Equipped

 God's divine power has given us everything we need

 for life and for godliness.

2 Peter 1:3 (GW)

God promises to give us everything we need. That means he provides for our every day practical needs and also for our spiritual needs.

God provides whatever we need for our daily lives - our daily bread.  He is the good shepherd caring for his sheep and providing their every need - green pasture, clean water and protection from enemies. 

He also provides for our spiritual needs. When we hear the word "godliness" we may think, "I'm certainly not very godly."  But, our good shepherd provides for that need to.  By his spirit within us, he gives us the desire to pray, he inspires us to do good things for others and he fills us with his gifts of patience and kindness. He gives us peace and encouragement to accomplish whatever he has given us to do.

All these things come from him who gives everything that we need.  He equips us in every way by his power. 

 May he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him.

Heb 13:21 (NLT)

Peace

I am leaving you with a gift - peace of mind and heart.

And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.

So don't be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27 (NLT)

  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.Phil 4:6-7 (NLT)

The peace of God is a priceless gift. 

If I jump out of bed in the morning and charge into my day without contacting the giver of peace I can be confronted with an onslaught of the days worries and cares.  I look at my circumstances. They may be perplexing and difficult creating confusion and fear.  Sometimes things don't make sense. That's when I realize the world doesn't have much peace to offer me. 

But, if the first thing I do in the morning is line my spirit up with the Prince of Peace and put everything that will come my way into his hands, I can go through the day in peace.  The presence of his peace is my guard.  If my peace is disturbed, I can stop and listen.  Perhaps I need to change my course, set a boundary or release my anxiety.  
 
O Lord, thank you for the promise and gift of your peace.  May we partake of that gift today.  When this world tries to disturb our peace guard our hearts and give us wisdom.

Help

                God is our refuge and strength       always ready to help in times of trouble.                                  Psalm 46:1 (NLT 
Jesus is always there to help us with every need in our lives large or small.  He gives us the emotional support we need to deal with difficult and fearful situations. He gives us wisdom to help us to make decisions when we face a difficult dilemma.  He gives support and comfort when we face grief or lose.  What ever the need, he is there to help.  All we have to do is ASK and wait for the answer. 

How many times do we go on in fear, dread or confusion not knowing what to do and feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances.  We forget to put our faith into action and just ask for help.

Lord,  thank you that you are always ready to support and help us.  Let us look to you and ask for help all the time especially when we face difficulty. 

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, 

so that we may receive mercy

 and find grace to help us

 in our time of need.

Heb 4:16 (NIV)

Relax

For anyone who enters God's rest

 also rests from his own work.

Hebrews 4:10 (NIV)

A lot of our problems stem from ourselves.  From the stressing and striving and worrying that keeps us tied up in knots.   What we need to do is relax. Trusting means relaxing.  Let go and leave it all to God.

As I am totally committed to His will for my life, He assumes full responsibility for me - for my own personal needs, for the outcome of the projects He assigns to me, for the effectiveness of the ministry, for the response of the people, for the fruit of the labor and for the permanency of the work.*

We can't solve the world's problems by stressing and straining.  We can't even solve our own. We can pray, then rest, leaving the results with God.

 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.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT) 

*Birkey, Verna. You Are Very Special, New Jersey, Fleming H. Revell, 1977: 138