Max Lucado

Confession is agreeing with God. We agree about the reality of our sin. We don’t pretend we never sinned, nor do we discount its severity. We admit to it. God has an acceptable standard of behavior. “Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NCV). God’s standard is perfection, and we are anything but.

We are prone to tamper with the standard. We compare ourselves with others, we justify misbehavior, we downplay the severity of our sin. In confession we quit tinkering with the system. Our thought process should go something like this: I took the wrong path. I ignored the direction of God. But though my sin is great, God’s grace is greater. I trust him to forgive me. We agree with God about the reality of our sin.

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Guilt tells you when you’ve done something wrong; shame tells you something is wrong with you. God wants to use your guilt to guide you, so let your guilt turn you toward God. How? Paul can help us. “Godly sadness produces a changed heart and life that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets, but sorrow under the influence of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10 CEB).

The apostle contrasts two types of remorse. One is from God that leads to deliverance. One is from the system of the world that leads to death (shame). One is healthy, the other is deadly. How can we uproot our guilt and replace it with seeds of grace? The answer: confession. “If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust him to do what is right” (1 John 1:9 NCV).

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Make a list of your blessings. We cannot be anxious and thankful at the same time. God’s pathway to peace is paved with thoughts of appreciation. Practice Picky Thinking when you’re tempted to grumble. Choose gratitude.

Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes he calms the child. No storm ever hit harder than the one that raged through Gethsemane’s garden. And no prayer was ever prayed with more passion than the one Jesus prayed. The cross was part of God’s plan to redeem his children. God did not calm the storm. But our Father calmed his Son, and Jesus marched to Calvary in peace.

You can find this peace. Trust God. Tell God. Thank God. I pray God calms your storm. If he does not, may he calm you. And may you find the “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 ESV).

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“God raised Christ from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything” (Ephesians 1:20-22 MSG).

Christ runs the show. He has authority over the world, and he has authority over your world. Your date of birth, your date of death. Your mood swings, sleep patterns, eating habits, your salary. He’s never surprised, he’s never caught off guard. He’s never ever uttered the phrase, “ Now how did that happen?”

Uproot your fear of pandemonium and replant the assuring promise: “God makes everything work out according to his plan” (Ephesians 1:11 NLT).

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Satan hates to see you pray. He does not scatter when you listen to a sermon. Demons do not backpedal when you perform acts of benevolence.  The principalities of hell are not flustered when you open a Christian book.  But the walls of hell shake when, with an honest heart and faithful confession, you bow your head and pray. Satan knows the power of prayer.

Do you long for peace? Then pray. “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long” (Ephesians 6:18 MSG). You cannot control events that are uncontrollable, so don’t try. You cannot change the future as long as the future is in the future, so don’t try. There is so much we cannot do. But there is one thing we must do. We must pray.

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Jesus offers this assurance: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27 NKJV).

Jesus contrasts two types of peace—the peace the world offers and the peace he offers. The peace the world offers depends upon circumstances. If the weather is right, if the traffic is light, if the stock market is up. If…If…If. Exchange if peace for his peace. We can have the peace of Jesus. We can uproot thoughts of catastrophe and replace them with truths like this one: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV).

When your heart needs peace, trust God.

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Philippians 4:4 commands, “Be full of joy in the Lord always. Again I will say, be full of joy.”

How can you be full of joy when you’ve got bills to pay and kids to raise? Those anxious, negative thoughts? Refuse to indulge them. Grab the weed of anxiety and give it a good yank. Then before the enemy can sow a seed, remind him and yourself that you live life “in the Lord.”

If you believe you face your problems alone, you will never find deep and lasting peace. On the other hand, if you believe that you face your challenges in the Lord—in the presence of the Lord, in the name of the Lord, in the power of the Lord, in the protection of the Lord—then you can be full of joy because you are full of the Lord.

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Anxiety in a limited dose is a good thing. Healthy anxiety prompts us to pay bills, eat right, and stay out of snake pits. A dose of anxiety is helpful. A daily deluge of anxiety? Not so much. God designed our bodies to respond to a spike of stress and then return to normal. Unhealthy anxiety resists the reset. It is the alarm system that never shuts down.

Paul’s prescription for the anxious heart: He wrote, “Be full of joy in the Lord always…The Lord is coming soon. Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God’s peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7 NCV).

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

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Three big ideas are critical for taming our thoughts:

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Paul wrote, “Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking” (Colossians 3:15 NCV). How does this happen? The answer appears in the next verse: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another” (Colossians 3:16 NKJV).

Don’t treat Scripture like a guest, an occasional visitor, or temporary roommate. His truth sits at the dinner table, lingers in the living room, and is welcome in the bedroom. And it occupies its place richly. It pays dividends. It brings benefits. Ingested Scripture is vitamin C for the inner person.

Satan is allergic to God’s truth. When you speak Scripture, he skedaddles. He hopes you never hear these words spoken by Jesus: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NIV).

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

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