous blizzards, a farmer could not see the end of his or her hand. Many froze to death in those blizzards, disoriented by their inability to see, sometimes within feet of their own front door, never realizing how close they were to safety.

Peter Scazzero suggests a spiritual rope in the blizzard – the ancient practice of the Daily Office – stopping to be still with God a few times during the day. He writes:


Three times a day (Daniel) got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before… I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. – Dan.6:10; Ps. 130:5

Lord, help me to grab hold of you as my rope in the blizzard today. The idea of stopping to be with you one, two, or three times a day seems overwhelming, but I know I need you. Help me to be still and to wait patiently for you (Ps. 37:7). Teach me to be prayerfully attentive to you not only when I stop and pause, but also throughout the day. Amen.

The basic elements are “Stopping, Centering, Silence and Scripture.” Because of my ever-weakening memory, I just call these elements: “Stop, Look and Listen.”
Sometimes, the flurry of activity around me makes me feel like I’m in a blizzard. To combat the disorientation, I stop, close my eyes (unless I’m driving of course!) and take a slow, deep breath. I whisper a prayer and invite God in. Because in the blizzard, it is all too likely that I will forget to stop, I set the alarm on my phone to softly ring/vibrate three times a day as a reminder. I’ll try to read a Scripture but won’t feel guilty if I can’t. Just the pause can be enough to refocus me.

My husband’s office is located at a busy intersection in Paramus, NJ, the shopping mecca of the northeast, with 5 major malls in each direction from our building. The snarled traffic sits waiting through 3 or 4 light changes, even more as we get closer to Christmas Day. So each year, we put up a giant sign on the high turret that reads:

“JOY TO THE WORLD.
THE LORD HAS COME.”

Just our little rope in the blizzard extended to the travelers outside our doors.

our office





So as we shop, if the kids are driving us crazy, when the dinner burns, if the boss is unreasonable, when the traffic is unbearable (or sometimes, like today, when I was driving around just plain irritated for no apparent reason, and I grrrrrumbled at my windshield as if there was someone there, and I let that invisible person have it, ooops, but I digress, sorry!),
anyway, as I was saying…
when the blizzard is blinding, let’s grab that rope, tune in to Him and tune out the rest.

 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:2
Right here, my daughter, right here. Meet with Me.






Susan

Focus!

Posted on by Susan Panzica

Oh, why is it that we tend to focus on the 1% negative instead of the 99% positive?

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers [and sisters!], whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:6-9

When we read the above verses, we usually note that verse 8 tells us what we ought to think about. But if we look at verses 7 and 9, we see that the peace of God (v.7) and the God of peace (v.9) are like bookends surrounding our thought life. If we can but focus on what is true, right, pure… anything that is excellent… something that is worthy of praise, we will discover the peace of God bathing our minds and the presence of the God of peace directing our thoughts.

Can you find something true and let your thoughts meditate on that today?

Would you leave a comment or send me an email on something you found true or worthy of praise? I’ll post them later this week for all of us to share!

Susan

Surrender is Freedom

Posted on by Susan Panzica

On Independence Day, there’s a lot of talk about freedom and liberty. Thankfully, we do not live under the bondage that is found in some other countries. But all too often, we live in bondage to fear, pride, depression, anger. We may not have control over these areas of our lives. The answer is surrender.

In Bible times, slavery was common. Slaves had no freedom, but when offered freedom, some chose to live surrendered to their Master, for life with a kind Master was superior to freedom outside that home. These surrendered slaves were called “bond-slaves.” The Apostle Paul often referred to himself as a bond-slave of Jesus Christ.
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While unjustly imprisoned, Paul wrote the letter to the Philippian church. In it, he says that due to his being in chains, the gospel was shared with entire palace guard. He sees that his lack of freedom had a greater purpose. He was surrendered.
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From Paul’s letter to the Philippians we can discern his answers to the bondages I mentioned above:

You will not have to worry
Phil. 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

You will not feel the need to be in charge
Phil 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

You will experience true joy
Phil: 4:4-5 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

You will be free from anger
Phil 2:14-15 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

The Christian life is a paradox in many ways-
-When we are weak, we are strong
-The first shall be last
-You must lose your life to find it
-To live forever, you must die to yourself

And…
-True freedom means surrender to the One who owns you

Happy Independence Day to you.

May you experience true freedom in surrender to the King of Kings!

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Susan

You Say, God Says

Posted on by Susan Panzica

Some time ago, I received the following email:

*****
You say: “It’s impossible.”
God says: “All things are possible.” Luke 18:27

You say: “I’m too tired.”
God says: “I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28-30

You say: “Nobody really loves me.”
God says: “I love you.” John 3:16&34

You say: “I can’t go on.”
God says: “My grace is sufficient for you.” 2 Cor. 12:9

You say: “I can’t figure things out.”
God says: “I will direct your steps.” Prov. 3:5-6

You say: “I can’t do it.”
God says: “You can do all things.” Phil. 4:13

You say: “I’m not able.”
God says: “I am able.” 2 cor. 9:8

You say: “It’s not worth it.”
God says: “It will be worth it.” Rom. 8:28

You say: “I can’t forgive myself.”
God says: “I forgive you.” 1 John 1:9, Rom. 8:1

You say: “I can’t manage.”
God says: “I will supply all your needs.” Phil. 4:19

You say: “I’m afraid.”
God says: “I have not given you a spirit of fear.” 2 Tim. 1:7

You say: “I’m always worried and frustrated.”
God says: “Cast all your cares on ME.” 1 Peter 5:7

You say: “I’m not smart enough.”
God says: “I give you wisdom.” 1 Cor. 1:30

You say: “I feel all alone.”
God says: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Heb. 13:5

*****
–
Why is it so easy to listen to the voice of the deceiver? The band, Casting Crowns, sings:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
And the voice of truth says “Do not be afraid!”
And the voice of truth says “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth
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Won’t you listen to the voice of truth? When you hear those lies and accusations, won’t you choose to listen to the voice of truth? Philippians 4:8 says
“Finally, ‘sisters’,
whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—
think about such things.”
–
This is an instruction = “Think on these things” – not a suggestion or a wishful thinking = not “try to think…”
God would not instruct us to do something that is not possible to do. When you catch yourself drifting into false thoughts, lasso those thoughts – “take every thought captive.” Several years ago, my friend, Ashley, was facing a very difficult time. Pregnant with a very sick baby, her thoughts often drifted to worry. So she decided to make a list of what is true, noble, etc. She had so many listed under “true” that she went no further. When her thoughts drifted to worry, she pulled out her list to remove those thoughts and replace them with truths from the Word.
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The result of applying this Scripture to your thoughtlife? The verses before and after Phil. 4:8 tell us the peace of God will guard your heart and mind (v.7) and the God of peace will be with you (v.9). Your thoughts are surrounded by the bookends of peace!
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“Thou wilt keep her in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because she trusteth in Thee.” Isaiah 26:3
–
Susan