Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

You may or may not know but I have been fighting a very hard battle on the home front.  If I let it, it would have the power to crush me - like a tidal wave. Not going into details, but suffice it to say that I feel absolutely powerless over this situation.  I have prayed, fasted, asked everyone I know to pray - and still, the waves keep coming. In the past, at times, I let it all get to me.  I caved.  I got discouraged.  I doubted God's love for me.  Yes, me. But you know what?  I'm here to tell you that my faith in God is actually being made stronger in the storm.   I still trust God. I still know that He loves me with an everlasting, deep, abiding love. I still know that in His perfect time, He will  calm the storm around me.  For now, He is training me to find the calm in the storm within  me. These are hard lessons, hard trials. But I know that I know that I know that the Lord knows exactly  what He doing in my life and in all the parameters of my life.  Ha, devil!  You lo

The peace that passes understanding guards your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Peace.  Peace of mind.  Inner peace.  These are ours in Christ.  Not in and of ourselves, mind you.  I cannot manufacture that sort of peace.   There is a true, deep, and lasting peace that we can claim when Christ lives in us via the Holy Spirit.  It does not make sense in the natural.  At all. While anything but peace rages around us, around the world, in our homes, perhaps, and in our hearts, Christ stands there offering us His peace. How is this possible?!  Because He is the Prince of Peace.  He is peace itself. This means, for me (and for you, if you are in Christ), that when circumstances and people around me offer me nothing but turmoil, I can still possess the peace of Christ within me.   When I love a family remember - go out of my way to show love and kindness - and the love is not returned, and it hurts, I can still live in peace.   This is not escapism or denial.  This is the real deal. A

I have come to realize that we can control many of the things distracting us away from our relationship with Christ, our center, our peace.  We can control how much time we spend on social media, watching TV, and so on.  These are the sorts of distractions we do not have to succumb to.   However, some distractions are beyond our control.   Other people's behavior can be a huge distraction, especially when they are intentionally messing with you. Some people are actually bothered by your peace and will do all they can to push your buttons, to try and upset you.   Now are they just playing harmless games with you?  Or is it much more serious than that? Years ago, the Lord moved me to tune in to a certain talk show.  I didn't usually watch this show, so I wasn't sure why He was leading me to watch it. What I saw I will never forget.   Miss America was the guest.  The host of the show asked her how she keeps her poise while walking the runway.  How did she not get distracted or