Indescribable Peace

John14:25-27 “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Here’s a question for you? Do you have this peace that Jesus talks about? Now I’m not talking about the peace that some have managed to achieve because they have figured out a routine, or been fortunate enough to find a peace of sorts in troubled times by achieving financial independence. Some have said jogging in the early hours settles their mind. Others read a book, play sports or practice a hobby. I'm not talking about any of these. We all have a different set of circumstances and different skills and ways and habits that we have developed to help us find peace throughout our day. I was listening to a very rich and successful man yesterday who said that he gets up at 5:30 every morning and reads for two hours. He also likes to listen to beautiful music. This has become his habit. He then went on to say he only put things into his mind that uplift him. I question if that is possible … with all of the noise in the world, that we are continually confronted with every day.

Paul gave similar advice when He said; “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. There is a big difference in Paul’s instruction, and the world’s method of having a positive attitude. The world would teach to think positive thoughts, to fill your mind with uplifting, encouraging and motivating ideas and information … basically anything that lifts your spirit. Paul on the other hand prefaces the above scripture with “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.” Do you see the difference? The world’s solution has taken out the power. The power is in the Lord and His word. The more men talk and focus on themselves, and the less scripture that is referenced, the more the power is diminished. It is all about the Lord. the peace they are able to conjure up is counterfeit. I once had an associate that worked for me who told me about a book he read that had helped him greatly, so I went out and bought it. The premise was that the power is in your belief … that if we believed strongly enough, whatever we believed would become reality. I quickly realized that the teaching was absurd and defied reality and logic. A short while later the poor guy was hospitalized for serious mental problems. We do not have the ability to alter reality … only God can do that. Does that mean that I am saying that positive thinking does not work? No way … not at all. It is a proven fact that whatever we dwell on, positive or negative input, it somehow translates into our daily reality. Whatever we feed our mind will transform our thinking. That can be either good or bad. This principle is where the phrase garbage in … garbage out comes from also. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7. But our thought life won't alter gravity. Give a student enough Darwinian Evolutionary training, and the next thing you know, Darwin has become a religious dogma for millions of people. And today's Darwinian Theory is Global Warming.

Okay so what’s the problem? What keeps you from having the peace that your Lord and Savior promises you? The problem is multi-faceted. But in the online world, all of the stuff that you are bombarded with … that diverts your attention from your priorities is referred to as noise. This could translate into a hundred different things. So for the sake of this discussion, lets just for a moment, take all of the things that are diverting you focus off of Christ, and isolate these things and call them noise, and focus your thinking on Christ. Consider all of your diversions: noise. Take all of your problems, the world’s problems, your job, relationship issues, health issues, money problems, your worries, your fears, your sin, your failings, your guilty conscience, all of it … anything and everything; pray it all over to Christ. Now, meditate on your position in Christ. Consider yourself one with him in the heavenlies, a fellow heir with Christ. Memorize scripture, Read it. Ask the Lord to reveal himself to you. Meditate, read the word out loud to yourself in a silent place. Sit in silence. Do it again, over and, over. Look deeply for His voice. The Lord will speak to you … Maybe His voice will be silence but He will give you peace, not as the world gives. Peace that transcends all understanding.

This is the problem: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8. We habitually and unconsciously revert to our old ways. We decide to become disciplined and then we meditate on positive books and stuff written by unbelievers and then we wonder why we don’t have the peace that surpasses all understanding that the Lord has promised us. This is why ninety percent of Christians admit that they are carnal or self centered Christians. They pray to Christ, and then they rely upon themselves and then in their old ways they sin which results in a guilty conscience and separation from Christ. Not much abiding above there, is there? Not much peace there either. The bad news is that sin is still in your old body, and its bad habits and its sinful ways are still able to throw you off track, and cause you to do or say or think things that result in a guilty conscience. You will come under attack and will lose some battles. Satan is very powerful and can easily win if he is able to choose the battlegrounds of lust and pride, and fight you without Christ and His word to defend and protect you. But the good news is, that although sin is IN you, you can be fully assured that there is no sin ON you. All of your sin past, present, and future, has been LAID ON the Lord Jesus. His sacrifice at Calvary sanctified you through eternity. Rest in your position. You are a co-heir with Christ … adopted into the family of the creator of the universe.

Jesus speaks of his time here, abiding with us, and sending us the spirit to abide with us, and teach us all things. This is the doorway to the peace that He then speaks about. Rest in His peace … your position. You are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. Hebrews 10:10. You are not guilty, ever again … anymore. The savior paid the penalty, once for all. You are an heir with Christ in heaven, here and now. Experience the peace that transcends all understanding. Abide above the cares of the world. Rest in your position. This is the peace that he promises you. We are talking about peace that only God’s grace can insure, not your works or good deeds. They are never enough. Jesus Christ is your sufficiency. He will never forget you or forsake you. To Christ and Christ alone is the glory, forever more.

Philippians 4:6-7 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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God Bless you my friends, Bob
Pray to receive Christ as Savior