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"That’s what flourishing in peace can do for a human’s life. We get connected to a power that makes big things happen in this world."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 114.
I was once in Sedona AZ. What an amazing place. There are seven spots around Sedona that the locals call a vortex. Apparently a vortex is a place where people say natural energy is somehow concentrated in a way that you can actually feel it. Folks make trips to these spots to get connected to a power for all kinds of reasons in their life.
The first time I was there, my wife and I were staying a short walk away from one of these vortex spots. We decided to go check it out for ourselves. When we got there we had to climb a little hill. Once on the top of that hill, I too could feel the energy emanating from this spot. I don't know if it was some magical concentration of power like the locals want to believe or just the mere fact that on the other side of this little hill was a 1000+ foot drop off.
I have to admit that standing on that hill top was very energizing. I actually felt something that I could describe as power in that spot. I'm not sure that I need to turn to the supernatural to explain that power. Anytime I have stood on the edge of a vast expanse, I have always felt something akin to energy flowing in my veins. This spot was but another example of the power that comes when nature does things to awe us in ways it can from time to time.
Even if what I felt at this spot wasn't the result of some mystical phenomenon, I really would like to go back there and experience that feeling again. There is something appealing, and maybe even a little addictive, to being connected to a power that is greater then our own, even if that power is nothing more than adrenaline flowing through our veins. I believe that victors can make a connection to that power when they move in ways to make peace in the soul something that guides their lives.
It is when we come to a place where true prosperity is a flourishing in our soul as a result of the peace God gives that a power, not unlike that I felt on that vortex in Sedona, is available to us all. When we are flourishing in our soul, the peace that comes makes it so that we are not pulled in ways by circumstance like others in this world.
This doesn't mean that we aren't taken aback when bad things happen to us. It is only natural to be caught a bit off guard by the way evil can work in and around our lives. Flourishing in the soul with God's peace makes it so that even in the bad times our circumstances don't have the power to alter our identities in victim making ways. In other words, we can be a victim of evil without letting victim thinking take over when God's peace is something that soothes our soul.
Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now. Check out what God wants us to know about His peace in our lives.
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (ESV)
The first time I was there, my wife and I were staying a short walk away from one of these vortex spots. We decided to go check it out for ourselves. When we got there we had to climb a little hill. Once on the top of that hill, I too could feel the energy emanating from this spot. I don't know if it was some magical concentration of power like the locals want to believe or just the mere fact that on the other side of this little hill was a 1000+ foot drop off.
I have to admit that standing on that hill top was very energizing. I actually felt something that I could describe as power in that spot. I'm not sure that I need to turn to the supernatural to explain that power. Anytime I have stood on the edge of a vast expanse, I have always felt something akin to energy flowing in my veins. This spot was but another example of the power that comes when nature does things to awe us in ways it can from time to time.
Even if what I felt at this spot wasn't the result of some mystical phenomenon, I really would like to go back there and experience that feeling again. There is something appealing, and maybe even a little addictive, to being connected to a power that is greater then our own, even if that power is nothing more than adrenaline flowing through our veins. I believe that victors can make a connection to that power when they move in ways to make peace in the soul something that guides their lives.
It is when we come to a place where true prosperity is a flourishing in our soul as a result of the peace God gives that a power, not unlike that I felt on that vortex in Sedona, is available to us all. When we are flourishing in our soul, the peace that comes makes it so that we are not pulled in ways by circumstance like others in this world.
This doesn't mean that we aren't taken aback when bad things happen to us. It is only natural to be caught a bit off guard by the way evil can work in and around our lives. Flourishing in the soul with God's peace makes it so that even in the bad times our circumstances don't have the power to alter our identities in victim making ways. In other words, we can be a victim of evil without letting victim thinking take over when God's peace is something that soothes our soul.
Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now. Check out what God wants us to know about His peace in our lives.
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 (ESV)
If we think that peace means that nothing challenging will happen in our lives, we are setting ourselves up for victim thinking. It is mighty easy to read today's verse and believe that God is saying that we will always have peace. In fact, that is what He is saying. Problem is, He is the one that decides what that peace is to look like. We don't have any say in the matter.
It is when I think peace is the result of not having troubles in my life that I can really get myself into places where victim thinking controls my actions. Flourishing in the soul with God's peace happens as we take the last sentence from today's reading and apply it to our lives.
Our reading today ends with the line, "The Lord be with you all." This isn't a hope or a desire of the author for the readers. This is a statement of fact. God is with us all the time. I know it is hard to feel His presence sometimes. That's simply the result of living in a fallen world. In Heaven, I don't think we will ever feel like His presence is missing in our lives.
It isn't that we need to hope God will be with us in the bad times. He is there whether we know it or not. It is when we start to live with that understanding more and more in control that the kind of peace God is talking about in our reading today starts to be seen in and through our lives. It is when that kind of peace is seen that our souls relax in a way that makes flourishing a reality no matter what our circumstances look like.
There is nothing wrong with wanting peace. What I'm hoping is that I will get better at seeking and finding a peace that lasts. That happens the more I believe I am all God says I am. In that place I can believe that God is with me in ways that calms my soul.
Let the peace of God well up in your life today. Let it spill out in ways that others see it and respond to it. Let be the driving force behind all God has prepared for you to do. Let this be all the prosperity you need to let peace in the soul empower your victor status today.
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