Live Free with Josh Howerton - The Power of Peace | Ep. 147 | Tuesday August 29, 2023

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

As we continue climbing up the ladder of the Beatitudes, Pastor Mike focuses on peacemaking. Peacemaking requires significant maturity and humility. Today’s episode is full of truth and encouragement to help you live a lifestyle of peace. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the Daily Drive podcast where we spend just a few minutes together diving into God's Word and allowing His truth to set us free to live a kind of full life that he has always dreamed that you and I would. My name is Bro, and we're walking and we're actually climbing together through a little section known as the Beatitudes.

It's found in Matthew Chapter 5, and it's the intro to this amazing teaching that Jesus gave that's come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount. And I'm not sure about the way we're breaking it down. I may get to heaven and Jesus will say, nice try, bro. But this approach does make a lot of sense to me. I have walked these principles as steps for lots of years, as well as millions of people in recovery have.

This section forms the basis for many recovery ministries around the world. It was the genius of, like Bill W., and the Oxford group, to take these words of Jesus and flesh out some steps to wholeness, healing, and freedom. So we're imagining these principles as rungs on a ladder. steps that build upon the one before it. I won't review them all the day. You can go back and catch up if you'd like.

But the last time we talked about how living and authentic, what you see is what you get, coming to God, cracks in all, and being real kind of life, is one of the wrongs on this ladder of happiness. And today we're climbing a little bit higher. In fact, we're almost to the top. And this is what we hear Jesus say today.

He says, happy are, blessed are, the peacemakers, for they will be seen as the, children of God. You know, the longer I live, the more I see why this one finds itself so high up on the ladder, because this one takes a while. I mean, it takes a lot of maturity to get there. But the more we hunger and thirst after God, the more we maintain those first three steps of humble dependence upon him, the more we live with gratitude for the mercy and grace we've been given, the more we drop the image management games and just be real, the more we become people who are full of peace and people who are easily recognized as one of God's kids.

I've heard it said that there are two kinds of people. There are thermometers and thermostats. So what do thermometers do? Well, thermometers adjust to the temperature of the room, right? What do thermostats do? They set the temperature of the room. I think Jesus is saying, blessed are the thermostats, those who set the tone, those who walk into a room and bring light, those who walk into a room and bring warmth, those whose spirit tends to defuse those negative conversations that could splinter to friends and family and teams. Blessed are those who bring this uncommon joy and calm and wisdom to every person they encounter. Blessed are the thermostats, for they will be called the children of God. Today, you and I can choose to be a peacemaker.

I mean, we can all choose a good attitude today. We can all choose a cheerful disposition. Be mindful today of the tension that might be around you and decide, you know what, I'm going to ease these stressful situations. However, like we said, it takes maturity to have that just flow out of you every day. That type of person is someone who has incorporated every rung of the ladder into their life. They don't move on from step one. They stay mindful of their spiritual poverty without God.

They remain humble and hungry and honest and grateful. real. And as they do that, God transforms them into people who just overflow with his peace. So let's all stay humble today and let him produce that in us. He wants to, and he will. Have a great day. Peace. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out.

For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint. Lakepoint.church slash daily drive.