“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
What are you searching for in your life?
What’s missing? What’s your plan to make a change in order to make a difference? Are you searching for direction, meaning, identity, significance, hope, focus, happiness, or any number of different emotions that leave you frustrated or stuck?
You may have practical needs too. Perhaps you’re looking for a job? Or you want to get to a healthier place? Do concerns about family or your financial situation occupy your waking moments?
How do you find peace in the midst of the chaos and confusion of the heart, mind, soul, and world? John 16:33 (shown above) provides a universal answer — peace. Peace is the antidote to all our anxieties and concerns. It doesn’t change our circumstances but it changes us.
On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus is giving his final teachings to His disciples. His sense of urgency is present because He recognizes that His time has come. Before turning away from the Disciples for the last time and to His Father, in John 16:33 Jesus speaks his final words to the Disciples.
What would you say as your last words to your most loved ones if you knew you were condemned to die? The words of John 16:33 are Jesus’ simple summation of His message and ministry. Look above and reread them again.
- Do you grasp that “… you will have trouble” is an inevitable part of the plan and life of a Christian? There is no free pass from pain, suffering, unfairness, disease, and more.
- Do you know what it means and how to truly “… take heart“? How can you own Jesus’ promise of peace in your heart?
- How might your life be different if you truly embraced living with your trials yet were sustained in Jesus’ triumph over the world? Can real life be like that?
On-Purpose Peace is all about these questions and more … for you! With mindfulness of heart, you can choose to experience your trials and tribulations as the writer considers them in James 1:2 to be, “pure joy … when you face trials of many kinds.” And you can do it all on-purpose.
On-Purpose Peace is an Interactive Small Group Guide for Christians reading The On-Purpose Person. It grips you from the start and equips you to wrestle with God to better understand who He is and who you are within his design, purpose, and plan for your life.
On-Purpose Peace will guide your reading and small group discussions of The On-Purpose Person. Anticipate this experience to delightfully disrupt and disturb you while ever drawing you out as a man or woman of God. This “Modern Parable” will meet you where you are in your spiritual journey and move you along. And like all parables, the more you experience it the more meaning and understanding accrues to your benefit and to God’s glory.
On-Purpose Peace is unlike any Bible study or program you’ve every done because it intimately builds and deepens your personal relationship with Jesus Christ so you too can “take heart” regardless of the conditions around you. Experience it for yourself and discover how God has been conspiring for your benefit all along so you can be yourself, prosper, and contribute in ways that only God knows once you more regularly integrate His will into your ways. Experience oneness with God!