Finding God's Peace During the Coronavirus Pandemic

     The statistics each week on the coronavirus are alarming, and it can fill our hearts with uncertainty about the future.  A friend told me that while on the phone with her insurance agent last week this woman started unloading and told her that she was so worried for her kids and that she couldn't even sleep at night.  I'm sure that woman is not alone; there are many people facing financial worries these days with many businesses closing temporarily.  Every day the statistics on the coronavirus are unsettling as these numbers continue to increase.

     Throughout history God has gone to great lengths to reach man, and in the midst of tragedy God is there. We can find the peace that passes all understanding by opening our hearts to God and putting our trust in Him.

     Philippians 4:6-7 says:  In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. 

      When I visited Bibles for America's website last week, I saw this encouraging verse from John 14:27:
 
                                “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you, 
                                 Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let
                                 Your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

            When I read that verse on their site, it inspired me to type up a tract, and a lot of what's in this post I put in that tract.  A friend and I passed them out in our neighborhood. We enjoyed stopping to tell neighbors we had a word of encouragement for them!  Then on Saturday when my husband and I were walking, we gave some to the people we met.  With everything happening on earth today, you need to know that you can receive the God of peace into your heart. In Romans 5:1 the Apostle Paul writes: Therefore having been justified out of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  With an honest heart you can just tell the Lord: 

 

Lord Jesus, I need You. 
Thank You for dying for all my sins.  
Please forgive me, Lord.  
I ask that You would cleanse me from all of my sins. 
Lord Jesus, come into me!   

       For about 18 years my husband and I have been volunteers for Bibles for America, an organization that has already given out over a million free study Bibles. They went to Ground Zero, New Orleans, Virginia Tech, and Europe during the refugee crisis to encourage people’s hearts. You can receive a free study Bible by going to bfa.org; they will ship it to you free. They also have many free booklets available and videos that you can view on their website. BFA can also connect you with a volunteer in your area to read the Bible with you.

List of Posts on Handing out Bibles & Gospel Tracts

Why Do I Volunteer For Bibles for America?
The Best Things in Life are Free! - Bible for America Distribution at WWU
Adventures in Handing out Gospel Tracts - Part 1 of 1
Adventures in Handing out Gospel Tracts - Part 2 of 2
Volunteering for Bibles for America - Part 2 of 2
Volunteering for Bibles for America - Part 1 of 2
My 2013 Bibles For America Volunteer Experience - Handing Out Tracts

Looking at the Major Truths in the Minor Prophets - Why Did God Create the Universe?

Have you ever thought about the size of the universe?  If you have ever looked at a Nova presentation on the Hubble telescope, you know what I'm talking about.  It's huge, it's incredible, and to think that God created it all!! Scientists say that there are two billion to two trillion galaxies in the observable universe.

And when I asked Google how many stars are in the universe, the answer came back 100 billion!  It's really hard for me to wrap my head around numbers like that because in standard notation that number looks like this: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!!  Those are the kinds of numbers God works with, and He's the originator of all the scientific formulas that He put into motion to run this universe!

By now you may be wondering where am I going with all of this. That's my introduction to my last post in the Life-Studies of the Bible that I started in July 2011. Zechariah 12:1  says:  "The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus declares Jehovah, who stretches forth the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him," 

 If you look carefully at this verse, it's almost like a target with three circles--the outermost being God's creation of the heavens (Genesis 1:1), then zeroing a little closer, we see God created the earth (Genesis 1:1), and last of all in the center we see God's creation of the spirit of man by breathing His breath into man's soul (Genesis 2:7). (I learned that from a chapter in the Life-Study of Genesis!)

From this one verse in a book of the minor prophets we can see that the center of the entire universe is man's spirit!!  Now that's worth a ta-da!  Have you ever thought about that?  From this verse we can easily see that the focus isn't about what's out there--even though it's marvelous and breathtakingly beautiful. What God is centered on is what's going on in man's spirit!! This one phrase in the book of Zechariah should make us all think why did God form a spirit within me? 

In the New Testament Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers about how God created man with three parts:  And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23  We all learned in school that anything separated by an and is a separate entity. Sometimes philosophers goof up and mix man's soul with man's spirit, but the Bible tells us that they are two different things. 

When Jesus talked to Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, he talked to him about God's Spirit and man's spirit. According to the record in John 3, the Lord was pretty direct with Nicodemus.  He told him in verse 3:  "Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God,"  At first Nicodemus didn't realize that the Lord was not talking about a physical birth but a spiritual one.

 Then in verse 6 the Lord goes on to say:  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. In one of the footnotes in my Recovery Version of the Bible on John 3:6, it says:

"The first Spirit mentioned here is the divine Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, and the second spirit is the human spirit, the regenerated spirit of man. Regeneration is accomplished in the human spirit by the Spirit of God with God's life, the uncreated eternal life...."

Bibles for America has produced a very helpful article called Do You Know the Two Spirits--God's Spirit Mingled With Your Human Spirit? It talks about the different places in the New Testament where these two spirits are used.  You can also order your own free Bible with footnotes on that page. They've given away over a million all over the United States.

    Anyway, back to where I was going with all of this.  It's quite touching that when the Lord spoke with Nicodemus He was showing him his need to be born again or regenerated.  And later the Lord speaks to Nicodemus the beautiful verse in John 3:16 that has brought hope and salvation to millions:  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life."

     Throughout the centuries people have complicated God's salvation by making it a matter of doing something to receive forgiveness. But the Bible tells us we can't earn salvation--take a look at Ephesians 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

     So if it's a gift, but how do you receive it?  Once again the Bible tells us how simple it is and in Romans 10:9-10 are some classic verses that say: "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; For with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation." 

     Right now there's a lot of uncertainty on the earth today because of the impact of the coronavirus. Undoubtedly this is making a lot of people think more seriously about eternal things. If you haven't ever done so, please take this as your opportunity to open up your heart and ask the Lord Jesus to come into you.  By doing so, you will fulfill God's purpose for forming the spirit of man in Zechariah 12:1!! 

Other Posts on the Three Parts of Man & the Gospel:

Why Did God Create Man with Three Parts in Genesis 2:7?
How Does God Preserve Us Complete in 1 Thessalonians 5:23?