Practical Peace - Four Days and Four Ways to Live a Life of PeaceSample

Peace Is Focus

Close your eyes and imagine these two scenes. The first scene is a quiet secluded beach where all you can hear is the sound of the sea. The second scene is a crowded and noisy beach. Which scene did you feel more peaceful in?

Most likely, you felt peaceful at the quiet and secluded beach, right? And that's because peace to most of us looks like silence.

But the reality of our world is that it looks more like a crowded noisy beach and not like a quiet secluded beach. So how do we find peace in this crowded and noisy world?

The Bible says in Colossians:  

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Col 3:2 NIV).

What does this look like?

The Bible in Ephesians says: 

"...and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus... (2:6 NKJV)."

You have two realities: a physical reality, which is all that you see, touch, and feel around you, and a spiritual reality, which is above your physical reality. You are seated in two places at the same time - on earth and in heaven. And you have the ability to choose to focus on either one of these two realities. 

Practice:

Sit down (sitting down helps you mentally to settle down). Get into a time of worship and declare Ephesians 2:6 over yourself. And as you do this, you're shifting your focus from your earthly reality to your heavenly reality. 

Prayer:

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for giving me my heavenly place in you. I choose to shift my focus from all the noise that I hear around me to the place of peace above me. I choose to focus on my heavenly place, which is right next to you. I pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.