Gaining Inner Peace.

Jeremiah 6:13-14
13 "From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
'Peace, peace,' they say,
when there is no peace.

Theoretically it doesn't seem hard to define peace, now does it? Here's what the theoretical list would look like:
*the opposite of war...a peace treaty
*little argument and disagreement
*living in harmony

Although the first star is what you may think of first when peace is mentioned, it's not limited to that. Peace exists from the war front to your personal relationships that exist.

In Jeremiah's writing you can see that the people back then didn't have a whole lot of inner peace. They were definitely greedy. They were deceitful. They weren't serious. They were ignoring everything - even the emotional pain - imagining as if it wasn't there. When really, there a large wound was engraved into their soul.

Do you have a sense of inner peace? You may have a grudge. You may have just been in an argument the other day that is still unresolved. Then you say, "Oh well, I'm just going to move on and let it go and hold it inside of me forever." Don't do this because it tears you up into pieces (no pun intended). You may be able to live with pain, rather than resolve the issue. However, you really should surrender these feelings because it will calm your insides and keep them under control. It will give you inner peace.

I know at Acquire the Fire they told us just to let go of the nonsense stuff that was inhibiting inner peace...the grudges, the situations that we have not forgiven or given to God. We were invited to the floor to get on our knees and give it to the Lord. It was a great relief to do this. We prayed for several minutes aloud like this. You should do this if you're struggling with a forgiveness issue.

If you don't feel the tension relax during these moments, do the following:
1. Keep praying over the coming days. God will give you strength during a situation like this.
2. Pray for the person you're trying to forgive. Give it to God.
3. If you feel comfortable enough, discuss it with this person.

Chances are your friend is looking for the same inner peace. God will help you all the way!

“To attain inner peace you must actually give your life, not just your possessions. When you at last give your life - bringing into alignment your beliefs and the way you live then, and only then, can you begin to find inner peace.” ~Peace Pilgrim