His Abiding Peace

I was amazed when I came to Christ, especially when the peace of God began to rule and reign within me. I was saturated with peace, overwhelmed by it and immersed in it. Peace really is the promise that God gives to those who turn fully into his desire for their lives. Peace comes from pursuing God with your entire being. Peace is the joy of every moment feeling free from the things that this world would throw at you. When you are free in Christ, nothing can rise against you, it will not stand. Every single problem, storm or situation will find its answer in the peace of God. The peace of God rules inside of us. It destroys every fear and obstacle opposed to it. I know that some of you reading this article struggle with many kinds of torments. Whenever I try to encourage the body to believe that God is with them, inevitably there are people who say that they “hope” that what I am saying is true, because they have been living in Christ a long time, but have not yet had the victory. The victory is the peace of God. Psalm 29:11 says, “The Lord will give strength to his people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.” The bottom line is that when we are weak, he is truly strong. In my weakness, he comes and strengthens me. He refreshes me. He drenches me with the dew of heaven, which is the revelation that my problem is nothing. I have days, just like most of you, where I don’t feel like I’m the greatest person. I see my limitations. I often find myself struggling that I don’t feel like a great husband or father. I see where I lack patience in many ways, and yet God still let’s his peace rule in my heart. We are all in process of becoming something greater than what we are. Every area of failure is a potential place of healing and victory, if we allow him to come into our hearts. As I yield to him, as I let him have his way in my life, as he leads me down the path of repentance and forgiveness, I become stronger. The strength of a Christian is in their humility. This strength is in their ability to yield daily to the voice of God in their heart, and to then take the steps that he wants for them and their lives. This is the essence of meekness. Psalm 37:11 says, “But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” When we yield to God’s word, and when we yield to one another loving one another, we enter into a great abiding peace. Those that are meek delight themselves in God’s peace, because he generously gives it to them like gold treasure. His peace is greater than anything else you could ever be offered. Many poor souls have ended their lives because of the torment that comes on them due to disobedience. However, those who abide, rest, and let God rule their lives, will never lack peace. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on you, Because he trusts in you.” One of the keys to remaining in peace, is to let God be your only objective and focus. When you focus on him completely, his peace will rule strongly in your life. He will help you overcome all your anxieties and fears. He will speak to the storms of your life, and these storms will cease. You will overcome the world, because Jesus overcame the world. Just practice this today. Just sit back and ask God to heal one of your fears. Ask him about the fear. Why it is there? Your fear of death could be linked to many things, and God knows everything about it. Ask him about your fear. He may shed layers of light unto your consciousness that will wash away the fear, and peace will be all that remains. Heeding to the voice of God is another key to remaining in peace. Isaiah 48:18 says, “Oh that you had heeded my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your Righteousness.” Just do what he says. I wish I could just drive this message “home” to the church. The reason that most people have no peace in their lives is because they have not laboured into God’s rest. They are striving. They have not heeded his voice, because they have not sought his voice. Even today, if you would simply turn and ask him what to do, he would speak to you. And as you do what he says, peace will come to you. I have had to apologize to people who I would have rather not apologized to many times. I did it because God told me to. Instead of being embarrassed as I thought I would be, his peace came strongly. It gets easier to obey. The more you obey, the more you will obey because the fruit of obedience is abiding peace. I pray for you today, and ask the Lord to open your heart in a new way, so that you will have the courage to listen and obey. I also pray that his peace will begin to burn more strongly in your heart. Just as Isaiah 9:7, “There will be no end to the increase of His government, and or of his peace,” As long as you are alive you will remain in peace. And you are alive in Christ forevermore, which is longer than anything you can imagine.