Contemplative Christianity - God's Peace

Contemplative Christianity - God's Peace Here to help others find their peace in God through everyday life struggles and suffering.

02/27/2026

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“ ‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
The Holy Bible: New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), Mk 9:43–49.
Imagine now... what do your hands do? Do they harm? Do they work to do what is unloving? What about your feet? What do your feet do daily? Do they walk in the Spirit of Christ? Do they walk to do good? Or do they walk to harm or do evil? What about your eyes? How do your eyes view the world? How do they see? Do they see to do good? Do they see what is loving? Or do they see to perform evil? Maybe they see with lust, greed, or judgment. Jesus has always taught that the inner person must be transformed. If our hands, our feet, and our eyes see or do what is loving, then that is evidence of a heart, mind, and soul that are oriented and shaped towards God. It walks, and its hands and eyes are loving in the kingdom. There is a verse here at the end that is telling. Everyone will be salted with fire? What does this mean. Salt is meant to preserve. It is necessary for life. Fire destroys and burns up. Jesus is saying we will all experience trials of fire that are necessary for our preservation. They are experienced to teach us and preserve us from the day of judgement. To teach our hands, feet and eyes to be loving in their interaction with the world. To teach our heart, mind, and soul what it means to live Loving God and neighbor.

02/25/2026

Devotional: The Peace Only Christ Can Give
Scripture:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” — John 14:27

Reflection
There is a kind of peace the world talks about—quiet moments, controlled environments, predictable outcomes. But that peace is fragile. It shatters the moment life shifts, the moment a storm rolls in, the moment we lose control.
Christ offers something entirely different.
His peace is not the absence of trouble; it is the presence of Him.
It is not the calm of perfect circumstances; it is the calm of a heart anchored in a perfect Savior.
When Jesus says, “My peace I give you,” He is inviting us into His own inner life—His trust in the Father, His freedom from fear, His steady confidence in the Father’s love. This is why we desire His peace: because it is the only peace that can survive the storms we cannot avoid.
The peace of Christ is not passive. It guards. It protects. It steadies. It forms us into people who can walk through fire without being consumed, who can sit in uncertainty without being undone, who can love others without being ruled by fear.
But how do we receive this peace?
Not by striving. Not by performing. Not by pretending to be strong.
We receive His peace the same way we receive His salvation—by surrender.
When we lay down our need to control outcomes, when we bring our anxieties honestly before God, when we allow Scripture to reshape our thoughts, when we walk in step with the Spirit, when we humble ourselves, when we rest in our identity as beloved—peace begins to rise within us like a quiet, steady river.
Christ’s peace is not a technique to master.
It is a relationship to enter, a presence to dwell in, a gift to receive.

Practice for Today
1. Surrender:
Name one thing you are trying to control. Release it to God in prayer.
2. Prayerful Presence:
Take three slow breaths. With each exhale, whisper, “Your peace, Lord.”
3. Scripture:
Meditate on John 14:27. Let the words settle into your mind.
4. Identity:
Remind yourself: “I am beloved. I am held. I am not alone.”

Prayer
Jesus, You offer a peace the world cannot give and cannot take away.
Teach me to receive it.
Quiet the storms within me.
Guard my heart and mind.
Form me into someone who carries Your peace into every room I enter.
Let Your presence be my anchor, my rest, and my confidence today.
Amen.

02/25/2026

🌿 What Jesus Is Saying in This Passage (Mark 8:34–38)
1. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself…”
Jesus isn’t talking about self-hatred or suppressing your personality.
He’s talking about dethroning the false self—the ego that tries to run life on its own terms.
• The self that demands control
• The self that clings to comfort
• The self that wants God and its own agenda
To “deny yourself” is to say:
“I am no longer the center. Christ is.”
It’s the death of the illusion that we can save ourselves.

2. “…take up his cross…”
In the first century, a cross wasn’t a metaphor.
It was a death sentence.
Jesus is saying:
“Follow me into a way of life that will cost you everything the world says is essential.”
This includes dying to:
• Status
• Reputation
• Entitlement
• The need to be right
• The need to be admired
• The need to be safe
It’s not suffering for suffering’s sake.
It’s surrender for transformation’s sake.

3. “…and follow me.”
This is the heart of it.
Christianity is not primarily about beliefs, rituals, or morality.
It’s apprenticeship.
To follow Jesus is to:
• Imitate His way
• Adopt His values
• Trust His path
• Let His life reshape yours
It’s not a one-time decision but a daily orientation.

🌿 4. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it…”
This is Jesus exposing the paradox of human existence.
If you cling to your life—your control, your image, your comfort—you lose the very thing you’re trying to protect.
But if you release your life into His hands, you discover real life.
This is the spiritual principle behind recovery, transformation, and sanctification:
You can’t heal what you refuse to surrender.

🌿 5. “What good is it to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?”
Jesus is asking a piercing question:
What is the point of winning at life if you lose your life?
You can gain:
• Wealth
• Power
• Influence
• Security
• Applause
…and still be spiritually bankrupt.
The soul is the deepest part of you—the part made for God.
If that part dies, everything else is meaningless.

🌿 6. “If anyone is ashamed of me… the Son of Man will be ashamed of him…”
This isn’t about moments of fear or weakness.
Peter denied Jesus three times and was restored.
This is about allegiance.
Jesus is saying:
“If you distance yourself from me to fit into the world, you reveal what you truly value.”
It’s a warning, not a threat.
He’s calling His followers to courage in a culture that rejects Him.

🌿 The Big Picture: Jesus Is Inviting You Into a Different Kind of Life
This passage is not about losing joy—it’s about losing illusions.
It’s about trading:
• Control for trust
• Self-preservation for surrender
• Worldly success for eternal significance
• The false self for the true self
Jesus is saying:
“Let go of the life you think you want so you can receive the life you were created for.”

02/22/2026

I've written a book titled, "Christian Spiritual Formation: The Little Book on Big Transformation. If your interested in growing in your Christian walk, then message me with you email and I will send you a free PDF copy.

02/15/2026

"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
The Holy Bible: New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), Mk 6:31.
Still good for us today! Learning to be at rest in the silence will help us be at rest when we enter into the noise of the world around us.

02/14/2026

A wise man said a fool can be known by six qualities. Anger without cause. Speech without profit. Change without motive. Enquiry without an objective end. Putting trust in strangers. Inability to determine friend from foe. My patience has been tried and perfected by fools. I’m praying for patience with an individual whose mind and mouth move at the same speed and motive. He never stops talking and his thoughts race in a million directions without purpose. He asks many questions about needless things that won’t profit him. He makes demands on other peoples time and energy placing himself above all. I recognize that this individual is making demands on my understanding, compassion, and patience. I will pray for him. And I will investigate my own unwillingness to patiently work with this person for the glory of God and for his own relationship with God and others. If you are finding yourself struggling with someone in your life that irritates you, then I suggest you do the same. How you respond to such individuals is your responsibility and not thiers.

02/12/2026

What is not good for the beehive is not good for the bee.

02/02/2026

Never place your hope in a thing that is impermanent. Your hopes will surely be potentially dashed to pieces. Our hope should lie in the only thing that is permanent. This is the very character, nature, and promises of the eternal God alone. If I were to be mature in my hope, then I would, as Thomas Merton suggested, hope only in the love of God for me, through me, and for the world. A love and a nature that fulfills His promises and purposes for us all. So I don't hope in a new heaven and a new earth alone, but only the love and character of God that stands behind the promise of a new heaven and new earth. Why should our hope be in anything but God's love and very being alone.
Hebrews 11:1
Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
It is our faith in what we hope for that becomes the evidence of the Love of God in which we do not necessarily see tangibly with our eyes. To have faith in the hope of God and His very nature is to live and believe that we are meant to share this Love of God, as well as being the recipients of it. Meditate deeply upon this and see if it is not true!
Thomas Merton once wrote, "Hope is the wedding of two freedoms, human and Divine, in the acceptance of a love that is at once a promise and the beginning of fulfillment."

01/29/2026

Have you ever meditated on the impermanence of all things? We will not live forever, the earth will not last forever, and neither do our sorrows and woes last forever. They will come and go. It is when we hold onto them as if they are permanent in an impermanent world that we suffer. Suffering is meant for a season. Let your sorrows like sea billows roll... off your back and into the realm of patient endurance... knowing our troubles will not last forever.

01/14/2026

I watched him with his ear buds in. Rap music was playing. I know it was rap because he decided to sing the lyrics out loud in an area where there were many people. He did his little dance moves and then looked around to see if anyone was watching or if anyone was approving of performance. It made me think. What makes us look around for other people's approval? What makes us want to be seen and acknowledged? Is it low self esteem? Pride and ego? One sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to function in healthy ways without the need of approval or acceptance from others. It is a place of freedom. Jesus once talked about the religious leaders of his day placing heavy burdens on the people's backs, causing them to seek the approval and acceptance of the leadership to make sure their relationship was right with God. He also accused them of not lifting a finger to help them overcome obstacles in their life. A sure sign they were operating under a worldly system based on the need for approval and acceptance and not the way of the Lord. The way of the Lord is simple. Look at Jesus. What does his word and actions speak? They speak of a freedom beyond religious approval seeking and acceptance. Jesus once told a woman at the well that there will come a time when people will worship God anywhere, when they worship in Spirit and in Truth. This is a place of freedom. Not the place of needing acceptance religion. It is the place where one hears the voice of Jesus and they recognize it immediately as the way, the truth and the life. They recognize Him voice and acknowledge he is the Good Shepherds. Today I am free indeed because he freed me. Free from needing the acceptance and approval of others to function in healthy ways. How about you? Are you still looking around to see if someone approves you or accepts you. Turn to the Savior of the world. He has a path to freedom from this unhealthy need.

01/06/2026

Come to the Table and talk with me.... Some of you may not like what I am about to say... but hear me out.
Jesus’ declaration “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6) means he is the exclusive path to God, the full revelation of divine reality, and the source of both eternal and abundant life. This I believe. This is why I say Jesus is the "T"ruth.
I would also say "t"ruth, defined as what is really real, can be found piercing it's way into the lives of every nation through a multitude of scientific, philosophical, religious, and mundane settings. For me the "t"ruth shines in every crevice of creation, "and that the heavens pour forth speech" that is meant to illuminate the "T"ruth to all the world. This is why "what can be known about God has been plainly revealed so that no one is without excuse." I don't fear any truth.
What I do fear are Christians who feel they are the only source of "t"ruth bearing witness to the "T"ruth. These dogmatic Christians plop the bible on people's heads calling all to hear the master's voice based on their books of traditions, doctrines and beliefs based on a book they call the bible.
But the master's voice is being shouted from the heavens and day by day the heavens rain forth speech (The Truth and truth) into the souls of every living creature through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before there were churches, church bells, pews, disciplines, theological tomes, or even a bible there was wisdom and truth bearing witness to the ultimate source of Truth.
Some would say we need not look any further than our own bible and church halls to be safe from error. I say the minute we enclose God and the Truth in the pages of our theological texts, wrap God in our religious language, and cage Christ in our church halls we often become the hypocrites of our day. We turn into the Pharisees and Sadducees of the first century Israel as we demand allegiance to our caged Deity with tithes and offerings.
You may not understand what I am saying.... and may believe what I am saying to be heretical... but is it really? Can we contain our God in the pages of a book no matter how Holy we believe it to be? Our problem is that we read the Holy book through unillumined religious interpretation and revelation. The Bible is a source of truth bearing witness to the Truth. The Bible is not the fourth member of the Godhead. It's a tool which has been used for some of the most heinous and even glorious endeavors in known history.
I believe truth can be found in many places.
I am not saying that all religions are just different paths to God. They are too contradictory for such a case. What I am saying is that religions and wisdom traditions may bear some truth given to reveal the Truth to all creation and are worthy of our study.
Don't get me wrong. One day every knee will bow before the ultimate Truth. When He returns I will fall to my face in adoration. But until that day I am not a fan of organized religion. I see it's usefulness... but I also see it smothering the truth and Truth of God in our day and time in cultish behaviors, perceptions, traditions and approaches.
The Holy Spirit strives to illuminate the truth on behalf of the Truth to all the nations despite us. He does not need our bible. He only needs to be recognized and adhered to in our soul. Jesus is far more than we make Him out to be and is bigger than the single name we give Him. We often diminish Him when we try to cage Him with our limited religious perceptions and theological musings.

01/05/2026

I want to build a table of wisdom and awakening. I want to invite all my friends and family and any stranger who will come to that table. At this table wisdom and truth will be cherished and enjoyed. At this table only Love will be present. At the head of this table is Jesus. His love amazing and tender. His hope bright and prosperous. Our faith will be strengthened at this table. Our eyes opened. And I am humbly grateful for what is to come no matter how dark the skies become or how hopeless our world will be. Welcome to the table... lets break bread... let us feast upon the goodness of the Lord.

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This page was created to help others connect to our discipleship ministries, receive instruction, advice, answer questions, and link teaching videos and resources to those who desire to go deeper in their Christian walk.

Discipleship is a daily walk, one size doesn’t fit all, and it is essential for us to engage in if we are ever to become the people who live, love, and learn to engage the world for Jesus.

Stepping Stones Discipleship came out of an inspired prayer session I (Anthony Perry) had with God that was based upon a statement made by William Bradford a leader of the pilgrims.

Why The Pilgrims Came To America