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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To subscribe to this blog, click here.  To subscribe to this podcast, click here. If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post. ______________________________________ t  Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post on podcast. https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_05_31_21_Are_You_an_Anxious_Mess.mp3 ______________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, May 31, 2021, and this is Episode #17 of Series 2021. This episode is titled “Are You an Anxious Mess?" _______________________________   I talk to a lot of people, and the common denominator among them today seems to be anxiety. Never before have I seen the average person so anxious about so many things. The events of the past year have certainly not helped the situation.  But did you know that there is a better way to live? Yes, a better way. And I want to share that better way with you today. It is called the way of peace. Now, I'm not talking about the kind of peace one gets from putting one's external environment in order. Like what I did recently by organizing my kitchen. I'm talking about the peace on the inside that remains quiet and calm no matter what is going on around us. As my daughter Gina wrote in her outstanding book titled 40 Days of the Names, Titles & Attributes of God: "We often think of peace as the absence of external conflict. But true peace is the absence of internal conflict." Few people today are experiencing that absence of internal conflict. Why not? Because it comes only from Jesus Christ, and, sadly, few people are interested in Him these days. Jesus Himself said this just before He left the earth and returned to Heaven: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14: 27 NIV). What is this peace that Jesus has given us? And who qualifies for it? The answer to both of these questions lies in the Holy Bible, as do the answers to every question in life.  In the Sacred Scriptures, Jesus is identified as the Prince of Peace. In Isaiah 9: 6 KJV, a verse we quote at Christmas time and with which most of us are familiar, we read these precious words: "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." So, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. This means that He alone is the One Who makes peace between God the Father and man. Only Jesus could pay the price for our sin. And He did. For this reason, we have much for which to be thankful. When we accept the gift of salvation that Jesus died and rose from the dead to give us, we become born again. In other words, we enter the family of God. As members of the family of God, we are inheritors of the blessings of God. Among these blessings is the blessing of peace. But peace is not only the absence of internal conflict. It is also the presence of wholeness. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It means "nothing missing, nothing broken; no lack." Shalom comes from the root word shalam, which means to make whole or complete. The peace of Christ makes us whole and complete in our spirit, our soul, and our body. In other words, we become whole in spirit, soul, and body through the peace of God.