Top Ten of 2023: The Recipe for Peace – #4

I love the meme that floats around this week, maybe you’ve already seen it. I’m full of cheese and I don’t know what day it is! Yup. Well, I’m here for you! It’s Tuesday, or is it Wednesday? Just kidding! It’s Tuesday, December 26th and this is the 4th most downloaded episode in 2023… the recipe for peace!

Special thanks to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, for bringing us the Bible For Busy People this Christmas season!

Show Notes:

• Who Is Jesus? Let us introduce you!
• Have a prayer request? Leave it here.
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Transcription:

I love the meme that floats around this week, maybe you’ve already seen it. I’m full of cheese and I don’t know what day it is! Yup. Well, I’m here for you! It’s Tuesday, or is it Wednesday? Just kidding! It’s Tuesday, December 26th and this is the 4th most downloaded episode in 2023… the recipe for peace!

When you come from an Italian family, every meal is pretty important. It’s been really fun to watch my dad morph into a cook in his retirement. And over Christmas he experimented with Bobby Flays Chicken parm recipe. Bobby Flay from the Food Network, and I was so proud to be in my mom and dad’s kitchen, helping dad make that recipe. And I gotta tell you, everybody around the table, Loved it. I’m mostly a vegetarian, so I didn’t try it, but it smelled delicious and everybody was like, oh, the chicken is so tender. My dad’s got a brand new recipe for one of his old favorites. It’s awesome. Do you know there is a recipe for peace in the Bible? I wonder if the Apostle Paul had a recipe box.

Hi, it’s Erica welcoming you to the Bible for Busy People. If the cup of your soul is a little bit empty right now, listen. God wants to fill it with peace today. I believe that with all my heart. Won’t you join me in the book of Philippians chapter four. Now, this is a recipe written by the Apostle Paul. It’s coming out of his kitchen, so to speak, but like my dad made Bobby Flays recipe, this is really God’s recipe for peace. All right, we’re gonna pick it up in verse six. Here we go.

Don’t worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done; then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Oh my goodness. It’s a four-step recipe. Don’t worry about anything. Pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for everything he’s done. I mean, that’s a recipe that you and I can follow. So, if you and I follow this recipe, what does peace come out like? We open the oven and what do we see? Well, I’ve got this picture in my mind. Have you ever floated in a pool? Maybe in one of those big hot pink tubes or a unicorn float, something like that, and your feet aren’t even touching the water. Your arms aren’t touching the water. You are just on that float soaking up the sun. Now, think of the pool as a bunch of worries, and all of the things that are kind of churning in your heart and in your life, all of the problems under you. They’re not touching you. To me, that’s a picture of what this recipe for peace yields. The problems don’t go away. But you’re a little bit removed from them.

You are just soaking up his peace. You’re talking to God about what’s wrong. You’re being very specific in what you would like him to change or fix or heal. You’re keeping an attitude of gratitude. You’re doing all of these things in the midst of the problems. And that’s where the peace comes in. And when it comes into your heart, it comes out in your life. It’s a beautifully baked peace pie that you can enjoy, and others can enjoy as well. Now, I know we just read God’s Recipe for Peace in the New Living Translation. I’d like to read it now in the message version of the Bible. It’s the most modern translation of the Bible, and often when I’m especially in need of peace, I will go to that version because it’s just easy. So, I know this is gonna sound a little goofy, but picture yourself right now floating in a pool while, I read this. Choose your float. Mine’s a unicorn. All right, here we go.

Don’t fret or worry instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Ah, I know. I don’t really wanna get off the float either, so don’t. Stay there in your imagination and picture God displacing worry at the center of your life. Stay in this moment of peacefulness and wholeness. Let God fill your cup with peace right now. Ahhh. All right. Until next time, note, you are loved.

Thank you for making space to study the Bible with me today. If you feel something stirring in your soul, that’s the God who made you, saying, I love you and I want to know you. It’s what Christmas is all about. Jesus came for you so that your soul would know its worth. He came to bring joy to the world, and to your world. It’s the most beautiful love story ever written, and it’s true. It’s the greatest rescue mission in history, and it was for you. If you want to respond to that stirring in your soul, to know Jesus a little better, please take a moment and check out our show notes, where you’ll find lots of hope and encouragement for your journey.

The Bible for Busy people is brought to you this Christmas season by Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. Every day and every night, their team is on a mission to share the good news with our neighbors who are homeless. Like the angels who came on the night, Jesus was born. They make sure that every person who walks through the doors of the Mission knows that there is hope because Jesus came, and how much He loves them. Every person they meet on the street encounters the love of Christ through a friendly smile, a warm blanket, a cup of cocoa, and an invitation to take that next step toward healing from addiction or mental illness. If you want to be part of making sure every soul knows its worth in Seattle this Christmas, volunteer or donate at ugm.org. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

This podcast is one branch of a Christmas tree called Purposely, a network designed to connect you with life-giving conversations, and to inspire you to find and live out God’s purpose for your life. If you’ve got a pulse, you’ve got a purpose.