In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of knowing that God is in control of all things. He shares a story of a boat being lifted by a wave and brought back to shore without damage, highlighting God's protection. The speaker encourages the audience to bless others as God has blessed them. The second area of peace discussed is having a mindset focused on the Spirit, which brings life and peace. The speaker urges the audience to fill their minds with good things and not allow negative thoughts to consume them.

Let's read a verse, first of all, in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2. When Jesus was born, the angels appeared to the shepherds out in the fields. And there was a great multitude in heaven of the heavenly hosts, praising God. Luke 2, verse 13, saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased. I think that is the correct translation. That God wants men with whom He is pleased to have peace. So, I see that if I seek to live a life that pleases God, He blesses me with peace. And when I don't have peace, it indicates that there is something in my life which is not pleasing God. So, if I can keep that as a sort of a guideline through this year, that if there is some lack of peace in my heart, it means that God is not pleased in some area. And if I seek Him, He will show me what that area is. And if we live by that rule, we can have a wonderful life throughout this year. And this is something which people in the Old Testament could not experience. It is something which is possible only after the coming of the Holy Spirit. They just could not experience it. And so, if we live without this peace in our heart, it means we are living at the Old Testament level, just as if Jesus had not died, He had not risen up, the devil has not been defeated. That is what a person who is living without peace in his heart is saying. If I live one day without peace in my heart, I am saying, well, the devil has not been defeated actually, he is still in power. Jesus has not yet died on the cross, the Holy Spirit has not yet come. Because we read in Romans 14 and verse 17, that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, they never had the Kingdom of God. They had only a Kingdom of Earth. And as long as our Kingdom is of this Earth, we are not going to have peace. There may be righteousness. You read a lot about righteousness in the Old Testament. This very frequently occurs in the Old Testament. But righteousness with peace is never found. Righteousness with joy. Whenever people live righteous lives with grim, serious faces, that is Old Testament. New Testament righteousness is a righteousness with joy. We are always rejoicing in doing what is right, even if we suffer for it. And that is because New Testament righteousness always leads to peace in our heart. That is how I know I have done the right thing. In fact, one of the ways in which we know that we are doing the right thing, it brings peace in our heart. So the Kingdom of God is righteousness that leads to peace in our heart, that leads to joy in our life. And all of this is through the Holy Spirit. In the book of Romans, you read of righteousness in three directions. First of all, in Romans chapter 5 and verse 1. It says, because we are justified by faith, we have peace with God. That is in the vertical direction. And that is the first area where we must always have peace. In our relationship with God, there must be peace. Now that was also absolutely impossible in the Old Testament. And the reason why it was impossible in the Old Testament is because nobody's sin in the Old Testament was cleansed. They were forgiven. Like David says in Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgives all your iniquities. It was covered. Like David says in Psalm 32, Blessed is the man whose sin is covered, whose transgression is forgiven. Sins were forgiven, covered, but never cleansed. Cleansed is a New Testament word. There is a lot of difference between covered and cleansed. Covered is sweep it all under the carpet, so that nobody can see it. But you are always scared that somebody will lift the carpet, and your sins will be seen. The blood of bulls and goats, the Bible says, could only cover sin. And there was a constant, in the book of Hebrews it says, there was a constant remembrance of sin throughout their life. It's one of the characteristics of Old Testament Christianity. See Hebrews, book of Hebrews we read, Hebrews in chapter 9, we read here about the blood of bulls and goats, the contrast between that, and in the Old Testament in Hebrews chapter 9, in verse 12 it speaks about, Jesus did not enter into heaven through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood he obtained for us an eternal redemption. Because if the blood of goats and bulls, and ashes of a hipper, can sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience? So you see, this cleansing of the conscience, was just not possible under the Old Testament. So today when, there are some songs, which people sing, I'm under the blood. You know they talk about the blood on the door posts of, the houses in Egypt when Israelites left. There are certain expressions that Christians use, which are never found in the Bible. One of those is, under the blood. But we can sing it so often, that it becomes part of our terminology, because we don't know the Bible. You know because most Christians, I'd say 90% of believers don't know the Bible, and therefore they accept certain things, imagining it must be in the Bible somewhere. I just want to tell you, under the blood is nowhere in the New Testament. It's in the Old Testament, sure. I thank God I'm not under the blood of Jesus. I've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. I'm not under anything. I'm under grace. I'm cleansed. You need to be sure of this, otherwise you won't have peace with God. You know people have got all types of foolish prayers, which are not found in the Bible. I've heard even God fearing people who say, Lord sprinkle your blood over this compound. What absolute insult to ask God, to sprinkle the blood of Jesus on cement. He didn't, on grounds. He didn't shed his blood for grounds and cement. He shed his blood to cleanse us from sin. This is all Hinduism. You know sprinkling holy water and blood of Jesus. These are not the things that the blood was meant to do. We must be very careful to read the scriptures and see what did Jesus shed his blood for. He didn't shed his blood to sprinkle on any compound. That is Old Testament. The blood of bulls and goats was sprinkled on the tabernacle and in the temple. But today, Jesus' blood is shed to cleanse our hearts. You see there's nothing under the carpet. It's been cleansed. It's gone. The Bible says, Your sins and iniquities I will remember no more. That's the word in Hebrews 8 and verse 12. And it's very important to know that, that if we have really confessed our sin to the Lord, if we have told the Lord about our sin, 1 John 1.9 says, if we have confessed our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us. There's no remembrance of it. There had to be a remembrance of it in the Old Testament because it was not taken away. It was taken away only when Jesus died. And they were looking forward to that wonderful day that would come when Jesus would die on the cross and take the punishment. Actually, it seems like a man who's got a debt. Supposing I got a huge debt, like the Bible speaks about this man who had a debt of, say, crores of rupees to the king. Huge debt. And he couldn't pay it and the king forgave him. There's a picture of the debt we owe to God. Imagine if you have a debt of 10 crores or 40 crores of rupees, 40 million rupees to God. And somebody says, OK, I'll clear your debt. I give you my word. And he's a trustworthy person. I'll clear your debt next week. Till next week. You're in suspense. Right? You're sure that he'll do it. But he hasn't yet done it. That's how Old Testament people were. God said, I'm going to deal with it. But he hadn't yet dealt with it till Jesus died. But once that debt is cleared next week, and you get the certificate, it's quite different. And that's how it is in the New Testament. So we shouldn't live like people in the Old Testament who think, yeah, it's going to be cleared. No, it's already been cleared. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to not only forgive us, but to cleanse us completely so that there is no memory. It's very, very important to remember this. That God, when He says, the sin you confess, which is the sin that God will not forgive you? God will not forgive you the sin you don't confess. That's all. If there is a sin you don't confess, that won't be forgiven. But if there is a sin that you confess, will be forgiven. The sin that you try to justify yourself with by saying, well, it wasn't really my fault, like Adam said, it was 50% my wife's fault because she gave me the fruit from the tree. Such sins will never be forgiven. I want to tell you that. I don't believe Adam's sin would be forgiven because he put the blame 50% on his wife. And every sin where you put the blame 50% or even 5% or 1% on somebody else, I want to tell you, it'll never be forgiven. Because God forgives only those who say, that was my fault. That's my sin, Lord, forgive me. And who don't bother about what somebody else did. It's very, very important to remember this in this New Year. I believe many of you, your sins are not forgiven because you're still blaming somebody else. You're following Adam. Do you know the fundamental difference between Adam and Jesus Christ? Let me point out this to you. The first thing you read about Adam after he sinned was he told God, it's not just me, it's my wife. And it's not just my wife, it's you, who gave me this wife. So, maybe he didn't even take 50%, it was only 33%. 33% of the fault was God's, 33% of the fault was his wife's, 33% was mine, of course. God said, get out of Eden. And that's exactly what he's going to say to people who try to do that. How difficult is it to acknowledge that we're blamed. Now that's Adam. And every person, I don't care whether he calls himself an atheist or a Christian. In some situation, who points the finger at somebody else, and says, but you, you know how husbands point the finger at their wives, and wives point the finger at their husbands, you did this, brother, I can give it in writing, that sin will not be forgiven. It will not be forgiven. Supposing, let's say, 90% of the fault is the wife's, and 10% is the husband's. Okay? Some particular event. And the husband points the finger at the wife, and says, that's your fault. Now, who's committed 90% of the sin? The wife. Husband only 10%. So he can say, well, according to human standards, he's right, in saying, that's your fault. And the wife, maybe a godly sister, she says, Lord, it's my fault. You know what's going to happen in that home? That wife who did 90% of that sin, will be forgiven completely. And the husband who did only 10%, will not be forgiven. He'll go to hell. And he deserves to go to hell. Because he's following Adam. What did Jesus do on the cross? What's the difference between Adam and Christ? Adam could not take the blame for his own sin. Why should he blame God for his wife? I mean, if he didn't want her, he could have told her. Told God, I don't want her. Make another one for me. But he didn't say that. He said, this is it. This is the one I want. And then after that, he blames God. So I say, all of you who got married, don't blame God today. You chose her. You said, yes, I want her. On your wedding day. And some of you have been complaining frequently since that day. Finish with it. And secondly, I mean, even if his wife gave him the fruit. The wife didn't pull his mouth open and say, come on, eat it. He opened it himself. Why not accept the blame? There's no need to blame God or your wife. It's you. You opened your mouth. But the difference with Jesus Christ is, Adam could not take the blame for his own sin. But Jesus, when he died on the cross, he took the blame 100%. Even though he was to blame 0%. He took the blame for other people's sins. That is Christianity. Where you don't blame other people. And such people live a very happy life. They say, Lord, I've sinned. What about the other person's part? I don't know. That's none of my business. I know my part. See, it's like, you know the difference between a bathroom mirror and a driving mirror? What's the difference? In a bathroom mirror, you see your own face. In a driving mirror, you see somebody else. So, what is the... The Bible is a mirror, it says in James 1. What type of mirror do you think it is? For most Christians, it's a driving mirror. Ah, I can see somebody else has not obeyed this verse. The Bible says, Wives, submit to your husbands. My wife is not submitting to me. Do you know the number of husbands who quote that verse? When the Bible says, Wives, submit to your husbands, for whom is that verse written? You don't know? Shall I ask one of these six-year-olds? When it says, Wives, submit to your husbands, for whom is that verse written? Who? Wives. So, what should a husband do when he comes to that verse? What do you do if you get... A postman gives you a letter which is meant for somebody else. I hope you won't open it. Hey, this is not for me. So, when you read something like that, you say, that's not for me. It's not... I'm not even supposed to know it. She's supposed to know it. And when a husband says, Don't you know what it says here, Wives, submit to the husbands? He's reading somebody else's letter. It's none of your business. There's another letter sent to you, husbands. Love your wives, as Christ loved the church. And vice versa. Now, all of you wives are happy. I'll tell you what you should do. You read a verse which says, Husbands, love your wives. That's not for you. Don't ever tell your husband to love you as Christ loved the church. That letter is not for you. You know, we can be saved from a lot of misery if we just learn to mind our own business. Just mind your own business. That's the way. So, we see here, if we confess, He cleanses us completely. 100%. And that brings peace. And as soon as you're aware that you've done something wrong, immediately confess it. What did we read in Romans 5.1? Being justified with God. We have justified by faith. We have peace with God. And justified means God says, You're righteous. Even though you've committed so many sins in the past. So many wrong things. God says, I don't remember all that. I choose not to remember it. You're righteous. The wonderful thing of finding this peace with God in this area is that we begin to treat other people also like that. If you're not, if you're still remembering the things that other people did against you, I think God will be absolutely righteous in remembering all the things that you did 30 years ago. Or 25 years ago. Every single thing that you did in your past life, God will be absolutely righteous in remembering it. You may have done it 50 years ago. God says, No, it's alright. I remember it very well. Because you choose to remember something, that some evil that somebody did against you 5 years ago. Or last year. I mean, don't you think it's righteous for God to treat us exactly like we treat other people. Supposing you have a servant working in your home and you're really hard on that person. And we are God's servants. And God says, Well, you're my servant. I'll treat you like you treat your servant. Is there anything unrighteous in that? It's absolutely righteous. If you never give your servant a bonus that she never expected. But you only give her what is lawful. Don't you think it's absolutely righteous for God never to give you a bonus in your life of blessing but only what you deserve. God is righteous. I have learnt the secret of how to make God give me more than I deserve. I want to give other people more than they deserve. It's very simple. Do you want to get more than exact? Do you want to get a bonus from God? Treat other people like that. Treat the people lower than you in society like that. Treat your husband and wife like that. Be good to other people. Be good to other people in the church. You go around speaking about other people in the church. God will be absolutely righteous if he one day exposes all your evils in one way or the other. And he can do it and puts you into some difficult, awkward situation. You who thought you were so smart that you'd never get caught. God will begin to expose stupid things that you do and humiliate you. And when that happens, when that happens, don't get upset with the circumstances that exposed your worldliness or your carnality or your love of money. It was God doing it because you were doing the same thing about other people. You know what you should do at that time? Instead of getting upset with somebody who told a true story about you, don't get upset with that person. Go before God and say, Lord, I deserve that. I have spoken about other people. I deserve that all these things in my past should come out. I want to tell you a way to escape it this year. Say, Lord, whatever bad thing I hear about anybody else, I'm going to justify them, just like you justified me. I'm not going to speak about it. It's going to die with me. Do you know there are lots and lots of things I know, not just heard, that I know about many people in our churches. Not even my wife knows about those things. She will never know it. It lives and dies with me. Because that's how God has treated me. And I'm a very happy man. And I want to encourage you to be like that. Don't... Not only don't talk about what you know about other people, which is not good, don't even think about it. Think something positive. Why is it so many people don't know God's word? Because they don't think about the good things. They're thinking about all the bad things that other people did and all that. And I don't have space for that in my mind. You know, your mind is a very small area. And you stuff it with all these garbage bags. Where would there be place for God to put something good there? God's got all this lovely furniture for your room, but your room is full with garbage bags of all the stinking rubbish that you've accumulated. Each garbage is named with maybe some brother or some sister in the church. This is this person's garbage and that person's garbage. And God says, get rid of all this. And then I'll put something good in your room. I got rid of it all. I've got some good furniture there. I've got amazing revelations on God's word, which I could never have got. I'll tell you honestly, I would never have understood these amazing things in God's word, if I had my room filled with garbage bags with different people's names. Throw it away. Burn it up. Peace with God. Because I have confessed my sin. I don't blame anybody else. I don't want to remember anybody else's sin. Because God doesn't remember mine. Great. That's the best way to live. Okay. And whenever you do sin, immediately confess it to God and say, Lord, I slipped up there. I want to tell you something. Don't be ashamed to admit that you slipped up. When you make a mistake, even when you confess to somebody, I'm sorry, that was my mistake. That's not a humiliating thing. That's just saying, I'm not God. Isn't it? God is the only one in the universe who doesn't make a mistake. The Bible says in the book of Job, even his angels he charges with mistakes. What about us? So there's nothing wrong. When you say, when you go to somebody and say, I'm sorry, I made a mistake there. You're just saying, I'm sorry, I'm not God. Is that a very humiliating thing, to say, I'm not God? But it's a great revelation that some people need to have, that they are not God. They do make mistakes. And I want to tell you, in 2005, I'm going to prophesy, your wife will make mistakes. Your husband will make mistakes. Your children will make mistakes. Do I have to be a prophet to say that? No. I know human nature. Be prepared for it. People say, if we had known this tsunami was coming, we would have been prepared. Okay, I'm going to prophesy. You're going to have tsunamis in your home, from your wife and your husband. Be prepared. Don't say you were not warned. You were warned on the 2nd of January this year, the tsunami is coming. But be prepared. You don't have to die. You can be an overcomer. Because you can forgive. When you say, Lord, I forgive. I will not look at my wife or husband as having done that. That tsunami wave will just go back like that without destroying you. What a wonderful way to make that wave go back. But you remember it, remember it. You got a choice this year. I know what I've chosen. I chose it many years ago. No tsunami wave is going to drown me. Because God's forgiven me so much, I've learned to forgive others. Be quick. Be quick to go to God. Be quick to ask forgiveness from others whom you have hurt. Don't wait. Don't let these waves engulf you and you lose everything and then you wake up. No. Don't let it engulf you. You don't have to lose anything. You can say to that wave, thus far and no further. Like, you know, we have one of our churches on the Kerala coast where there was a real risk of the tsunami coming. In fact, some people died along that coast. But God's protected our fishermen brothers who were on that coast. In fact, one of the waves came and lifted one of the boats that belonged to our brother way up. You know, these funny 30 foot high waves and it went over there and as the wave came back it brought the boat right back to the shore and he got it without being damaged. Amazing what God does. Simple people. And there was a sister there who, there was this danger of this wave and her husband was here at the conference and she was seeking God for protection and she got that verse from Isaiah 43 verse 2. Don't worry, I'll be with you. The waters will not overflow you. What a verse. I will be with you and the waters will not overflow you. And it never overflowed their house. God is a good God. Learn to bless others the way God has blessed you. The second area of peace is in Romans chapter 8 and verse 6. The last part. The mind set on the spirit is life and peace. See, the first direction in which we need to have peace is upward direction with God. The second direction in which we need to have peace is inward. In my heart I always need to be at peace. That means nothing that happens in the world is going to bring anxiety and fear in my heart because my mind is set on the spirit. I believe that like I said just now, God is a good God. He cares for His children. I mean, where is the question of accident if even the hair on our head is numbered. That's amazing. I don't know what it means. The hair on my head is numbered. Whether that means that God knows when I was born I had 500,000 hairs on my head. Now I have about 1000 perhaps. I don't know. Whether it means that or whether it means that God actually knows. This is hair number 837 and that is hair number 745. I prefer to think of it like that. It's even better. God knows that hair number 745 fell off this morning when my son got up from bed. It fell on the pillow and it fell off at 2.01 a.m. I believe that. That God's care for me is so intense that the hairs on my head are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and He's kept a track of them. Jesus said that. I mean, you don't have to believe it. You don't believe it, you have unrest in your heart. I believe it and I have rest in my heart. Because I believe exactly what Jesus said. The hairs on my head are all numbered. That not even a hair on my head can be touched by anybody in this world without God's permission. Why did Jesus take hair on our head? Because that's the most insignificant part of our body which we are not even bothered when we lose it. You comb your hair, particularly ladies, and you see hair on the comb. You get all worried. No need to. It's all numbered. Do you see hair on your pillow when you get up? You get worried. One hair, it's numbered. Jesus, you know, this is the most insignificant thing. I mean, even if you lose one rupee, you'll be more bothered than if you lose one hair. You just, ah, okay. And Jesus took that most insignificant thing in our life and said even that, God knows about. God's care comes down to the smallest little detail. And when my mind is set on what the Holy Spirit has revealed in His word, there's peace. You know, a lot of people think that some place is safer than the other. Which is the safest place in all the world? The safest place in all the world? It's not Bangalore. It's not the United States. It's not any country. It's the center of God's will for your life. If God calls me to serve Him in Iraq, clear call, to go and work right now in Mosul or Fallujah or some place like that to preach the gospel, that will be for me the safest place in all the world. I wouldn't go there if God didn't call me. But if God called me, I'd go anywhere because I know that's the safest place for me in every possible way. And I want to say to you, don't think one place is safer than another. If you give your life totally to Jesus and say, Lord, I want to live for You. I don't want to waste my earthly days. I've got only one life. I want to live that life totally for You. In any part of the world, to live for God, to bring people to Christ, to build a church, to glorify Your name and God leads you, that will be the safest place in all the world for you. Because that will be the secret place of the Most High. The place where God has sent you is the secret place of the Most High, where you will dwell under the shadow of the Almighty God. Like it says in Psalm 91. And when my mind is set on the Spirit, there is life and peace in me. And that's what the second area, where we always need to have peace in our heart, always peace. Whenever, like it says in Colossians 3.15, the verse that I've often quoted and love to quote everywhere, Colossians 3.15, let the peace of Christ be the referee in your heart always let the peace of Christ be the referee, that's what it says in the margin. Referee in your heart. And like you've heard me say before, when a referee blows a whistle in a football match, it means a foul has been committed. You're kicking the ball and going around, suddenly you hear a whistle. Anybody who's playing football knows you've got to stop the game. You've got to stop the game because a foul has been committed. And it's no use kicking the ball after that and going and scoring the goal and say, hey, I scored a goal. Won't be counted. Some stupid fellow, can everybody stop playing because they heard the whistle and this fellow keeps on kicking the ball into the goal ten times and says, hey, I scored ten and the referee says, you stupid fellow, just bring the ball here. You don't know the rules of the game. You're committed. A foul, nothing you do is counted after the foul is committed. So whenever you lose peace in your heart, it means a foul has been committed in your life. Just set that foul right before you do anything else in your life. And you've got to bring the ball back to the exact spot where the foul was committed. Don't try to get away from that. This is the spot where I committed a foul. That's the meaning of the blowing of the whistle. Let the peace of Christ be the referee in your heart. I have followed that rule for many years and it has brought peace in my heart. I've often said to you, dear brothers and sisters, don't ever open your mouth when you're agitated in your heart. You know, that can happen sometimes. Something goes wrong at home or somebody's upset at home and it's agitated your heart. That's the time you should bless your home by keeping your mouth shut. Not only at home. I sometimes come to a meeting here and I'm agitated in my spirit over something. Maybe something that happened during the day or something that happened with some brother, not doing something he was supposed to do or disturbed with some bad news I heard and I know I have to speak in the meeting. And I say, Lord, I will not speak till this comes to rest. Let's sing another song. Let's pray for some more time. I'm not ready to speak till my heart is at rest. Particularly if you're agitated with some person. If you're upset with anybody in your home, bless your home by keeping your mouth shut. Follow that rule this year. That you'll open your mouth only after the sea has become calm. There are two types of seas mentioned in the Bible. Let me show you one in Isaiah chapter 57 verse 20. The wicked are like the tossing sea, cannot be quiet. Its waters toss up refuse and mud. Yes, the wicked are like this troubled sea, always tossing up rubbish, mud from the bottom. That's one type of sea. And that's the picture of our heart. When you're so agitated, it says here that this sea, when it's agitated, it brings up all the mud that's been lying in the bottom for hundreds of years. All the mud, not only the mud, all the old tires and tins and cans and all that people threw into that sea, they all get tossed up when there's a turmoil, waves. And that's how some people are. When they get agitated, all the things that happened 20 years ago, 5 years ago, 1 year ago, 30 years ago, all the rotten tin cans and old tires and all, they all get thrown up to the service in the conversation. They all come out of the mouth. Have you seen that type of thing? You haven't? There's another type of sea. And that's in Revelation chapter 15. And that's the sea we should be standing on. It says here about those who are overcomers, in Revelation 15 verse 2, a sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had come off victorious from the beast, standing on the sea of glass. There is an expression in English called the sea was like glass. You've probably heard it. It means the sea was absolutely calm. You know how flat glass is? Transparent. And when you say the sea is like glass, it means absolutely flat, not a ripple or a wave on it. Those who are overcomers have got a heart like that. They stand on a sea of glass because they are overcomers. They don't have a spirit of accusation against anybody else. They don't have a spirit of anxiety concerning all the things happening in the world. They are at rest in their heart. Jesus said in Luke's gospel, Luke's gospel chapter 21 verse 25, speaking about the last days, there will be signs in the middle of verse 25, on earth dismay among nations. The nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas. Verse 25 in the Living Bible it says, the nations of the earth will be in turmoil because they will be perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. We saw something of that last week. Strange tides. Jesus said it's going to happen. Tides that they have never seen before. And it's going to happen to the nations of the earth. And then the courage of many people will falter because of fear. Because they say, what is going to happen to the earth? For the stability of the very heavens will be broken up. Leave alone the stability of the earth. And then, and then the people of the earth will see me, the son of man coming in a cloud. So when these things, verse 28, begin to happen, and they are already beginning to happen, stand up straight and look up, for your salvation is near. And we are to be at peace in our heart, because like it says in 1 Timothy and chapter 6 in that, in one paraphrase, it says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 15 God is the blessed controller of all things. I want to tell you my brothers and sisters, you really need to know God is the blessed controller of all things in the coming days. Because worse things are going to happen. As J.B. Phillips paraphrased of that verse, God is the blessed, here it says the blessed and only sovereign, the blessed controller of all things. Let's ask God to show us that He is the blessed controller of all things. That's why our hearts are at peace. That's why my heart's been at peace for many, many years. No matter what, so many things happen, so many things happen around me. So many events, people doing this, people doing that. I sleep peacefully at night because God is the blessed controller of all things and He is my Father. You must know that. You must know that. He cares for the hairs on your head, He cares for the birds, He feeds them, cares for them. So many things that Jesus said. You are not to be afraid. The mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Romans 8.6. There's a verse like that in the Old Testament, if you're not familiar with it. Let me turn to it in Isaiah chapter 26 verse 3. He will keep in perfect peace all those whose minds are set on Him, those who trust in Him, whose minds are, means their thoughts, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord. That's the Living Bible. He'll keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him and whose thoughts turn often to the Lord. Do your thoughts turn often to the Lord? We can't actually think about the Lord 24 hours because we've got our work to do. So many things we have to do on earth and the Lord understands that. But in the middle of all that, do your thoughts turn to Him? You know, it's like if a girl is very much in love with some boy, even when she's doing her work, her thoughts turn to him now and then. He's not there. But she thinks about him while she's doing something else. When she's doing something else, she thinks about him. And that's how we must walk with Jesus. We are the bride of Christ. And I've often said to the Lord in my own life, I said, Lord, I want to love you more than any girl ever fell in love with a boy and loved him. In the whole world, I want to love you more than that. I don't want any human love that a girl had for a boy to put me to shame. I want to love you more than that, more than anyone. I said that to the Lord 45 years ago. And I still say that to Him today. My whole walk with Jesus has been a love relationship with Him. And that's why it's made my life so happy and blessed. And I want to encourage you to have a love relationship with Jesus Christ like a bride, like a girl waiting for the man she's engaged to, waiting for Him to come. That's how we're to wait, admiring Him. This is the fairest among 10,000. It's altogether lovely. Do you see Jesus like that? And that's how it must be. And all the things of earth will grow strangely dim. And your relationship with Jesus like that, it makes your married life better. It makes everything in your life far better. And then, when your thoughts often turn to the Lord, it says, God keeps us in perfect peace. That's what the Bible says also in Philippians chapter 4. Philippians in chapter 4, it says in verse 6, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything this is a command. You see, there's something we're supposed to do. Everything means everything that happens in our life. Supposing something that causes anxiety or turmoil comes into our life this year, here's what we should do. By prayer and supplication. Supplication means a specific request. You know, when you say, bless me, that's a general request. When you say, Lord, I want this particular problem here solved, that's a specific request, a supplication. With thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. Now, if I don't add that thanksgiving at the end, it's saying that I don't have faith. It's like writing a long letter and then you don't mail it. She was writing this long letter. You don't put it in the letterbox. You write a long email and you don't click send. Doesn't go. It's there. So, when you write this long email to God, send it. And we send it by faith. And how do we know we have faith? That we say, Lord, I thank you, you heard me. That's thanksgiving. Lord, I've got this list of problems. It's a pretty long email. Number of things, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this. I've been very specific. Then what should I do? I should send it. I should say, Thank you, Lord, you got it. Then I know it's gone. Then it's not in my outbox anymore. It's in the sent box. It's already gone. See, a lot of people are wondering why God hasn't answered their prayer. You haven't sent it yet. Your outbox is full of all these requests which have never been sent. Now just go and click on send when you go back home and send it all and you'll be surprised at the answers that come. And that means by faith. I say, Lord, I believe you heard this prayer. I thank you. When you thank God, you know you've got faith. And when you do that, here is a promise which your request be made known to God. Verse 7, The peace of God which passes all comprehension shall guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. This is like a military garrison. It's like these black cat commandos surrounding some VIP. The peace of God will surround you, guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. We need to have peace in our heart and our mind and it says only God can do it. The peace of God surrounds you like a fort and they can't get through. All the anxieties and anxious thoughts of the devil can't get through because God's peace surrounds your mind and surrounds your heart. And that's great. You know that's even great for health. I believe you can be healthier if you learn to live at peace like this. You don't get ulcers in your stomach when you have peace in your heart and your mind. You can be healthier, you take less medicines you don't need so many medicines and injections and all that. And you can live a long healthy life if you learn to take your regrets send them to God with thanksgiving say Lord I believe you heard me there because I prayed in accordance with your will and I know you love me. I know to think that throughout this year God is silently planning for me in love. What's going to happen to me tomorrow, next month, end of this year, I don't know. But I know one thing, whatever it is, God is silently planned for me in love already and that's all that's going to happen to me. You believe that and it'll be like that. According to your faith, it'll be to you. According to my faith, it'll be to me. So let's put our faith in God's word and say that He is really interested in that. Always to be at peace. One of the things has blessed me very much and sometimes I tell this to other people please remember there are only two circles one very small circle is the circle in which I'm supposed to do something or I can do something. All the rest of the things in the world are a big huge circle. What other people do to me, what they say about me, circumstances over which I have no control. Many many many things. It's all God's circle. And I should not be a busy body in God's affairs. Let me mind my own business. What are the things in my circle? I can make my request known to God. I can pray. I can love my enemies. That's all in my circle. I can bless those who curse me. I can do good to people, even do good to those who harm me. All that's in my circle. If I concentrate on that and I can read the word, there are millions of things that happen in the world that can affect me. And I thank God that's not in my circle. And I'm not going to be worried or anxious about all these things that God is supposed to take care of. You know many of us, all our anxieties and worries are coming because we are wondering about that thing and that thing and all of that in God's circle. I mean it's absolutely crazy. That's his business. He'll take care of it. You worry about yourself. The things that you can do. It's a very very small circle. There may be situations in your home where you can do nothing about it. But then it's not in your circle. Anything that you can do nothing about is not in your circle. That's God's circle. Isn't that a great liberation? Many of us are carrying burdens for things which we can do nothing about. I mean if you can do nothing about, just leave it in God's circle and say, Lord that's none of my business. That's your business. Then we have peace in our hearts. And the third area where we must have peace, as I said, we must have peace upward towards God, inward towards ourselves. And thirdly, Romans 12, towards other people. And that's Romans chapter 12. The first verse we saw was Romans 5.1, the second was Romans 8.6 and the third is Romans chapter 12 and verse as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men, verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you. Now do you know, I don't know whether you know this, this is the only command in the Bible, it is a command, live peaceably with all men. But it's the only command in the Bible which says, if possible, do it. It doesn't say, if possible, don't commit murder. Or if possible, don't commit adultery. Or if possible, don't get angry. Those are all absolute. Give up all anger, not if possible. If possible, don't tell lies, no. Don't tell lies, that you are yes for yes. But when it comes to this one command, live at peace with all men, why does it say, if possible? You know that. All of you bright, brilliant folks, you know the answer. Because peace with all men depends on the other person also. My getting angry does not depend on the other person, it depends only on me. Whether I lust or not depends on nobody else. I mean, people can tempt me, they can't make me lust, that's my choice. People can irritate me, but they can't make me angry, that's my choice. But peace with people depends on two people. I want to live at peace with that person, but he doesn't want to live at peace with me, what can I do? Could be a difficult neighbor. The Bible doesn't say if you are a wholehearted Christian, you'll have a very happy marriage. No. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that. Because happy marriage depends on two people. And if one person is a wholehearted Christian and the other is not, they won't have a happy marriage, but he'll have a peaceful life, one person. That's true. But peace with all men depends on the other person. And so it says here, as far as your side is concerned, seek for peace. And in one of the other episodes, the word in the Greek is translated as hunt for peace. Hunt for it. Go looking for it. Like you misplaced something valuable in your house and you are hunting for it all over, putting the shining torch under the bed and where did that fall down? Where did I misplace it? Find it, find it. Hunt for it. Hunt for peace and find it. I can only do it from my side. I cannot do it from the other side. You can long with all your heart to be at peace with a brother, but that person is not interested because he is always remembering what you did sometime in the past or something. Well, you can't be at peace. That person is always going to bring up that issue. Or you want to be at peace with a sister, but always the past is brought up. So be careful. From your side you must seek to be at peace with all men. This is the way. What do the angels say? Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth towards all men with whom God is pleased. I want to have that peace all the days of my life. Towards God inwardly in a world of turmoil and towards all people as much as it lies in me. These are all feasible. These are all practical, possible commandments. These are not impossible. And if you take this seriously, if you say, Lord thank God it's only this small circle, as much as it lies within me. That's what I mean by this small circle. That's all I have to care of. And this huge circle what other people think and say and do, it's not my circle. That's all God's business. Thank God I don't have to worry about all that. This whole year I'm only going to concentrate on this little circle, the things that I can do. I'm going to make sure there's peace in my heart. Towards God inwardly as I see circumstances in the world and towards all human beings. I'm going to bury the past like God has buried my past. Smile before God. Say, Lord will you help me? Will you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that this peace can rule in my heart. Be a referee in my heart. Right from this day till the end of the year and for all the years to come till Jesus comes again. I want to move forward. I want to be a man of peace in whom Jesus, a woman of peace, a home of peace where Jesus can come and live. Lord answer my prayer. I want this. I really want this and I'm willing to pay any price. Heavenly Father apply these truths to our lives we pray. Be glorified. Commit ourselves to you in Jesus name.