The Word To LIve By: 10-31-25
Phil Waggoner
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:2
The Word to live by: These are fourteen words for you that reveal the will of God for your life and the lives of all the people that Jesus died for. I was having breakfast with a good friend of mine one Saturday morning and we were talking about our futures and how to accomplish the will of God for our lives. We both tend to take big bites out of life and then choke on them down the road because they are bigger bites than we can handle at once. We are learning not to do that and to check one another when we start to get off the path. If there is one verse that propelled me on to the will of God for my life, it is the last seven words of 1 Corinthians 7:15 (this must be count the words in your favorite scripture day), “but God has called us to peace.” Because I was raised in a house of unconditional love, I understood that the most important thing to my earthly father was that I lived in peace. (Now he wouldn’t have worded it that way, but it is ultimately what he wanted for all his children.) And isn’t that what we all want for our children and grandchildren? We get our model for parenting from God. Romans 14:19 says to “pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” And then Hebrews 12:14, “Pursue peace with all men…” I could keep going but the bottom line is part of the will of God for your life is peace, the peace that passes all understanding, and it is given to you along with the grace of God. How does the grace of God connect you to Him? Ephesians 2:8 says that we are “saved by grace through faith and not of yourself.” So, the way you walk in the peace of God is the same way you walk in the salvation of God - you trust Him. You trust the fact that He’s on your side, He’s for you, not against you, and wants the best for you. When you have that going for you, what is there to worry about? And when you don’t have worry, you have peace.
Read through the Bible in a year: 1 Timothy 2; Isaiah 34-35; Psalms 119:65-96;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 31, Luke 18:1-22, Hebrews 9
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160