The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
In a world filled with a lot of talk, we want to have meaningful, biblical conversations with those God has entrusted to us. Join Tosha Williams and the Family Disciple Me ministry for Devotion Driven Discipleship conversation starters that will encourage you to "Seek Him Speak Him" in your own life.
Family Disciple Me is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Christian ministry dedicated to catalyzing Devotion Driven Discipleship in our own lives and homes as well as around the world.
For more information, visit familydiscipleme.org
The Family Disciple Me Podcast // Discipleship Starts With a Conversation
THE GIFTS OF CHRISTMAS: Unwrap PEACE // How God's Gift of Peace Changes Us
Even during the happiest season of the year, we can experience fear and anxiety. God has a gift for us in the midst of this, though. Join me (Tosha Williams) as I share a personal journey of wrestling with sadness only to discover in a new way the power of God's peace. Even when circumstances don't change, His peace will change us. In this episode, let's "unwrap" His peace. Seek Him Speak Him!
**********
“The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” Psalm 29:11 NIV
SEEK HIM: Devotion is Meeting with God in Our Own Lives! Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble,” and even in the best of times like Christmas, life can be challenging. However, God gives us a special gift, for in the same verse Jesus also said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have PEACE” (John 16:33 NIV). Jesus came to bring peace, so let’s “Seek Him” about this gift.
WHAT: What is God saying through this Scripture? God gives His people so many gifts, including, as our key verse says, the gift of peace. This peace is God’s blessing for those who belong to Him. His peace is not just an occasional experience when life is good; it’s His gift of completeness and wholeness throughout our lives. ~ According to our key verse, who receives God's gift of peace? Are you one of God’s people? Where do you need God’s peace today?
WHY: Why does this Scripture matter? The world teaches us that peace is the absence of problems; God’s Word teaches us that peace is His gift in spite of problems. Jesus promised: “PEACE I leave with you; my PEACE I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27 NIV). ~ What’s the hardest thing you've gone through? What does Jesus say about this? Why can you trust Him in hard times?
HOW: How does God want us to respond to this truth? Scripture says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV). Instead of fixating on hard things, God wants us to talk to Him about these. ~ What must we give God in order to receive His peace? Is there something making you anxious or afraid right now? Let's pray!
SPEAK HIM: Discipleship is Making God Known to Others! One of God’s promises to those who “Seek Him” is: “All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace” (Isaiah 54:13 NIV). As we learn to unwrap God’s gift of peace, others can learn from our example. This Christmas and always, let’s be sure to spend time being taught by the Lord. As He fills us with His peace, then our loved ones can learn to experience His peace, too!
______________________
The Family Disciple Me ministry exists to catalyze devotion driven discipleship in our homes and around the world. We believe that discipleship starts with a conversation, and FDM provides free, easily-accessible, biblical resources to encourage these meaningful conversations along life's way. Sign up through our website to be "the first to know" about upcoming releases and resources (including the FDM App - coming soon!!!) You can also follow Family Disciple Me on social media.
Family Disciple Me is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry, and all donations are tax deductible. More information, blogs, statement of faith and contact info can be found at familydiscipleme.org
At Christmas and always, god has so many gifts for us. However, in my walk with the Lord, he's often shown me that my hands are way too full of my own things to be able to receive His gifts of other things. And perhaps nowhere is this more true in my life than when he offers me his gift of peace. See my hands, my heart, are sometimes so full of well, fear, anxiety, dread, worry, control. And when my life is full of those things, when I'm clinging to those, well, I find I can't very well receive his gift of peace, much less unwrap it and hold on to it. Maybe receiving God's gift of peace is something that comes easily to you, and if so, that's great. But maybe you can relate to me You've got your hands full of hard things right now. You're trying the best you can to shove these aside, to put them in your pocket, so to speak, so you can grasp the goodness of this holiday season. But try as you might, you can't quite get a hold on peace. If this rings true for you and my guess is that this is true of all of us at different times then I hope you'll join me for just a few moments in this podcast episode as we continue in our conversations about the gifts of Christmas.
Speaker 1:We started these Christmas conversations by talking specifically about God's gift of hope, and I pray that you've spent some time with Jesus in your own personal devotions, perhaps guided by the corresponding Family. Disciple Me, devotion-driven discipleship content, and as you've spent time seeking the Lord about hope, I pray that you're unwrapping it and experiencing it like never before. I know I am, but here's the thing about hope when we have true hope, we can also have true peace, no matter what life brings our way. In God's economy, the gift of peace is not the absence of storms. Peace is his presence in the midst of them.
Speaker 1:Jesus says my peace I give to you. This is his present for us this Christmas and always so. The question is what are we doing with this gift? Is it just there sitting like a wrapped gift under the tree, something that we admire but what we can't pick up and hold because, well, our hands, our heart, our lives are so full of too many other things? Or are we letting go of these things that aren't from God so that we can jump in to unwrap and receive what is from Him? I kind of like that latter option. What about you? So right now, let's spend a few minutes talking about this gift of peace as we continue in our Gifts of Christmas conversations.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Family Disciple Me podcast. If you have a real relationship with Jesus, then you're in the right place to be encouraged, challenged and blessed as you seek Him, speak Him. The mission of the Family Disciple Me ministry is to inspire devotion-driven discipleship, which is something we believe every Christ follower can do. Discipleship starts with a conversation, so let's get going with that right now.
Speaker 1:It wasn't too very long ago in my life now that I was going through a situation, a circumstance in which I was broken, I was hurting, I was struggling, I was literally agonizing over what was happening Now, during this season, I must say, I was doing all the right spiritual disciplines, I was having my devotions, I was spending time in prayer, I was reading the Word, I was doing devotion-driven discipleship, I was speaking life and Jesus into the next generation. But the battle I was facing was beyond what I ever expected. There were forces coming against me, against us, that were deluging us with grief and pain beyond measure. It was absolutely exhausting. I remember falling into my bed early one night because, literally, I couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker 1:I reasoned that maybe if I could just fall asleep, I could escape the pain for a few moments. Have you ever felt that way? I know I have these really, really tough seasons of life, these seasons in which we need peace from God more than ever, but sometimes find it really hard to grasp. Well, at this point in my story, I'd been walking with the Lord for decades. I wasn't a newbie to this. I wasn't unfamiliar with fighting spiritual battles. I'd experienced this before. I wasn't a newbie to this. I wasn't unfamiliar with fighting spiritual battles. I'd experienced this before. I knew the truths. I understood the principles, I'd even memorized what God's word says about peace.
Speaker 1:But, quite frankly, I was tired. I was so tired and what seemed the best solution at the moment was just to go to bed. Oh, but God. God in his grace and his kindness, with all his gifts, chose that exact moment to speak to me. It was nighttime, but clear as day. I heard his spirit say to me I'll carry that for you what I heard, exactly what he said, but I stalled with giving a response. Instead, I just asked what, and he repeated his offer I'll carry that for you.
Speaker 1:I full well knew the that to which he was referring. He was offering to carry all the things the anxiety, the fear, the hurt, the worry, the dread, the anger. The God of the universe was offering to carry all that for me. I had walked with God for a long, long time, nigh upon 50 years, but I had never so clearly felt his invitation. I'll carry that for you. Now it seems like a no-brainer, right? God offers to carry the hard stuff, so we give it to him. Right, the deal's done. We take what he has for us and we keep going.
Speaker 1:But in that moment I had to lay there and wrestle through whether or not I could actually give up those things. Of course I wanted his peace. I wanted his gift of peace all over my life. His peace, I wanted his gift of peace all over my life. And yet there was also, I have to admit, a little bit of comfort in being angry or bitter or anxious or fearful. Those are very, very familiar things to carry. And yet, in order to receive what God was going to give me, I had to place those things in his hands. As I lay in bed, I considered everything that I was carrying and in that moment, perhaps like never before, I decided to give it to him. I literally pictured myself placing all of that into his hands. Maybe you could say I threw all of that into his hands. He was okay with that as well. But here's what I experienced with him when I did so. Into my now empty hands, he placed his gift of peace and my hands were able to hold on to it because they weren't trying to hold on to everything else and with that my heart calmed, my spirit stilled, my mind quit racing and I fell asleep.
Speaker 1:When I woke up the next day, the burden was different, and it was different every minute, every hour, every day. Thereafter, the circumstance didn't change. It didn't get easier. The spiritual battle did not let up for many more weeks and months. The situation didn't just immediately resolve. No, it wasn't different, but I was, because I had let go of all those other things I was carrying and I really truly received God's gift of peace. The thing about that particular circumstance that was so riveting and changing for me is that other people saw the distinction, they saw the difference and they couldn't understand it because it didn't make sense. It didn't make sense why I was no longer angry or resentful or bitter or struggling or just dying a thousand deaths. It's not that it didn't hurt anymore. It's that I'd given all that to God and he gave me his peace. And once I really experienced his peace in that situation, I wasn't going to let go of it, not for anything, because his peace changes everything.
Speaker 1:Do you need any of this peace in your life, really, truly? I believe that all of us do. Psalm 29, verse 11, says the Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace. God gives us so many, many gifts gifts that we're talking about in this Gifts of Christmas conversation series but this specific gift of peace, this is his shalom, this is his blessing, specifically for those who belong to him. This peace isn't just an occasional experience when life is good, when everything is easy, when times are going well. This peace, this shalom, this is his gift of completeness and wholeness, even when our lives are broken. How can that be? How can we feel that abundance, that wholeness, completeness, when our worlds are falling apart? We can experience this because of Jesus. We know that peace is something that the angels sang about in the Christmas story.
Speaker 1:Luke, chapter 2, verse 14, tells us that the heavens echoed with their song. Glory to God in the highest heavens and on earth. Peace to those on whom his favor rests. The Bible tells us that God's favor rests on his people, to those who seek him. When you and I and anybody chooses to seek him, he gives us his favor, he blesses us with his peace. Jesus said peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. But how do we receive his gift? If the Lord blesses his people with peace, if Jesus gives us peace, then how do we receive it?
Speaker 1:I love what scripture says in Philippians 4, and allow me to paraphrase this Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, in every circumstance, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving hand all of that anxiety and fear and worry and dread and anger and resentment and all the things by prayer and petition with and anger and resentment, and all the things by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Give all of that over to God. Then the peace of God, which is far better than we can ever imagine, will guard our hearts and our minds in Jesus. I must testify that I experienced this like never before, just as I was about to begin my Jubilee year with Jesus, and I know that that experience will change the way that I walk with the Lord for the rest of my life. My prayer is that you will experience that kind of peace as well.
Speaker 1:Now, when it comes to the gifts of Christmas, I wish I could tell you that I have thought of some fancy way to do a physical, tangible representation of this as you consider this for your own life and talk about it with those entrusted to you. Alas, I haven't, but this is my thought. This is my thought. Isaiah 54, verse 13, says this all your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. You know, as you and I unwrap God's gift of peace in our own lives, as you and I learn how to let go of all the other things that we're clinging to, and let him take that as we begin to hold on to peace like never before.
Speaker 1:I'm convinced that our example, brought to life through our words, we can't just be silent about it, we need to speak up about it. But our example, mixed with our words, our Jesus stories, is one of the greatest gifts that we can then pass on to those that God's entrusted to us. This, my friend, is about seek him, speak him. This, my friend, is about seek him, speak him. This is about you and me meeting with God, then turning around and making him known.
Speaker 1:I don't know about what's happening in your world, but I know that in my life, just in the past 24, 36, 48 hours, I have encountered multiple people who desperately need God's gift of peace. As I can share with them what God's done in my life and continues to do in my life, as I continue to learn how to hand over all the stuff and let Him carry that, and then I receive His gift of peace. As I share that with others, then I get the joy of watching them begin to learn how to receive, unwrap, hold on to and experience God's gift of peace as well. What an amazing joy and delight. Oh friend, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His countenance toward you and as you turn your face toward Him, as you seek Him, speak Him. May he give you peace. Now go with God, friend, live for Him, delight in His gift of peace.
Speaker 2:And share that with others. Be encouraged Me ministry, as well as word about our soon-to-be-released app. Sign up to be the first to know at FamilyDiscipleMeorg. Also, if you enjoyed this podcast, help us get the word out by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. God bless you, friend. Now go seek Him, speak Him.