do you want to feel stressed out and pressured?...

let me ask you, if you are a parent, do you want your kids to feel stressed out and pressured? no. neither does your heavenly FATHER.

the only time you're going to feel stress out and pressured is when HE's told you something to do and you don't do it. that's going to create stress in your life. that's going to create pressure – when you know the right thing to do and you keep procrastinating.

satan drives us compulsively while GOD's SPIRIT draws us compassionately, gently.

colossians 3.15 (niv), let the peace of GOD rule in your hearts...

if GOD is genuinely speaking to you and you think this idea is from GOD, it's going to bring peace to your heart if you follow it. GOD's SPIRIT produces a calm spirit.

worry and anxiety are never from GOD. never. in the bible it says, "don't worry!" we are commanded not to worry. if you get an idea that is worry, it's not from GOD! it's not.

what if? and you start worrying about it, then it's not from GOD. GOD would never give you an idea that HE's commanded you not to have. you need to look for his peace.

one pastor had this lady who every week kept coming up and saying, "GOD told me this!" and every week it was a scolding. every week it was something she was doing wrong. every week it was a hyper sensitive conscious. many of those things weren't wrong, just questionable. she was always beaten up. one day he said, "does GOD ever say anything nice to you?"

some of you have taken the voice of an unpleasable parent and put it in the form of GOD and you think all GOD does is sit around and beat you up and tell you everything you're doing wrong. you don't understand grace if you think that way. you don't understand that it's all been paid for. it's been forgiven.

you want to live for CHRIST not because GOD is constantly beating you up saying "do better". that's not the way GOD treats HIS children. HE says, "i've already forgiven your sins and you're on your way to heaven" so in gratitude, i want to live for HIM.

i want to live for JESUS because HE loves me that much. i want to do it not because HE's beating me up and making me feel bad, but i want to do it because of the peace that comes when i'm in a relationship with GOD and there's harmony between us.

just a thought from the front porch…