Good morning. There are times when we may feel like the disciples in the boat being swamped in the storm. The end is nigh! They wake Jesus up and He calmly quietens the storm. Jesus then asks the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?” (Mark 4:40 AMP) When we face difficulties, when peace is not even on the horizon, we need to pause and answer the same question: Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?” The story is told of a flight that hit some unusual turbulence, tossing the airplane side to side in strong gusts of wind. Lightning hit nearby. An eerie silence settled over the passengers. No one felt safe. Except for one small child who was preoccupied with drawing a picture of himself climbing a tree. One of the passengers noticed him and wondered how he could feel so calm, so she asked the young boy, “Aren’t you afraid?” He just looked up from his paper for a moment, smiled, and said, “No.” “Why not?” the lady prodded, fingers gripping her seat. “Because my dad is the pilot. Who is the pilot of your flight? Jesus says: "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) Have faith in the One who gives you peace. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful." (John 14:26‭-‬27 ASV) It is God's desire for us to experience the power of His peace. He has given us the Comforter in the person of Holy Spirit to lead us in God's peace daily. It is the Comforter who sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. It is the Comforter who baptizes us into oneness with Jesus. It is the Comforter who brings the fruit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance to the fore. We rob ourselves of His peace and its power by insisting that it fits our solution, our common sense approach, to having peace. To experience the peace of God we need to relinquish our will to Him and let the Comforter lead us in His peace. Have a good day enjoying His peace. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. In Daniel 6, Daniel’s attitude was, “God has me in the palms of His hands. He controls the lions.” Daniel stayed in peace because of his unshakable faith in his God. Unlike Daniel, there may be times when we feel we have a good reason to worry about something. Our reactions/responses are largely influenced by our worldview of God. As followers of Christ our worldview should affirm that God is sovereign and Lord of all. There’s a simple phrase we need to get into our hearts: "God’s got this!" He already has a solution. Live out of a place of peace and faith that He has everything under control. It’s easy to live frustrated and discouraged because of a disappointment. We get upset because things haven't turned out as we would have liked. But God doesn’t remove every frustration. He doesn’t change every person we don’t like or take away everything that’s bothering us. What He does do is say, “Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) When we respond as Daniel did in being still, having the confidence that God is in control, we will be able to enjoy God's peace and confidently say, " God's got this!" Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. There’s only one way to experience an abiding peace that transcends circumstances—by faith. Faith is the foundation for living in God’s peace—an active, confident trust in His presence and power to sustain and comfort you, no matter the circumstance you face. There are certain issues that can undermine our faith and rob us of our peace. • Fear • Our adversary, the devil • Sin • Giving up in a crisis Because God is with us, we don’t have to give in to, or become defeated by our troubles. We can face and overcome them in the power of the cross. Jesus taught His followers that our troubles are passing in nature for a season. So “let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:27). Hold on to the peace that God gives, confident that He’s watching, directing, and caring for those who trust and believe in Him. Remember whatever situation/circumstance we find ourselves in, Jesus says, "“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Blessings. Mike and Daphne.

Good morning. As followers of Jesus we are comforted by the fact that our salvation brings us peace with God. Each day that we follow Jesus and allow Him to lead us, we experience the peace ofGod. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking God’s peace equals perfection on earth? As Steven Furtick said, “If I’m going to live at peace, I’ve got to surrender my expectation of perfection. Peace isn’t found in a place or in a set of circumstances that are problem free.” While we may face hardships and difficulties, these outside pressures don’t have the power to take away God’s perfect peace which we have through Jesus Christ. God meets us in our deepest time of need with an unexplainable, unfathomable, and inexplicable peace. This peace of God is unrivaled, and it’s beyond comparison. God doesn’t always take us out of our valleys, but He will always bring us through them. We can rest in our Father and the amazing peace that He brings. "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." (Colossians 3:15) Our prayer for you is that you will experience His peace with you throughout today Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. If people are asked what peace means, they’ll give you a variety of answers: • Peace and quiet • Tranquility • Freedom from disturbance • Lack of oppressive thoughts or feelings • Harmonious relationships • Time without war • Absence of hostility or harm While those answers aren’t bad or wrong, they are usually from a viewpoint that doesn’t include God in the equation. The world’s peace is different from God’s peace. When things are calm, we’re at peace. When the storms of life hit us, we’re not at peace. Worldly peace is temporary and dependent upon circumstances, and doesn’t provide the kind of peace Jesus is offering. We concern ourselves with temporary struggles. God offers a permanent solution, which is His peace. It doesn’t matter how how smart, creative, and wise we are, we don’t know how to create peace. The peace that God gives may be beyond our comprehension, but it’s not beyond our grasp. It’s readily available to us. There are no “3 easy steps to peace with God.” God's peace only comes through His son, Jesus. God's peace gives us hope and a future, "... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27) Walk in His peace today. Blessings Mike and Daphne

Good morning. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22‭-‬23) Do you have peace about the future? Sleepless nights, stress and anxiety may prove otherwise. Many voices are vying for our attention. One voice says, “Prove you are a good person.” Another voice says, “You should be ashamed of yourself.” Yet another voice says, “Nobody really cares about you." But underneath all these often noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, “You are my Beloved, my favour rests on you.” That’s the voice we need to hear most of all. We should place our trust completely in God, finding the peace God has for us. Jesus said, "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) Paul writing to the Philippians 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) Will you join us in finding peace in His presence the week ahead? Enjoy worshipping Him today. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. The longer we walk with Jesus, the more convinced we become that His desire is for us to live a life that is abundant and whole and for our joy to be complete. But that does not mean that times of grief would not still be a part of life. The promise we are given is that there is always a blessing at the end of the time of grief. Jesus reminds us that we will move from grief to joy. Talking to His disciples, Jesus had this to say: "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." (John 16:20-‬24) We are reminded again that joy comes through our relationship with our Father. "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day." (Proverbs 4:18 ESV) Have a lovely day. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. The Bible describes worry as one of the things that can choke the word of God in your life⎯ killing the joy, faith, and peace that it produces⎯ making it unfruitful. "but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." (Mark 4:19) The worries of this world cause us to be confused. We lose so much joy when we worry about money and are driven by greed. So often we worry about not having the things we want. Wealth, as stated in this verse, is deceitful. The only thing we achieve by worrying about it, is to choke the word of God that actually has the power to prosper us. Jesus also mentions desires for other things. He is referring to the constant desire we have for things which draw us away from the presence of God. The Bible teaches us that in His presence there is fullness of joy. This means our joy is complete and lacking nothing as we draw nearer to our Father. "Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence." (Psalms 21:6) Have a good day. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. Kay Warren has written the following definition of joy: "Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things." Did you catch that? Joy is a settled conviction about God. It’s a quiet confidence in God. And joy is a determined choice to give my praise to God. 2 years, 9 months ago I, Mike, started the practice of posting #Thankfultoday on Facebook each day. Doing this has changed how I look at life. When we focus on giving thanks to God, life seems to enable us to experience what Kay Warren says about joy. God is in control of every detail of our lives, therefore we can have confidence that everything is going to be okay. Consequently we can praise God and give thanks in every situation. When we experience this reality, we will experience the joy of the Lord in our lives. Will you rise to the challenge of starting each day with #Thankfultoday? "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." (Job 8:21) Have a splendid day. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. Joy is much more than external things. It’s much more than that happy, giddy feeling that comes every once in a while. The joy that God speaks of in his Word is something we can count on. The joy God offers means we no longer need to live in fear or worry, because God’s joy will always be available to us. Jesus says in John 16 that in this world we will have trouble, but we can take heart because He has overcome the world. Despite our circumstances we can receive joy. We are not dependent on anyone or anything other than God to know joy. The sooner this reality is grasped, the sooner we will begin to live a more joyful life. My (Mike) favourite Psalm sums up how we feel when we understand God's goodness. "When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:1‭-‬3) "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life ..." (Deuteronomy 30:19) And may we add - choose joy. Have a good day. Blessings. Mike and Daphne

Good morning. One of the reasons joy is so difficult to obtain is because we live in a stress saturated world. Our family and friends demand that we be the perfect balance of loyal yet un-clingy. We want to be everything for everyone, all the time.It’s okay to want to be successful and well-liked. What isn’t okay is thinking we can do so all on our own. When we really think about it, our lack of joy often comes from the anxiety of having to face life’s difficult situations using only our own strength. Paul tells is what to do in these situations when says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6) This seems easier said than done until we remind ourselves that God is at work in every situation for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) With this in mind we can present our requests to God with a thankful heart. There is so much joy in knowing that we only need to trust that things are going according to God’s plan. Today let us resolve to make it a habit that when we feel anxious to bring it before God in prayer with thanksgiving. Have a wonderful day. Blessings. Mike and Dapbne