give people peace instead of pain

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

The world offers us many opportunities to hand out more pain. It comes through the things people do to us or maybe how they make us feel. We want to make someone hurt like they hurt us, but that isn’t what God would have us do.

You may have heard this before: hurting people hurt people. Yet I also believe that this is true: blessed people bless people. The choice is ours. Will we focus on our pain or our blessing? It sounds easy. It’s not.

When we choose to bless others we will seek unity with God and with the people around us. To be at peace with others takes lots of work, and it also takes trying to understand the people around us.

God made it so that peace comes when God’s love grips us. He loves us and in turn love others. Being sensitive to others can make it possible for people to see or find God as well as for us to bless the people we come in contact with.

Don’t give back evil when someone does evil to you. Give a blessing instead. People will hurt you, insult you and do things that make life difficult, yet what we focus on will lead us to love and bless others or to hurt others.

Being kind to and blessing people does two things. First, it blesses the people we come in contact with. Second, we will be blessed by God. That is a promise.

1 Peter 3:10-12 NLT

For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. 11 Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. 12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

Do you and I want to be blessed? Then change what you say. Do good and stay away from what is wrong. Staying close to God is always a challenge, but it is a challenge with a blessing. God hears the prayers and watches over those who seek Him.

May our lives return peace instead of pain to the people around us.

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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