Front Porch Swing & Crisp Air Days

Breath.

You tell yourself this a lot.

You close your eyes and intake the smell of the sweet honey suckle blossoming. You can even smell the dew on the ground and feel the change in the crisp air. As you swing back and forth and the chain creaks ever so often, yet somehow soothing to the ear, the butterflies consume your focus as you dwell on their beautiful, unique, astonishing colors. The birds start to chirp as they call out to one another in their songs of rhythm. The leaves chime in as you watch them fall ever so peacefully towards the green, yet dewy, inviting grass. It’s over. All of it. Your fears, anxieties, sorrows, doubts, concerns and whatever else you can think of. There is this overwhelming experience you are soaking in, Tranquility.

It’s an inexpressible sensation that cannot be explained no matter how badly we want to. It’s a peace and joy that we want to consume us on a daily, not only daily but counting down to the seconds, basis. It’s something we truly feel inwardly, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It sends a message to ourselves, to our minds, to let every ounce of ourselves go. To let the wind take us where it pleases. It’s a moment of releasing our whole beings to this unimaginable, yet true, state of peaceful satisfaction.

There is something that is even more satisfying than the peace of this inviting, all-consuming, breath-taking nature < God, the Creator, the Savior, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, The I AM, the Jehovah-jireh, Yahweh, Eternal, Unchangeable, Faithful, Loving, Beautiful, Judge, Sinless, Pure, Majestic, Holy, Victorious, Alive, Unfathomable, Light, Life, Perfect, Sovereign, The Bread of Life, The Fountain of Life, Zealous, Righteous, Gracious, Merciful, Justification, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omnimense, POWERFUL, Awesome GOD!!!!!!!

Silence.

There are no other words to explain Him. He is TRANQUILITY. This is it, this is how we “Can” experience this peace and tranquility every breathing second of our lives. It is all through and from Him. He is the antidote of our worrisome life. If we can simply sit in awe of His unfathomable creation and be at complete peace by soaking in His magnificent creation, how awesome is it to know that we can be in a PERSONAL relationship with this HOLY God who created this PEACE.

I have listed several verses below that God gave us in His Word Promising His peace.

To do: Take the time and memorize the verses that speak the most to you or memorize them all. I always find it helpful to write them on an index card and memorize them that way.

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– 2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”

– Romans 15:13 NIV “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

– John 14:27 NIV “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.”

– Isaiah 55:12 NIV “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

– Romans 12:12 NIV “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

– John 16:33 NIV “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.”

– Psalm 119:165 NIV “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”

– Romans 8:6 NIV “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

– Psalm 37:4 NIV “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

– Hebrews 11:1 NIV “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

– Hebrews 4:16 NIV “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

– Proverbs 14:30 NIV “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

– Psalm 1:3 NIV “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

– 1 Timothy 6:6 NIV “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

– Isaiah 58:11 NIV “The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-water garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

– Isaiah 14:7 NIV “All the lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing.”

– Galatians 5:22 NIV “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, forbearance, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

– Isaiah 43:2 NIV “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

– Matthew 5:9 NIV “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

– Proverbs 16:7 NIV “When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, He causes their enemies to make peace with them.”

– Psalm 23:1-3 NIV “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

– Psalm 29:11 NIV “The Lord gives strength to His people; the LORD blesses His people with peace.”

– Romans 15:33 NIV “The God of peace be with you all. Amen.”
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He made Himself available to us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. He lives inside of us and there is absolutely nothing in all creation that we have to fear.

– John 3:36 NIV “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

– John 5:24 NIV “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my Word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

He doesn’t call us to walk each moment alone or in fear. He calls us to walk in His joy, peace and light.

– 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”

God tells us in Matthew 6: 25-34 DO NOT WORRY. Not only does He tell us one time but THREE!

– Matthew 6:25-34 NIV “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 than food, and the body more 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers 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 in the fire, will He not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So DO NOT WORRY, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ 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.”

He also gives us life ETERNALLY! Do you know that Jesus says we will never die?

– John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

We were created to share a relationship with God Almighty forever and ever and ever.

We are guaranteed to face troubles in this life.  It is a FACT because God says so.

-John 16:33 “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.”

God has already overcome the world!  He has already won the battle.  God tells us not to seek peace from this world, people, or material things.  Our peace does not come from this world.  This world only offers conditional happiness, comfort and peace.  Nothing here is ETERNAL but guess what friends, GOD IS!  He is constant and His peace and love is UNCONDITIONAL.  Our peace will be only in seeking and knowing Him as our Lord and Savior.  Even as we face these times of trouble we can cling to His promises.  God is always FAITHFUL.   This is why it is so important to fill our heart and mind with God’s Word on a daily basis.  We can be reminded of these truths to give us peace NO. MATTER. WHAT.

[Now if you look back, we just learned that God is peace, light, eternal and the only antidote for the source of worry. Every second of our life should be a ‘front porch, crisp air kind of day’ with the only source of ULTIMATE TRANQUILITY living within us.  So as you go about your day, think on at least one of the verses you memorized and envision yourself on your front porch swing.