Today's Passage - 2 Thess 3:13-18

2 Thessalonians 3:13-18   ... Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with all of you.  I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.   First of all, God is truly the "Lord of peace."  Peace is not necessarily a scene of calm and quietness; rather, it is the evidence of experiencing presence of God.  The three friends of Daniel set a good example.  After King Nebuchadnezzar built an idol of gold, he asked everyone in the nation to worship it, but the three friends of Daniel refused to and they were going to be thrown into burning furnace.  At the time, we'd think God would save them from going into the furnace, but He didn't do so, and the three were allowed to thrown into the furnace.  When King Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace, however, he asked the servants: "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire," and "I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."  Praise the Lord, He wanted to perform a greater miracle in the midst of hardship.  Right in the furnace, God still revealed His presence to His servants, which is the true meaning of peace.   Next, God can grant us peace all the time.  God's peace is available to us anytime.  When our hearts panic and we lose our peace, we can bring our needs before God right away.  After the incident of 911, Americans fell into panic and people felt they were in a turbulent society.  Our hearts, however, do not need to panic, because God is with us.  He will be our strength and help.  If you are panicking and don't have peace, you can ask God for peace now, because He's happy to grant you peace.  Just open your heart to receive God, so that you may experience peace from Him.   Third, God grants us peace in every way.  No matter where you are and what circumstance are you in, you can bring your needs before God and let His peace guide you.  Colossians 3:15 says that "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts."  Many people are seeking God's will, but yet cannot distinguish what is God's will.  An important criterion for understanding God's will is whether you have peace of God inside you.  In you have peace inside, peace of Christ will rule inside you, and you will find yourself following God's guidance.  If you have no peace, you must turn back to God, meditate and pray again and ask God to guide you.  God's Spirit will not only grant us peace in our hearts, but also let the peace of Christ become our guiding principle.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you are the God who grants us peace.  May you give us more peace, and fill us whenever we have needs.  We ask that you give us more strength to live our daily life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!    Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!