GOD'S NO

When God says no to my prayers, is he rejecting me?

Scripture To Consider:
"Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life."
Jonah 4:3

"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself!" "Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me." And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
Have you ever prayed for something fervently... prayed with complete faith... then sat back and waited for God’s answer? Waited for the sovereign Creator of the universe to speak to your heart through the Holy Spirit. You waited…and waited…and waited, until one day you began wondering “Why has God not answered my prayers?” "I wish that God would just stop ignoring me and just answer already!" Many other thoughts are processed through our, minds, some of our own, some from the Holy Spirit and some from the destroyer, deceiver and thief.

Over the last two years and through many trials and BHAG's (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), God has been saying “no and wait" to me in response to a couple specific prayers that were very critical to hanging on and making it through the storms of life. I have taken great comfort and instruction through these last two years from examples God has given me of other prayers He did not grant and many that were granted in His perfect time and in complete alignment with His sovereign will for my life.

One of the most touching examples of prayers denied is the story of Abraham and Sarah. In the 15th chapter of Genesis, Abraham was promised a heir and a child from his own body. But they had no child because Sarah was barren and both were advanced in years.

Imagine the years of tearful requests that Sarah and Abraham made to the Lord. Try to feel the pain, frustration and loss of hope each month when they realized their prayers had been rejected again. As the months turned into years, the prayers must have grown more and more desperate, for each year as the couple grew older, they knew their chances of having a child grew dimmer.

And yet, after all these years, well past the age of having children, that is the request they continued to make of God. Until one day, Abraham, Sarah and Hagar grew tired of waiting on the Lords promise and so then strategized, devised and executed their own backup plan just in case God's didn't work out. In Genesis chapter 16; with Abraham at the ripe old age of 88 years old, Abraham had a son with Sarah's handmaid Hagar, which was the bi-product of not waiting on the Divine plan of God - obviously this has caused a few cultural and historical ripples over the past few thousand years an had a direct impact on our lives today!

At this point, you may be thinking that this story is a poor example of God’s rejecting a plea, for God granted their prayer in chapter 18, about a decade later with the birth of Isaac. The fact is, Abraham and Sarah almost certainly did not pray for God to wait to give them a child until their old age of 90 and 100 years old, they wanted a child right away and God’s answer to THAT prayer was “NO.”

Even though God had plans for them to ultimately have a son, Abraham and Sarah were unaware of those plans. Yet in the face of years of Divine denial, they were still individuals of faith—people who believed in praying for the desires of their heart and in a God who listened to those prayers. What are some lessons we can learn from this couple?

Like it or not, “no” is an answer, too! Although it is safe to assume that the couple was grieved at receiving this answer, it is apparent that they still viewed God as one attentive to their prayers. Just because God did not grant their prayer, they never gave up on praying. They may have wondered why He did not grant it, but they never confused a negative response for a lack of one. If they had, why would they have persisted in praying?

In fact, sometimes for our own good, or that of others, “no” is the only answer that a loving God would give. Probably all of us can think of prayers in the past which we are very grateful now that God did not grant. When Paul, for example, was discouraged by attempts to be relieved of a thorn of the flesh, as painful as it was, the insults... the distress... the persecution... the trials and troubles that we are all too familiar with in which Paul endured. He prayed to God that the thorn might leave him (2 Corinthians 12:8). God did not grant that prayer. Instead, God said "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness". Do you think Paul regretted God’s “no”?

Perhaps the “no” for which we should be most grateful, though, was in response to a prayer made in a garden one night. As a result of that “no”, one man died so all could live.

God's Truth & Promises:
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
Matthew 7:7-11

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Matthew 21:22

"And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
John 14:13-14

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
John 15:7

"And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full."
John 16:23-24

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
James 1:5

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."
1 John 5:14-15

God's Time Not Ours... God's Will Not Ours... Ask, Trust and Wait...

MIRACLES

Can God really do miraculous things in my life?

Scriptures To Consider:
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31

Moses and the ten plagues against Egypt; Crossing the Red Sea; Joshua and the Fall of Jericho; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are not burnt in the furnace; Daniel not eaten by Lions; Changing water to wine; Calming the storm; Walking on water; Feeding of Five Thousand...

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
A miracle is an unexpected event attributed to the Divine intervention of God. So ponder this!
It is only by the sovereign hand of the Almighty Father God and His Son's loving grace that any of us were saved - this is the greatest miracle of all creation!

No, wait a minute... it's Galatians 2:20 and the indwelling of Holy Spirit what is the greatest miracle! Wait a minute, it's the promise of eternal life with our Creator, that must be the greatest miracle of all creation! What about the second coming of Christ Jesus, the Rapture - this absolutely must be the greatest miracle of Jesus Christ!

Where do we start? How do we even begin to wrap our finite minds around the endlessness of God's miracles in our own personal life? We can not begin to fathom the depth or height of all the miracles of the Master, they have no beginning and they have no end!

New Testament Definitions
Depending on your definition, miracles never happen, or they happen all day long. Using the Bible as our source of evidence, we see amazing occurrences all over its pages. Here are (3) New Testament word indicators that will help clarify the issue:

1. Dunamis (Power): This word means power, or inherent ability. It describes mighty works originating from a supernatural source, and that cannot be produced by natural agents and means.
   An example is, “And even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip; and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed” (Acts 8:13; 19:11; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 29; Galatians 3:5).
2. Semeion(Sign): This word is usually translated as a “sign” of divine authority. Luke uses it in the verse just quoted, and John used the word of Jesus, “Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples” (John 20:30).
3. Teras(Wonder): This word usually follows the word, semeion, and means something strange that evokes marvel or amazement.

The three words are used together by Peter, “Men of Israel, listen to these words; Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles (dunamis) and wonders (teras) and signs (semeion) which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22).

The greatest miracle of all creation was and is the miracle of the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! It was through this miracle that we were given a Savior; that we were made alive in Christ, that we were made alive and new, cleansed and redeemed, bought and paid for... there was no greater miracle in all creation than this!

God's Truth & Promises:
"God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will."
Hebrews 2:4

"If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
John 10:37-38

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
Acts 1:8-11

God's Miracles Are Everlasting, They Are All Around Us... He is Coming Back For His Children!

VALUE

How should I treat those whom our society devalues?

Scripture To Consider:
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. "If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean," he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," He said. "Be Healed!"
Mark 1:40-41

Big T's Thought To Ponder:

If we really think about it, we were all just like lepers at one time in a sense, each one of us was still a citizen of this fallen world and captive to the sin of it. The value of a person before coming to God and accepting the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ is just like filthy dirty rags.

"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."
Isaiah 64:6

The value of a person is not found through the good works they do and that which can be seen on the outside. The real value of a person is found on the inside. God does not value us by our outer appearance, by our deformities, or our possible handicaps. None of us are too disgusting or ugly for God's sovereign and loving grace.

God looks beyond our outwardly appearance, past our deformities, through our worldly diseased outer shell and the ugliness of our sins within. Our heavenly Father loves us so much that He sent His beautiful and flawless Son, Jesus Christ to come and touch us... to wash us... to heal us... and to make us new beautiful creations and imitators of Himself.

When you feel ugly and unacceptable or you feel disgusted or repulsed by another, stop and remember the perfect example that God gave us all; how He touched each one of us. Stop and reach out for that ugly and deformed leper that God chooses to put in your path today and allow Jesus to touch them through each one of us today!


God's Truth & Promises:

" Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory."
Romans 15:7

"This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. "
John 15:12

"If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much."
Matthew 5:46

There is no such thing as a unlovable person, God loves all of us!

WORTH

How does knowing God affect my sense of self-worth?

Scripture To Consider:

A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God.
1 Corinthians 11:7

And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:24

Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Romans 12:3



Big T's Thought To Ponder:

We must remember His glorious truth, the same truth that has been in existence since the creation of the world. We were created by the Creator of the universe and in His perfect image and we were by Divine design created with certain Godly characteristics that we must stand in as our basis for our self-worth, our significance, our complete acceptance and our eternal security!


Our self-worth and the worth of all mankind is not based from a fallen world perspective; it is not based on our social status, it is not based on our political views, nor it is not based on our material possessions, our bank balance or annual salary, our achievements, our physical attractiveness or what we do for a living. It is solely determined and based on how we were Divinely created in the image of Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world... and God doesn't make junk!


Likewise, degrading your self-concept or thinking less of your self-worth would be like criticizing what God Almighty has created; and this would be in complete disbelief of what God has clearly told us to believe about ourselves and the abilities He blessed each of us.

We must remember that we are His Workmanship, His Masterpieces, His Precious Pearls! Yes, you and I are made in the very image of God but we owe everything we are to Him, this keeps our self-worth and self-concept in a health balance and in alignment with God's Word.

God's Truth and Promises:

We must rest in the truths of who God our Creator says we are; not the lies that the world of Satan would have us believe we are. We can never measure our weigh ourselves by worldly means, the world is contaminated and its measuring devices are distorted and Thousands of years out of calibration by God's Sovereign and Divine Compliance. Use the Eternal and Everlasting God as a means to measure who you are and what your self-worth is!



1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "I have been bought with a price and I belong to God..."

Colossians 2:9-10 - "I am complete in Christ..."

Philippians 3:20 - "Our citizenship is in heaven..."

Ephesians 1:3-8 - "I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child..."

Colossians 1:13-14 - "I have been redeemed and forgive of all my sins..."

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 - "I have been established, anointed and sealed by God..."

Ephesians 2:6 - "I am seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly realm..."

Measure Your Self-Worth By The Truth Of God, Not the Lies Of Satan!

FIRST STEP

I know what God wants me to do, but how do I find the courage to take that next step?

Scripture To Consider:
So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
Joshua 3:14-16

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
The Israelites had to have been eager after 40 years of wandering aimlessly in the wilderness with what seemed limited and barren resources. God had provided what they had needed, living on the daily manna provided them by the sovereign hand of God. But after 40 years, the lavish abundance and richness of the Land of Canan had to be a sight for sore eyes.

To finally have reached their destiny, the Promised Land, the abundant and rich land of milk and honey! The opportunity to conquer the the people living there and live the peaceful life that had been promised by Moses and Father God finally within their reach. I can only imagine the anticipation and sense of urgency they must have all felt!

God had given Joshua and His chosen people specific instruction on how and by what means to approach the raging banks of the Jordon River and how to successfully get across what must have looked much like reaching one side of the Grand Canyon and being worlds apart from where they wanted to be. That helpless feeling of, "we can't get there from here"!

God gave them specific instructions: In order to get across, the high priests were instructed to take one step into the raging rapids of the Jordan! One step that could leave them 1,000 yards down river and drowned for any of those of you have have white water rafted you know what I am talking about. What if Joshua and the priests would have been too afraid to take the step of faith?

More times than not, it would appear that God provides us no solution to our problems until we trust Him and move forward in obedience by taking that first step we know we should take. What are the Jordan Rivers, Grand Canyons and seemingly impossible obstacles in you life?

In obedience to God, take that first step in faith into the deep water and allow God to guide you to the promises and goodness He has Divinely planned for your life. Be strong and courageous!

God's Truth & Promises:
God will never lead us into a trial, into trouble or into a raging storm of life without carrying us and delivering us through to the other side - Stand strong and be courageous!

"And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us.
2 Corinthians 1:10 (NLT)

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed"
Deuteronomy 31:8

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those whose hope is in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint"
Isaiah 40:28-31

Take The Steps Of Faith God Has Called and Equipped You For, He Is Always There To See Us To Safety!

COMMITMENT

How can I remain focused in my commitment to God?

Scriptures To Consider:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:11-13 (NIV)

And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.
Romans 2:16 (NLT)

Big T's Thought To Ponder:
My first thought: We must go directly to our eternal resource, the Creator of all things. Only there can we see the perfected and flawless example of what commitment looks like. Biblical commitment is the Sovereignty of God's Character!

Two extraordinary examples of the character and commitment of the Almighty "I AM", that we will forever have an impossible time getting our finite minds around, are: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son"... John 3:16a "For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, He will not fail you or forsake you"... Deuteronomy 31:6c

By God's Divine Design, we were made to be committed! "So God created man in His own image"... Genesis 1:27a. Our capacity to commit comes through God's Grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - Acts 1:4-8. "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13

One commitment we are all called to make: A commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

How can we remain focused in our commitment to God? As we can see, it's all about God! He is the provider of all things, our love; our joy; our peace; our patience; our kindness; our goodness... faithfulness... gentleness... self-control... strength and our wisdom!

Commit to daily prayer:

A simple structure for effective prayer is "A.C.T.S.":

• Adoration: Simply acknowledge God for who He is, His greatness and His holiness...
• Confession: Confess any sin in your life and ask for deliverance and brokenness...
• Thanksgiving: Thank God for all things, His creation, His provision, Our salvation and His answers to your prayers
• Supplication: Ask God to supply your needs, ask Him to provide all you need to do all he asks of you...

"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
1 Timothy 2:1-6

Commit to reading, meditating, memorizing & internalizing the Word:

Read something from scripture every day and meditate on what God would have you understand from it. "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
Romans 10:17

Commit to serve others:

A great place to begin serving is at home, at work and at church. "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
1 Peter 4:10-11

Commit to trusting your Savior:

This is our most critical commitment and primary focus! It all starts with trusting and surrendering to self and then committing to these other God Breathed instructions for becoming Christ like.

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
Romans 10:9-10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6


God's Truth & Promises:
If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to your mountain, "MOVE!" and it WILL move... and NOTHING will be impossible for YOU!
Matthew 17:20

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:25-34

Love the LORD your God with all your Heart, with all your Soul, with all your Mind and all your Strength!

MAKING PEACE

What does it look like to live in peace with others?

Scriptures To Consider:
For, The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue
Peter 3:10-11 (NLT)

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.
Psalm 34:12-13


Big T's Thought To Ponder:
I think one of the best places to start is in the Beatitudes: Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them saying: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." We are called to be peacemakers as sons of Christ, it is one of His many indwelling attributes.
Matthew 5:1; 9

James gives us direct and specific reasons why peace is such a great benefit towards our spiritual prosperity and relationship building: "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." Show me a peaceful spirit or peacemaker as James has illustrated and I think we will find Christian maturity more times then not. To be at complete peace in the world, is to be in oneness with the Holy Spirit. I truly believe there is a direct connection between being at peace within yourself and with all the relationships around you; and being in complete union with Christ and I think that peace can start right here while we are still in the world.
James 3:17-18

The four gospels don't make many mentions about peace, but one given on the eve of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is very revealing: "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." When we really internalize this verse it brings so much clarity to who is in control of all things, every Divine breath He gives us, each beat of our heart, every pure thought and all goodness that we possess. We have been blessed with the living Spirit of God dwelling within us as believers, why is it so difficult to live out each and every moment of each and every day in complete peace as He instructs us in this verse, right before He gave His live for us?
John 14:27

Jesus gives us insight to unavoidable troubles we are all sure to face while we are here in the world. He gives us an awesome promise of encouragement for the raging storms of life that will prove unbearable, a blanket of truth to wrap ourselves in during the toughest trials we will ever face; and an anchor of hope to bury deep into the immovable and unshakable bedrock of Jesus Christ! He says: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The only place that we can ever find lasting peace is in Christ, this is the peace that is to carry us through our darkest moments in life. We are to count our trials as blessing and to fear not, but to be living examples of the peace we have been given for all the the world to see -this is the essence of our light shining bright... We are called to share it with our family, friends, neighbors, brother's and sister's in Christ and all those He allows to cross our path, by living it - WOW, that's awesome!!!
John 16:33

How glorious it would be to be free of all the burdens of living in this dangerous, unstable, violent world, but as sons of God such is not our lot in life. God has called us to a life that runs in opposition to the majority of this world's practices and attitudes. As such, we are caught not only in the general events and circumstances generated in the world, but also when we directly irritate and anger those close to us by determinedly following God's way.

I have experienced this very irritation and anger by sharing these daily devotionals with some of my own family members, many have opted not to receive it. I could stop sending them all together and believed the lie that satan would have me believe, that there is no value in continuing; or I could choose the live in the peace of Christ in me and stand on His truth; that His Word never comes back void or empty! I choose to have peace and to leave the consequences up to God for those who persecute me for who I am in Christ. I replied to my family members with a letter of love and kindness that they would have never expected to receive from the old man that once lived.

Paul tells us: "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."
Ephesians 2:14-18

Paul goes on to say: "We cannot be right with God unless we are also right with men. Make peace quickly; do not let the sun go down on your wrath." "Hatred is sin, and sin separates us from God."
Ephesians 4:26; 1 John 4:20

Paul also writes in Romans about our peace in Christ Jesus; "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."
Romans 5:1-2

God's Truths and Instruction:
When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:7

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Hebrews 12:14

Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11

Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.