How Do We Let the Peace of Christ Rule Our Hearts?
On Saturday I was blessed to speak at the Catholic Women of Faith Conference in Nashville about how we let the peace of Christ rule our hearts in a world that wants to rule us, and I promised the ladies that —if I didn't get distracted—I would post the summary with scripture verses to meditate. So ladies of Nashville, thanks for a wonderful day and here ya go!
How do we experience God’s peace?
It all begins when we enter into relationship with God through Jesus Christ. As we put our trust in him, Jesus not only promises us eternal life in the future, but also he invites us to begin to experience that life right now, however incompletely.
So, we grasp all these ideas... we know that the peace of Christ is a feeling of peace given to us by Christ when we trust—not our circumstances—but all that God promises to be to us in Christ.
Our minds understand that we have been given the Peace of Christ. Our heads know that the Peace is there and it’s up to us, now, to let the grace of God reside there:
We know that when the barriers of distraction: chaos confusion conflict: arise that we can center our hearts and allow the Peace of Christ to break down those barriers by putting our focus on Christ and ...
- Disciplining ourselves to spend time, quietly with him to listen to the sound of His voice. We can make time to put our eyes on Jesus
- Meditating on His word: For example: If we are anxious about many things, we can spend time praying with Phil 4:13; James 1:5, Phil 4:19; Matt 6:33, 2Cor 9:8.
We know that when the barriers of Hurt, Betrayal, and Gossip arise that we can center our hearts and allow the Peace of Christ to break down those barriers by putting our focus on Christ and ...
- Going to where we know Jesus to be. Going to the Mass, Adoration, Scripture, Prayer, the Sacraments
- Meditating on His word: For example: We can take comfort in knowing that He will reward our faithfulness and obedience with even more joy in Him, and we can spend time praying with John 14:21; Matt 5:8; Heb 12:14
We know that when the barriers of Change, Transition, and Challenge arise that we can center our hearts and allow the Peace of Christ to break down those barriers by putting our focus on Christ and ...
- Surrendering to Him in complete trust. Say, "Jesus, I trust in you" or ask our Blessed Mother to help us trust her Son if we are struggling.
- Meditating on His word: For example: We can take comfort in knowing that God will fully satisfy our hearts now and forever in Himself and we can spend time praying with (Psalm 16:11; John 6:45; John 7:37-38; Phil 3:8-9.)