Fruits of the Spirit - Peace

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Hello everyone tuning in today, The Bread of Life of the JJ. I appreciate that so much that you keep downloading, listening. And hopefully soon I get to hear from one of y'all, and you can tell me what your thoughts are and your feelings towards it. But I want to let you know today what we're going to be discussing is the fruits of the spirit, again, on this continued episode that we will progress in. This is going to be the fruits of the spirit. But the spirit we're going to be talking about is peace. Peace. A spiritual message of peace, right? And it's going to fill you. And I pray it does. I know the Lord has led me today to prepare that for you. And his bread. And we're also going to take communion. Those that are with me today, I want to do that. And get right into the word. Get right into the word. The word that matters. I also want to talk about this. It was kind of interesting today. I in the studio, there's a different cards that we have. There's Latin and Greek. And so what I want to do, something that I want to add to the show and podcast would be a different word. It's like 52 different language, you know, 52 different words in that language. And it's Latin, so I'm like, oh man, that's kind of cool. I want to do that. Let's do Latin. So I'm going to do Latin for you today. A little treat. Forgive me if my words are wrong. If my words are wrong in the way I say it, then you know what you can do? Please email me at bread of life with JJ at gmail.com, the bread of life with JJ at Gmail A. And I literally will delve in deeper for more pronunciations. But what we're going to do is call ad Meliora Tempora. And what that means, towards better times. That phrase means towards better times. And we need to seek that towards better times. And I want to have peace through those better times. And what what better way it is just to start it now? We've got to have that now. And how we work on that. We're going to figure that out and formulate that. Because the Lord is not far to those who seek him, who love him diligently, right? Who seek him diligently. He's not far from you. He hears you. So let us pray. I'm going to pray right now. Those that are listening, please bow your head. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this moment in time. Thank you for those tuning in and listening to this fruit of your spirit. Another morsel that you're going to add into their life, which is the bread of you that you give, the bread of life. And then as we take communion, Lord, then we're also going to drink from your well the living water that adds to those things that only you provide and only you can. Open the ears to those that are listening and their hearts, and I pray their mind is receptive. And it's for your glory. Speak through me for your will. In Jesus' almighty name, your son's name. Amen. Amen. So this is a beautiful day. It is a day the Lord has made. I want to rejoice and be glad in it. That's what I hope for. But it seems like to me in my life, everything's about growth, right? No matter what I pray for, no matter how I feel, what I go through is growth. And it takes time. And the fruits of God's Spirit take time. They're ongoing, cannot be rushed. It has to take its time and its full maturity to then grow in the complete way it needs to. And really, the only way that I see too, one way, there's so many ways, but the other way that I see that it grows is by people and how we treat them, how I respond and how my attitude is, and how I'm going to be in those situations. And that's when the fruits of God's Spirit really should come out as a Christian, those that believe. And we have to be reminded what those fruits are. And you can go through the episodes further on in my podcast, and you'll see some are not in order, but they are the fruits, but the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness. Oh, and self-control. Self-control. I'm grateful for those things to learn, and that's something we got to do. It's kind of like the stages of our Christian life. It's the stages of our Christian life. As I read this to you, then we will take communion and we will get into more words, more encouragement of different words from different parts of the Bible that you can look up and read yourself. Things help you grow, and I hope and feel that it motivates you to be more intimate with the Lord. Again, we we are people that have stages of life in this Christian walk. This is what it's about. God is patiently guiding us to release our old life and embrace who we are becoming in Christ. That's in Philippians. Philippians 1, 5 through 7. Every Christian's journey is unique. Yet certain stages of growth should be common to all of God's children. For example, the Lord wants to teach new followers basic principles as a foundation on which to build. He expresses these truths through other believers, his word, and things that happen in our life. God allows us to serve him. Christians were created to do good works, and this becomes evident as we glorify Jesus, and that's in Ephesians 2.10. The Lord let us experience frustrated inadequacy. In other words, our Father brings us to the place where we realize we can achieve nothing of value without divine guidance and power. To make freedom a reality, the Father brings his children face to face with whatever holds them captive. God allows us to struggle through issues with his help. As we surrender to him and seek his perspective, he works to liberate us. The Lord teaches us how to live the exchanged life. Our sinful nature has been crucified with Christ, and the Savior's life is expressed through us as we surrender to Him. By reflecting on these stages, you may recognize where God is currently working in your life. He is patient and faithful in his work of transformation. Surrender, key word, to the Holy Spirit today, asking him to continue shaping you in the likeness of Jesus. That's what I want you to think about and do. And hear what I was telling you with different scriptures now that you just heard. Because we're going to go back and delve back into that and what those scriptures are saying more as we get into the word and what peace means and how to have this inner peace inside yourself. When things around you don't seem peaceable and hard to comprehend. Before we get into that, I want to show my respects and pay that to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So I want to take communion. And then we're going to delve right back into our word and the definitions. I want to want you to know what peace means. So please join me. I'm going to turn to the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, and it's the Lord's Supper, and that's going to be in verse 23. And those that are Christian, those that are listening, I pray, please, like, you know, if you do, please join me having the juice, grape juice that we normally use as a signification of Jesus' blood, and bread. Or cracker, I know, but bread, preferably, piece of that to show his body and what has been done for us, broken for us. That's what Paul was suggesting here in this chapter that he wrote to the letters to the Corinthians, he's saying this, he's saying, For I receive from the Lord what I also pass on to you, as he's talking to the church and those listening, those believers. On the night when he was betrayed, as Paul's talking, the Lord Jesus took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, and this is what Jesus said on the night of his supper with his disciples, Jesus said, This is my body which is for you. You do this in remembrance of me. Those maybe just tuning in, listening, thank you for that. But also, believers, I want you to remember and imagine this again. What has been done for us as these penalties and laws that have been created here in this world through Christ, through God, Yahweh. What is it like? It's the fact that we have a body, all of us, those alive, and we enjoy life. I enjoy life and the fruits of it, and my children, and my wife, and the friends, this love, right? Imagine this, man, like, and all of a sudden, you, whoever's listening, you your body, you can even feel this, your pain, right? You can feel scratches. Yeah, you're getting beat to where you can be unrecognizable and teased and bruised and put down and made a fool of for no apparent reason. Just because you're different in a loving way, meaning knowing no harm, but they don't care. And they're torturing you and hurting you, giving you false accusations, and then on top of that, with everything else, I want you to carry this close to 300-pound cross with wood from point A to B. Whether I think it was 800 yards or close to a quarter mile, it doesn't matter. But he had to do these certain things and then get spikes, railroad spikes, put into your wrist and in your ankles for torment. So when he's saying, This is my body, this is what I'm gonna go through. I have to. And it's for you because I love you. This is my body. Whenever you come together that believe in me, know I it was broken for you. Remember me. So please take his bread. In the same way, also he took the cup and supper, and he said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance for me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Covenant in his blood. It's the new covenant that he has established with his people, his Christian people. The reasons why people wanted him dead, because of truth and power. And everything they added up from the Old Testament that the Pharisees and Sadducees were staying corrupted in at that time, but only the first five books of the Torah or the Bible. But then when the new covenant came, he fulfilled all those things, the promises, and all the prophets that spoke. And his new covenant is his blood, he is out ultimate sacrifice, instead of those that used to sacrifice the lambs back in the day. He's the ultimate lamb. And he said, Take this cup, remember this, my blood that's been spilled for you. Now it's covered by you. It's covered for you as children, my children who love the Lord, and God who's called according to his purpose. Jesus, Holy Spirit that lives in them. Like, hey, my children, my people, this blood is for you. You're covered and protected. Remember me in this. Let's take this bread. Let's drink this drink cup now. Make sure people like examine yourself in these situations. Those that are listening. This is the Lord. This is what his life, what he established. Terms and conditions in life. And they're not bad. Despite our inadequacies, they're not bad. Not at all. Let's talk about peace and what that means. We're gonna get into the word. But I want to bring up these definitions of what peace means. We look at the definition, peace is one, freedom from disturbance, tranquility. The similarity of tranquility will remain calmness, quietness, silence, stillness, a state of wholeness, completeness, and well-being. The components of that are harmony with God. Harmony with self and others. Right. Another says nature, but that's what God created. Just harmony, peace. The peace that Jesus talked about in John 14 is that the peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The peace that he gives us, like the spiritual peace, peace with God, relational peace, peace with others, emotional peace, peace within ourselves. Peace that surpasses all understandings, as Philippians 4 7 says. Because there's a peace that surpasses all understanding. That only he can provide. Rightfully so. And I'm grateful for that. I know there's moments where I really need peace. And even though I know I have it, I have to have it inside me. But there's a reason why it doesn't come out at that moment, or there's something that I'm suppressing, whether it's in my thoughts, my attitude, or actions, and it's something I need to really be aware of. And that's why I'm so grateful having these moments when we're talking, because that brings things into a better perspective. I know we we struggle with peace. I mean, think about it. Even the I want to stay tuned, you know, to the things that are going on in our country and into the world, but man, there's some chaos that takes place. And sometimes, man, I lose my peace. Because I wish I could jump in, save. Sometimes I wish I can just be like, man, shut it off, move some far away. But that's not what God called us to do, right? That's not what he told us to do. I want to div deep, I want to delve even deeper about peace and what the word peace is. And what I'm speaking about is like the word peace, and it's definitely common. It's most is common in most languages. And people can talk about peace. They talk about peace treaties or times of peace. It means the absence of war as well. And in the Bible, the world the word peace can refer to the absence of conflict, but also points to the presence of something better in its place. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for peace is shalom. And in the New Testament, the Greek word is Ereine. The most basic meaning of shalom is complete or whole. We've heard that from people too, and especially Jews, right? And those from the beautiful country of Israel, like they have said that a lot. Shalom. Shalom. Peace I give them to you, my brother, right? The word can refer to a stone that has a perfect whole shape with no cracks. It can also refer to a completed stone, a stone wall that has no gaps and no missing bricks. Shalom refers to something that it's very complex with lots of pieces. But in the state of completeness, wholeness. It's like Job, who says his tents are in the state of shalom, because he counted his flocks and no animals are missing. This is why shalom can refer to a person's well-being. Like when David, King David, visited his brothers before he was king, visited his brothers on this battlefield and he asked about their shalom. The core idea is that life is complex, full of moving parts and relationships and situations. And when they when any of these are out of alignment or missing, your shalom breaks down. Life is no longer whole and needs to be restored. In fact, that's the basic meaning of shalom when you use it as a verb. To bring shalom literally means to make complete or restore. So shalom brings shalom to the unfinished temple when he completes it, or if your animal accidentally damages your neighbor's field, you shalom them by giving them a complete repayment for their loss. You take what's missing and you restore it to the homeless. The same goes for human relationships in the book of Proverbs. To reconcile and heal a broken relationship is to bring shalom or peace, right? And when rival kingdoms make shalom in the Bible, it doesn't mean that they stop fighting. It also means they start working together for each other's benefit. This state of shalom is what Israel's kings were supposed to cultivate. And it really happened, unfortunately. So the prophet Isaiah, he looked forward to a future king, a prince of peace, Shalom, and his reign would bring Shalom with no end. It would bring peace with no end. A time when God would make a covenant of peace with his people and make it right all wrongs and heal. And this has been broken. And this is why Jesus' birth in the New Testament was announced as the arrival of Reine. You remember that's the Greek word for peace. And Jesus came to offer his peace to others, like when he said to his followers, My peace I give to you. All the apostles claimed that Jesus had made peace between messed up humans and God when he died and rose from the dead. The idea is that he restored to wholeness the broken relationship between humans and the Creator. This is why Apostle Paul can say Jesus Himself is our Irene. He was a whole, complete human that is made to be, but have failed to be. And now he gives me his life as a gift. And this means that Jesus' followers are now called to create. Paul instructed local churches to keep their unity through bond of peace, which requires humility, patience, and bearing with others in love. Becoming people of peace means participating in the life of Jesus, who reconciled all things in heaven on earth, restoring peace through his death and resurrection. So peace takes a lot of work because it's not just the absence of conflict. True peace requires taking what's broken and restoring it to wholeness, whether it's in our lives, our relationships, or in our world. And that's rich biblical concept of peace. That's a rich biblical concept of that. So, this rich uh biblical concept of peace that I've been saying, but my question to those listening is this what is peace to you? How would you define that? Well, with me, what I reference would be this well, peace is more than a word, it's more than an idea, it's more than a feeling. Peace is an awesome gift of God that he gives to everyone who's willing to surrender their life to him and to walk in his ways. And that's the truth. So I'd ask you this: do you have peace in your heart? Can you honestly say that you have peace in your heart? Or are you struggling with conflict? And conflict about what? There's conflict on many things. So once you listen, I'm gonna hopefully give you eight great statements that, which I know they'll be good. I know they come from the Lord. I want the want you to see these statements to see if they're true in your life because I know God provides the adequacy for them to be true. And so I trust, you know, as you're listening, that you'll write them down if you can, or go back and refer them, refer back to them. It's fine. But every one of them I feel is important. And if you want true, genuine peace in your life, no matter what you're going through, this again, it's not a way or the way, I should say. It's a way. But I know biblically it's God's way, so it has to be good and the best. So you can apply these strategies to your life and practice them, practice these truths. And when we practice these truths and practice what we are provided from by the Lord, then an awesome sense of peace will come. So if you don't have peace, you have conflict. And I want peace. I'm tired of conflict, especially when you're coming home from a long day of work and you're driving. You don't want conflict. You want peace. How do I deal with that though? And my circumstances around me don't show that. Well, we experience his indwelling presence and all sufficient peace when we place our trust in him, Jesus, as our personal savior. This settles once and for all where we're going to spend eternity as well, right? Because that is a question everybody has to face. Where am I going to spend eternity? Because, fact, everyone, we're all going to die. Unless Jesus comes back.

unknown 24:58

But Lord, come back quick.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Because I know he said that you know there'll be some saints that won't, they'll go with him, rise with him. But if not, my Lord, man, we're all going to die. We're all going to face judgment. So let me ask you this: do you have peace in your heart about your relationship to God? And you don't have to think about when you die, that's going to happen. Many people live years of their life wondering, knowing that they're not right with God. They wonder what's going to happen one of these days when they die. The way to settle this is to ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins. Surrender your life to Him, yield yourself to Him. You know, yield yourself. And say, Lord, I want to give you me. I want you. I want you. I want, I want to want you to give me a sense of purpose in my life. A forgiveness of my ways, my sins, my disrespect I've shown in my life, how I've treated people. Giving me, eliminating my life to you as my savior and my Lord. I need purpose, a divine purpose. I need sense of security in my life. I want to walk with you and see where you take me. Come boldly that way, but come bold with respect when you're speaking to some spirit, a being that is ancient, that is divine and needs holiness. It does that is holy, that needs respect. You need to literally think about that. I don't care what society and what you hear in science, realize that. A creator, there is one. Show respect. He is sovereign. When you believe he is sovereign in control of all things, which includes us personally, and when we believe that this removes any fear and anxiety for our personal safety, that is when we believe the truth, that he is in control. For the scripture says that he is in control of all things. Psalm 103, verse 19, God is sovereign over all things. When you believe that that's true, then you can have peace. But if you don't think he's in control, you may not have the peace that you honestly want. You have to come to grips and understand that nothing and no one else is in control but God. Rest in that truth. We all have choices, of course, we can make them. He's given us free will. But rest in that truth. You don't wake yourself up every morning. But some people don't believe that. Do you believe that God is in control of your life? Well, he says he's in control of all things. So would you say, well, why does he allow certain things to happen? Well, I don't know. I don't think for God. I don't know why he allows certain things to happen when he says he rules over all everything. And we question personally, oh God, or what are you up to? God, what's up? You know, like I don't understand. And so what you have to ask is this is he or is he not in control of you? Or are you in control of you? Right? Is it in the world that we live in that you're in control? But remember, scripture says he's his sovereignty, he rules over all. So either he causes things to happen or he allows things to happen, or he prevents things from happening. But in your life, do you believe that you have given your life to him and therefore he is in control of your life? If you believe he's in control of your life, you have a right to be peaceful. You have a right to be peaceful about it all, and have peace that whatever he allows is for our good. He says that all things work together for good to those who love him, to those who are called according to his purpose, which means he is in control of all things. And that's Romans 8. Read that chapter. If a person chooses to live disobediently, though, before God, what guess what? He'll allow it. Will he just sit back and allow it, though? No. He'll send enough warnings, enough heartache, enough burden, enough troubles, enough trials to get the person's attention. And if they ignore his attempts to get their attention, in order to give them peace, they'll suffer the consequences. Many people are living troubled lives, very unhappy. No constant peace, like no peace, no always constant trouble and trials in their life because they don't believe he is in control. They're not in control. They're trying to be in control, and it doesn't work. Because remember, I said we're gonna talk about eight statements. The third one. When we are trusting the Lord to meet all of our needs, this will eliminate our daily concerns about not having enough. When we are trusting the Lord to meet all of our needs, this eliminates our daily concerns about not having enough. If we are living our life of obedience before him. If you're worried, you cannot have peace if you're worried about anything. Well, if you say everybody's worried about money or something. Well, yeah, true. Not necessarily always true, but does everybody have a reason to be worried? We could think of some things you don't like, but to always worry about them, to take it upon themselves, it's kind of like a weight, a load with ourselves hoping for them. Life of hope for the best. That's what it is in our society. You know, you you you live but hope for the best, right? You're in trouble because the society does not promise any peace, especially when we live in right now. Nor does it promise to provide you anything, really. Real peace. Peace that surpasses all understanding. Bible says peace that prevails when you're going through all kinds of difficulty and hardship and trouble. God attends for his people to be at peace with him and within one another. Can he make it so? Well, yeah, he does, because peace is God's gift to us. And we think about the the, for instance, right? Which we all love. This is one of the seasons we all love. Christmas, right? We sing about peace. It's amazing about what we sing about, but we don't believe what we sing about. We don't experience it. And oftentimes it's because we're living in disobedience to God and we don't trust him. Truly, if we think about it. If you're living disobediently to God, you don't trust him, and you're about your own power, your own money, well, then I don't think you're always gonna have that true peace. If I really trust him, then my God will supply all my needs for his glory and riches, right? In Christ Jesus, either it's true, either God's telling the truth, or God's a liar. One of the two. One of the two. People say, like, I don't have a good life sometimes. Well, what kind of life are you are you living? If you're living an un like an ungodly, disobedient one, well, God's best is not gonna flow to you. You gotta be willing to do what's right, not just what you want to believe. You gotta understand what God wants, and if you see these signs, these things that are happening in your life, we've got to change and believe what God is saying to you. Statement number four are maintaining a clear conscience, a clear conscience, a clear con a clear conscience that shields and protects our peace with ourselves. It protects our peace with ourselves. That's very important. Paul spoke of having a good conscience, a clear conscience. When I have a clear conscience, it's going to protect me and protect our peace. So ask yourself the question: do you have a clear conscience? You see, either I do or I don't. And there's a war that rages in people's lives when they're living disobedient to God. God wants us to have peace within our hearts. That is what He provided. That is who He is. Jesus says, My peace I give unto you, not as a world gives unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So ask yourself the question: when you don't have peace, when you're nervous and upset about something, when you're having a difficult time with your conscience, for example, and you don't know what's happening, what do you do? The only two things you should do, you go either the real thing to Jesus, or you go to the world substitute. The world cannot substitute the peace of God Almighty in your life. So do you have peace? What about your conscience? Is there anything that keeps cropping up in your life that you ought to deal with? That you keep saying, well, don't forget, here's what happened, or I'm just gonna forget it. And you try and try. Then you have things that get your mind busy, partying here, partying there, and doing what you gotta do to not think about it. You go from one thing to another, one thing to another, then functionally, right? Then you're trapped by your own actions and you have absolute. How can you have that peace in your heart? You won't. You're trusting, you're trusting in the things of the world, not trusting in him. When we can accept these things ourselves, the way God made us, this guards us to try and change something over which we have control. Paul talked about this in like 1 Corinthians in the 12th chapter. He talked about spiritual gifts and how different we are, and how God has gifted us differently. And maybe, just maybe, that that will save you. Like, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and enables us to use the gifts that God has given us in a profitable way, His way. And think about that. Think about that, how it changes people. Think about how from people are very unhappy, oftentimes extremely unhappy, because they cannot accept the way God has made them. He didn't give us all the same gifts. There's some people, for example, who like to play the piano who, and there's some that wouldn't. There's some people that know how to paint and make things, right? People are gifted in so many ways. But the question is this are you trying to are you trying to change something in your life which you have no control? So what does that do? It drives people to drink, it drives people to be hard to live with, it drives people to do things, relationships that they shouldn't be doing. Because they're absolutely absolutely unhappy the way God made them. They think that's gonna change them. That somebody's gonna love them more. That's not the case. The Lord created us to do our best, to rely on him day by day with his love. That's the reason he made you. He intends for you and I to be happy and peaceful. That doesn't mean that we're not gonna have troubles and trials in life. I mean, that's that's growing us, that's a part of the process. He's growing us up, teaching us to be obedient. We all make mistakes, we all have sinned against him. But he patiently what does he do? He patiently he forgives us and points us to the right way. But if I don't like listening correction, and I say I'm gonna do it my way, then I'm not gonna have any peace whatsoever. So he does, he gives us different spiritual gifts. So you gotta ask God these questions too, you know. Because different gifts that he's given us, you gotta say, Lord, like what did you intend for me? It's a question you gotta ask. God, what do you mean for me? What do you intend for me in my life? What can I do? If you're gonna have peace, you and God, you have to agree, whatever you choose for us is the best idea. Number six. Statement number six. When we have a sense of purpose in life, this protects us from the plague of emptiness. Many people are empty. And I love what Paul said, we are a workmanship. That is, God created us, a workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we will walk in them. Ephesians 2 10. God is very involved in our lives. We are his workmanship. That is, God has a purpose for our life. There are a lot of people, though, that have that idea of something different, and a lot of people are empty, and they can't tell you why. They just know they're unhappy and they feel empty. And this is why they go to the world to try to fill up this emptiness and think that that's gonna satisfy them. Their heart will not be satisfied. I guarantee you, only Jesus Christ his ways is, and it will make you when you completely surrender. This expression of our life to us. That's what brings absolute insurance, assurance and life, and a sense of being. The Bible talks about the fullness of the Spirit, not the emptiness. So feeling empty in your days? No. Kind of work you have about your children, are you feeling empty about? Is there something missing in your thinking? Do you have a relationship with Christ? Should you be feeling empty? How do you how does he feel my intimacy, you can ask to God? Are you intimate with him? God created us to be with him. God's calling you to do things, and you have the adequacy to do it. There's no need to doubt. God wants us to sense his sufficiency in our life. He is here to equip you to do good things. Gifts that he's given you. Think about this. You have spiritual gifts when you trusted Christ as your Savior. The Holy Spirit came into your life and began that moment. That moment to begin to work in your life utilizing the spiritual gift, whatever it may be. God desires to equip us in order to accomplish his purpose and will for our life. God wants us to have peace. He wants us to be equipped, he wants us to be able to live a life that personifies him with the existence of Christ in our life. That's our witness and our testimony. When you and I have obedient, and we are obedient to God, walking in his will and his gifts, then we have a testimony to others that Christ will enable us, that he will show us what to do, he will equip us what to do, he will provide what we need, and we can live in peace. But if you have a sense of emptiness in your life, if you have a sense of that, it's because somewhere along the way you have avoided the peacemaker. And the one who's the gift giver, the one who's a prayer answer, the one who has the will and purpose and plan for your life. He has the best for you. He has the best for you, best friend for you, everything. And the only way you're going to be happy in a peace is when we're walking in that peace. Okay. And then, of course, the last one. Number eight. Sense of belonging. This shields us from the painful feeling of rejection and feeling unwanted. Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye labor and heavy laden and burden. I'll give you rest. And yet many people will not come to him. And maybe they don't have any peace, or every one of us has felt rejection by somebody at some time in our life. And we agree that feeling rejected by somebody, or especially somebody you love, somebody you respect, somebody you honor, and you're rejected by them, they've turned away from you. They've said things that were words of rejection, words painful. Rejection is very painful. It's a painful attitude, painful feeling sometimes. We may feel rejection when we haven't been rejected, but still, if the feeling is there, the pain is there, and we're going to respond as a result. We'll feel hurtful, angry, empty. Ununited. But if we're going to have peace in our heart, then you have to come with a feeling. You have to come with a feeling of rejection every moment. If everybody in the world were rejected you, would you be A reject? Next time you get in a feeling you're not feeling valuable, you don't have to look at but one thing and that's the cross. Look at the cross. You think that you have that that you're not valuable? I think you're valuable enough for God for His Son to die on a tree in order that He may give to the world the love that now we deserve, but He wants us to have. That's not what we deserve it, right? He gave us this. He wants us to have this. So anytime you feel rejected, unwanted, unloved, or uncared for, remember who loves you. The one who loves you satisfies every need in your life. Desire of your heart if you choose to hold Him. And it begins with yourself before the Lord and saying, Father, I want to confess my sins, I want to acknowledge my disobedience, my rebellion, my unbelief, and all the rest. I'm asking you to forgive me, not on the basis of the merit, what I deserve, but on the basis of what you did at the cross, and ask you to forgive me every day, at the beginning of the day. I surrender my life to you, and I want you to live your life through me. I want that peace that you talk about that passes, all understanding. I want you to have, and I offer and I yield my life to you so that I can fill me with your presence. Say those things. Read those works, those words that I that I spoke in, the chapters of the book of the Bible that I've spoken and said. They're so important. God's love stretches so far and so deep. And you need to believe that and trust that he cares for you. He tells us not to get tired of doing good, for we will reap a harvest at a proper time if we don't give up. Have the fruits of that. Know that he's watching and he loves you. We are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit. He's going to guide us and lead us. We're saved by grace. There's so much to go on, and so much to do and talk about. And we'll go through more of the different spirits of the fruit, the fruits of the spirit. The different spirits, the different fruit, the things that the Lord produces through us. If we yield to him, willing to surrender. Because he loves us. And if you do need prayer, again, as I always said before and earlier, please reach out. Don't hesitate and don't be ashamed. The bread of life with jj at gmail.com is an email. The bread of life with jj at gmail.com. Peace. That's what we're discussing today. A wonderful fruit that we need to produce. And even if your circumstances don't allow it, let your conscience do so. Know that God has you and He loves you. And that He will calm the storm. So until next time, may the Lord, may the Lord's face shine upon you. May He give you peace. Jesus loves you. God bless you.