The Peace of God
Jesus said: Let not your heart be troubled. Be not afraid. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, give I unto you.
Did you notice that He said, “My peace”? His peace is different than the human peace you inherited from the world. His peace is not dependent upon circumstances or situations. His peace comes directly from Him and settles the issue before it ever comes up. So, it is settled that before you ever encounter a challenge or a hardship, that God’s peace will govern you and take you through to the other side.
Peace from Jesus is stability that makes you firm and causes you to stand tall in the face of the storm and speak to the storm: Peace, be still. Jesus did that very thing when His disciples were fearful and thought they were going to die in the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Remember, these men were fishermen on that sea, so this storm must have been especially ferocious. But you must realize that they were on their way to the other side to deliver a man. And Jesus had specifically spoken to them that they were going to the other side. He still speaks: We are going to the other side. But when the storm of circumstances comes up, we must speak to that storm and command it to be still so that we can go over to the other side to accomplish our assignment of what the Lord has commanded for us. You see, He has made a command and we must make a command to accomplish His command.
Remember in the Old Testament we are told to speak to our soul—Be still, my soul. What is our soul? It is our mind, will and emotions.
So, in other words, we are to speak to our mind. Mind, you are renewed with the Word of God and you are still. You are quietly sure of what to do.
We are to speak to our emotions. Emotions, you are not in charge here. You will not tell me what to do. You will not fear or get upset and be doubtful. Fruit of the spirit, you are in charge over my emotions. The first three fruit mentioned in the book of Galatians are love, joy, peace. Isn’t that interesting that three of the most powerful emotions parallel three of the most powerful fruit! And there is peace in the list. There is a sense of wholeness, of stability, of firmness, of assurance with peace. Peace accompanies faith because faith is assurance, confidence in God and His taking care of the situation for us.
We are to speak to our will and tell it that it conforms to God’s will. And what is God’s will and how do we find it for our present circumstances? His will is His Word and, of course, we find His will for our present set of circumstances by searching His Word for instructions. There will always be instructions for you in His Word. And we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and tell us what to do. What an unbeatable combination—the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Together they are the power twins of victory. How sweet it is to walk in the spirit and to have the confidence that comes from the Word of God.
But let me tell you something. This is not an automatic thing that the Spirit of God and the Word of God are just somehow going to transmit to you by an action of “whoosh” and they are there. Yes, they are there all the time for us, but we ourselves must learn what is in the Word of God and Who the Holy Spirit is. This is a daily action on our part so that when the storm comes, we are ready. We don’t have to scramble to figure out how to get through this mess that has descended upon us.
Every day, we are to fellowship with the Lord by His Holy Spirit and spend time “eating” His Word and learning the ways of His Kingdom here on earth. His Kingdom has principles just like the earthly laws. If we don’t know those principles, how can we operate in them. For example, if you don’t know the speed limit for the road on which you are traveling, how can you obey that law? The same is true of God’s Word: if you don’t know the law, the principle, how can you enjoy the benefits of it and walk in it. And if you don’t know the Holy Spirit and what He wants to do for you, how can you have the assurance of putting Him in charge when trouble comes.
After this teaching, we end with the scripture we started with (and now it should mean something to you). Let not your hearts be troubled. My peace I leave with you. An action on your part (let not) produces an action on God’s part (My peace). The peace of God is there for all of us. All we have to do is to receive it. Start today learning how to do that, from His Word and from His Spirit.
Did you notice that He said, “My peace”? His peace is different than the human peace you inherited from the world. His peace is not dependent upon circumstances or situations. His peace comes directly from Him and settles the issue before it ever comes up. So, it is settled that before you ever encounter a challenge or a hardship, that God’s peace will govern you and take you through to the other side.
Peace from Jesus is stability that makes you firm and causes you to stand tall in the face of the storm and speak to the storm: Peace, be still. Jesus did that very thing when His disciples were fearful and thought they were going to die in the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Remember, these men were fishermen on that sea, so this storm must have been especially ferocious. But you must realize that they were on their way to the other side to deliver a man. And Jesus had specifically spoken to them that they were going to the other side. He still speaks: We are going to the other side. But when the storm of circumstances comes up, we must speak to that storm and command it to be still so that we can go over to the other side to accomplish our assignment of what the Lord has commanded for us. You see, He has made a command and we must make a command to accomplish His command.
Remember in the Old Testament we are told to speak to our soul—Be still, my soul. What is our soul? It is our mind, will and emotions.
So, in other words, we are to speak to our mind. Mind, you are renewed with the Word of God and you are still. You are quietly sure of what to do.
We are to speak to our emotions. Emotions, you are not in charge here. You will not tell me what to do. You will not fear or get upset and be doubtful. Fruit of the spirit, you are in charge over my emotions. The first three fruit mentioned in the book of Galatians are love, joy, peace. Isn’t that interesting that three of the most powerful emotions parallel three of the most powerful fruit! And there is peace in the list. There is a sense of wholeness, of stability, of firmness, of assurance with peace. Peace accompanies faith because faith is assurance, confidence in God and His taking care of the situation for us.
We are to speak to our will and tell it that it conforms to God’s will. And what is God’s will and how do we find it for our present circumstances? His will is His Word and, of course, we find His will for our present set of circumstances by searching His Word for instructions. There will always be instructions for you in His Word. And we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and tell us what to do. What an unbeatable combination—the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Together they are the power twins of victory. How sweet it is to walk in the spirit and to have the confidence that comes from the Word of God.
But let me tell you something. This is not an automatic thing that the Spirit of God and the Word of God are just somehow going to transmit to you by an action of “whoosh” and they are there. Yes, they are there all the time for us, but we ourselves must learn what is in the Word of God and Who the Holy Spirit is. This is a daily action on our part so that when the storm comes, we are ready. We don’t have to scramble to figure out how to get through this mess that has descended upon us.
Every day, we are to fellowship with the Lord by His Holy Spirit and spend time “eating” His Word and learning the ways of His Kingdom here on earth. His Kingdom has principles just like the earthly laws. If we don’t know those principles, how can we operate in them. For example, if you don’t know the speed limit for the road on which you are traveling, how can you obey that law? The same is true of God’s Word: if you don’t know the law, the principle, how can you enjoy the benefits of it and walk in it. And if you don’t know the Holy Spirit and what He wants to do for you, how can you have the assurance of putting Him in charge when trouble comes.
After this teaching, we end with the scripture we started with (and now it should mean something to you). Let not your hearts be troubled. My peace I leave with you. An action on your part (let not) produces an action on God’s part (My peace). The peace of God is there for all of us. All we have to do is to receive it. Start today learning how to do that, from His Word and from His Spirit.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 4:56 PM
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