Whats #Peace Got To Do With It:

Hello Friends, I am continuing with the “fruit of the spirit” blog posts. In the past weeks, I blogged on Love and Joy. Today, I want to share on Peace. It is a three-fold revelation God gave me over the past weeks about this fruit of “Peace” and I’m so excited to release them in three different blog posts.

The three levels are:

 

First, the kind of peace God wants to GIVE YOU.

Second, the kind of peace God wants YOU to PURSUE WITH OTHERS

Third, The kind of peace God wants to FLOW OUT OF YOU into the world.

 

Today I will post on the first.

 

 

1. The Kind of Peace God Wants to GIVE You

“I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27

 

The Kind of peace God wants to give you is harmony, undisturbedness from fears or agitating passions or moral conflicts.

It is almost laughable to put “peace” and “moral conflict” in the same sentence, isn’t it? Because to the world, peace is when there is no trouble but the reality is that there are indeed many “troubles” in this world! But that is why Jesus told us not to be troubled. Well, one might say “it is easy for Jesus to say we should not be troubled because he himself is going to Heaven and leaving the rest of us down here by ourselves”. Oh Friend, not so! Jesus could not possibly be so unfeeling as to leave the work of finding peace as a solo-project for you. He is too touched by your weaknesses (Hebrews 4:5) to leave you by yourself to go find your own peace.

 

 

• When There Is a War Against Your Peace 

On your own, it may be hard for your mind to experience peace amidst trouble. I have been there many times. And that is why I became desperate for something that is out of this world; something more. Something that embodies the full ramifications of Peace. I need peace because I don’t necessarily always hear good news. Sometimes, I am on my way to take an exam and ‘bad news’ comes in a message or call etc. Sometimes I’m juggling school and rectifying unexpected school-related occurrences which are critical to my finishing. Sometimes, an arrangement is going well and the enemy rises up in opposition. Sometimes, even in family, school, work or in some relationships, one party tries to avidly contend for your peace! And I’m sure there are more complex situations than I have described here. Nevertheless, no situation is King. Instead, it is the peace IN that situation that rules and that is why peace frustrates the enemy because he would love for you to be constantly agitated and easily moved. But Jesus says he is giving you the kind of peace that the world has nothing on!

 

 

•  Where is Peace and Can I actually have Peace even in my circumstance?

So where is the peace? Is it in the safety of our homes? In a nice relationship? In a great degree or school? In a comfortable church? In having just enough to live? In a stress-free and war-free environment? Perhaps not so much, although the aforementioned settings could indeed have elements of peace, of which it is perfectly fine! The real question is, what if you don’t have all those “perfect” circumstances? Would that mean there will be no peace for you forever? O how unfair it would be for “peace” to be absent in troubled times! Paradoxically, troubled times is INDEED when we actually need “peace”! So if you find yourself troubled, know that you are a candidate for Christ’s Peace! And if you have already found his peace, know that you can abound even more! It is the sick who need a doctor, not the healed; the afflicted who need peace, not the merry. In science, don’t opposite charges attract? So in any negative circumstance, shouldn’t the positive be attracted? That is why in every “bad” circumstance, there is an opportunity for the very opposite to happen right there! In conflict— be it mental, relational, emotional, spiritual, financial, academic, ministerial- that is when Peace should even abound to you the more!

 

 

•  “PEACE” is a Person and He embodies all other things You Need

  

When Jesus was leaving the earth, he made arrangements for his “absence”. He said he will leave a representation of himself and that representation of himself is the very embodiment of peace and that is the HOLY SPIRIT! (John 14: 26- 27). So peace is not necessarily a time we arrive at, or a location we get to at some time in the future. Peace is a PERSON in the form of the Holy spirit whom Jesus “left” for us. Believer, the holy spirit is in you and with you and if you allow him to do his work, he will release a sense of contentment, wholeness and fullness out of you regardless of your outward circumstances. He will enable you to exhibit more peace

 

 

• If you are feeling troubled today, know that the holy spirit wants to help you have the fathers’ peace so ask him to help you. (John 15:13)

 

• If you are feeling uneasy about a situation, know that as you earnestly communicate with the father, he will give you clarity (Psalm 71:17).

 

• If you are anxious about a pending situation, know that the antidote is to anchor your mind on his word and supplicate your needs to the father and his peace, which transcends all understanding, will be your portion. (Phillipians 4:6-7)

 

• If you are entertaining engagements that threaten your ability to have peace, then honey its time to say goodbye to that. (Hebrews 12:1)

 

 

• If you are struggling with disobedience and that disobedience is breeding confusion in any area of your life, know that Jesus wants to give you his peace even as you submit to the holy spirit and his lordship. (James 4:1-8)

I earnestly pray that you receive the kind of Peace God gives which is like no other because it will preserve you in these times and that which is to come. Now, just as God has given us His peace, tHe also wants us to earnestly pursue peace peace with Others. And that brings me to the second level of peace which is….

 

2. The kind of peace God wants YOU to PURSUE WITH OTHERS

Godwilling by tomorrow, I will post it…… Look out for it 🙂

 

Stay peaceful

R.