CULTIVATING A LIFESTYLE OF THANKSGIVING
Part Twelve - Appropriating the Peace of God Volume XIII Number 12 August 20, 2010
Thanks be to God who ALWAYS gives us the overwhelming victory - 2 Corinthians 2:14
Greetings in the name of Jesus!
Thanks for looking into Prosperous Life Newsletter today. We have prayed that this article will edify you with the TRUTH of God's Word and cause your FAITH to grow stronger (Romans 10:17).
Almost everybody will tell you they want PEACE for their lives but relatively few have been able to find it especially in these times of financial tribulation. The truth is most of us don't really know how much we're missing by not having it because we've never really experienced it. The true PEACE of God amounts basically to the absence of fear. It's a state of calmness or tranquility, a total freedom from disturbance or agitation or concern or worry even in the midst of a storm, even when faced with trials and tribulations and problems and difficulties and persecutions and anything else the devil can throw at us. PEACE is when everything is complete in our lives with nothing missing or broken because we're not allowing our circumstances to tell us how to feel.
According to scripture the only people on earth who could possibly ever achieve this kind of lifestyle are the followers of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:14). And of all those folks, only the ones who've sufficiently built up their faith by the ongoing process of renewing their minds (Romans 10:17 coupled with 12:2) are able to actually experience the PEACE of God as an ongoing characteristic of life.
PEACE is supposed to be ours for the taking because Jesus said so: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I GIVE to you...Do not let your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful."
Who did He GIVE His PEACE to? Anyone who wants it can have it but first they have to become one of His disciples; in other words, the first step is to be born again. Indeed, PEACE is available to everyone who follows Christ not because of anything we've done but because of what He accomplished on the Cross of Calvary. When we're born again the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within each Believer making it possible for the first time for the real PEACE of God to become a reality. But to enjoy it we have to take possession of it; that is, we have to APPROPRIATE this major BLESSING God has made available to us by GRACE through FAITH (Ephesians 2:8).
Peace has to be Pursued
Most Christians are waiting around for PEACE to show up in their lives, to sort of fall on them by default. They wonder why they don't ever have it and eventually come to the conclusion that it must be unattainable, EVEN THOUGH JESUS SAID HE GAVE IT TO US, or that it can only come through improved circumstances like having more money. The problem is the true PEACE of God can't be received passively and it doesn't come through natural circumstances or through our own works. Like everything God has made available by His GRACE, we have to be proactive on a spiritual level and APPROPRIATE it by FAITH. We have to go and take up the things that already belong to us by way of inheritance.
The Bible says we're to seek and PURSUE God's PEACE (Psalm 34:14). In fact, the New Testament says we're to "let the PEACE of Christ rule in our hearts" (Colossians 3:15) which means we can CHOOSE to let it rule or we can choose to not let it rule. The instruction from the Word is clearly to let it rule but we can choose not to by lack of pursuit and being passive about it or just by ignoring it. And, the Bible doesn't say to let PEACE rule only when times are good and easy; no, it just says to let it rule without specifying any particular condition or situation that has to be present. The Greek word translated "rule" means to "govern" or "arbitrate" which is to say we're to make it possible for PEACE to "govern" or "oversee" or DETERMINE how we react to the circumstances in our environment. Everything is in place so it can happen: God has made His PEACE available, He's already put it within us (Galatians 5:22), He's provided His GRACE to empower us to manifest it and on top of all that He's given us the FAITH of Christ (Galatians 5:22) to receive it. All we have to do is want it enough to pursue and APPROPRIATE by FAITH what's already within us and available.
How to Appropriate Peace
The Bible says God will keep those in perfect PEACE whose minds are "stayed" or FIXED or FOCUSED on Him (Isaiah 26:3). What does it mean to have our minds FIXED on the Lord? It means that we're TRUSTING in Him and we're TRUSTING His Word to do what it says it will do. And it means we're watching Him and what He's doing instead of fixating on our problems and circumstances. The scripture here specifically mentions that it's our MINDS that must be stayed on Him and that requires for most (all) of us that we go through some mind-renewal so we know what to FOCUS on. Mind renewal comes from studying and meditating on the Word of God sufficiently enough to come out of agreement with the World where the devil is in control and into agreement with the Kingdom of God where Christ is in control (Romans 12:1-2).
And along with studying and meditating on the Word, this following scriptures show us a couple of other things we need to take into consideration in order to fully APPROPRIATE the PEACE of God:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to God; and the PEACE of God, which surpasses ALL understanding, will guard your hearts and MINDS through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
So now we come finally to the relationship of God's PEACE that surpasses ALL understanding to the special activity of GIVING HIM THANKS that we've been talking about throughout this series. Since the beginning of the year we've been telling you that there's something supernaturally special going on between THANKSGIVING and the GRACE of God. Don't forget that GRACE is God's unmerited FAVOR, something He gives to Believers to empower us to RECEIVE/APPROPRIATE all that He has for us by FAITH. And when we give THANKS to God for all the good things He's doing in our lives, the GRACE always shows up. We need GRACE and through that God makes His PEACE available. THANKSGIVING produces GRACE; ergo, THANKSGIVING produces the PEACE that surpasses all understanding. When we start THANKING God for all the things He's done, we have to take our FOCUS off our circumstances and start FIXING OUR EYES on Jesus. When we FOCUS our MINDS on Jesus the inevitable result is ALWAYS the PEACE that surpasses all understanding.
Another consideration in these verses is that the Greek word translated "supplication" means to pray in humility. Praying in humility means to pray in agreement with the Word petitioning the Lord from FAITH instead of fear. Indeed, the Bible says that God gives GRACE to the humble (1 Peter 5:5) and "the humble" as defined by the New Testament are those Believers who're willing to trust God to provide solutions to their problems instead of going out to solve them on their own. Read it for yourself in 1 Peter 5:5-10. We cast our anxieties on Him and He exchanges them for His GRACE. He takes the problems; we get the GRACE. We receive that GRACE through FAITH and from it we appropriate the PEACE that the GRACE contains.
In sum, the real PEACE of God is a state of MIND that only serious Christians with sufficient Word knowledge and the determination to PURSUE it can achieve. But it's worth the effort! It won't come without effort but it's sure to come if we go after it. "God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek (PURSUE) him" (Hebrews 11:6). It's guaranteed! Invest some of your time in studying the Word of God and see if we're not telling you the whole TRUTH and nothing but the truth.
Thanks for stopping by today. We hope the Word has blessed you and will bring you back in three weeks for another session. We'll be looking for you again on September 10 and in the meantime be blessed by the study of God's Word.
Sinners' Prayer
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Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I receive forgiveness for my sins and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
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