How To Experience Peace A Spiritual Walk Through
Where
can we find peace?
Peace
is a wonderful word. It is a state of mind that can mean tranquility or quiet, free from conflict, no war or having
security. The Hebrew word for peace shalom is
defined as completeness, success, fulfillment, wholeness, harmony, security and well being. If we have to go about finding peace we are
probably searching for things that may bring about a temporary peaceful
experience. The reality is we do not live in a peaceful world. Unrest, fear and
conflict penetrate our everyday life experiences.
Here
are some things we need to look at when it comes to peace. Our present circumstances
may change for the better or they may take a turn for the worse. Our bodies can
experience pain and sickness regardless of how careful we try to live. We can’t
ultimately control other people’s behavior or despicable acts. We sometimes look
to the future with uncertainty and fear and restlessly wonder what’s going happen next. We
can have faith in God. We can also have faith in ourselves and others. Yet sometimes we lose faith because of what
has happened to us and to others that reflect our idea of injustice and evil. Sometimes
what we believe to be true does not measure up to our own expectations.
Sometimes fear and doubt rule the moment and peace seems so unlikely and
unattainable.
From
my own experience I seem to be most concerned with logistics, stability and
comfort. Yet I struggle with the idea that life should always be fun, free
from conflict and comfortable. I realize lessons need to be learned. Growing spiritually and learning about faith takes stepping out of ones comfort zone. But seeking as I have in the past for the perfect peaceful scenario, I have concluded the only way to
achieve a state of peace is to stay at home, watch a movie while
laying back in a recliner with plenty of snacks with no interruptions from
other people or pets. Or laying on the beach with a clear ocean on a perfect day where the only thing I can hear are the waves crashing against the shore. The reality is I must walk outside of my own private little Idaho. I
realize that life was meant to be lived differently. There is going to be tension, hardship and difficulty so I can only hide out
from real life for so long. I have to go outside my castle walls and courageously meet all
those things affected by a sinful broken world. In fact, we are all affected by
a world gone mad in some way shape or form. Yet, we can impact the world around
us in a positive way if we have the right perspective and purpose to breathe
life into it instead of sucking the life out of it.
Just
ask anyone who has had to drive in rush hour traffic if they live in a world
gone mad. They will reveal to you the true enemies of all mankind. They exist
in moving metal fortresses, driving crazy like they are gearing up for battle.
But the true enemies of mankind are sin, pride and hopelessness that have developed
from a defiant humanity who have rejected God and embraced His enemies. God’s
enemies are also those who have fallen away from His kingdom to create their
own. God’s enemies want us to doubt His existence, and want us to put our faith
in what they have to offer. They do not
offer peace like God does. They offer material discontent and self-serving
motivations that separate us from God. They tell us we can create our way to
being happy and satisfied. They tell us we are better off without God and His
rules. Even the good they do becomes a smokescreen for them to build up their own
name, status and pride. The enemy wants to kill our souls by feeding our egos.
The enemy wants to distract us from God’s peace so we search elsewhere. The ultimate battle for peace really comes
down to self-centeredness vs God-centeredness. The truth is the world does not
offer everlasting peace so we have to look to God for the answers.
So let’s see what God
offers and let’s consider receiving His peace.
We must understand that in
order to have peace with God we must first have to believe that He sent His
sent Jesus to save us from our sins. Faith in Jesus is the requirement for
everlasting peace with God.
John
3:16 New Living Translation (NLT)
“For this is how God loved the world: He
gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not
perish but have eternal life.
This act of Jesus that
paid for ones sins makes a powerful statement about God’s love and reshapes
ones perspective to see that death is physical and spiritual in nature. The
implications of Jesus’ work on the Cross is that those who become true
followers of Jesus can have peace during their lifetime knowing God has secured
their eternity with the price Jesus paid.
With the right perspective a person can have a great sense of peace
knowing no matter how hard they try, they can’t earn their salvation. They understand that God has set that bar so
high that no sinful human being can attain it on their own. Although many still
try to earn God's favor and salvation with their works, God has made it clear that it is with Jesus’ work alone that will save us for all eternity. Those who choose not to be rescued will get
what they desire which is spiritual death and separation from God.
Ephesians
4:17-18 Living Bible (TLB)
Let
me say this, then, speaking for the Lord: Live no longer as the unsaved do, for
they are blinded and confused. Their closed hearts are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God
because they have shut their minds against him, and they cannot understand his
ways.
Ephesians
2:1-2 Living Bible (TLB)
Once you were
under God’s curse, doomed forever for your sins. You went
along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying
Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in
the hearts of those who are against the Lord.
And the good
news:
Colossians
2:13-14 New Living Translation (NLT)
You were dead
because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he
forgave all our sins. He
canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to
the cross.
Jesus confirms that He was the one chosen by God to save us:
John 14:6 NIV
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 10:9 NIV
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will
come in and go out, and find pasture.
Jesus is the only way to salvation and He was born to be our
Savior, our Prince of Peace. His work has reconciled us back to God and brings
us peace:
Acts 4:12 NIV
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved."
Isaiah 9:6 TNIV
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government
will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace.
Ephesians 2:13-17 NIV
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been
brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has
made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by
abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His
purpose was to create in
himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one
body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by
which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were
far away and peace to those who were near.
Mark 16:16 NIV
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does
not believe will be condemned.
Acts 2:21 NIV
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Romans 10:9 NIV
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:10 NIV
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with
your mouth that you confess and are saved.
God Himself gives us life, comfort, peace, joy and rest:
John 8:12 NIV
When
Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the
world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the
light of life."
2
Corinthians 1:3 TNIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
compassion and the God of all comfort,
Romans 15:13 TNIV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in
him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 1:6 TNIV
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the
midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy
Spirit.
Matthew 11:28-30 TNIV
"Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Do not be
anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of
God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
John 14:27 NIV
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I
do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Romans 5:1 NIV
Therefore, since
we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained
access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice
in the hope of the glory of God
So peace with God comes
through a relationship with Jesus who paid the price for sin through His life
and blood He shed on the cross. One must receive this work of Jesus in order to
be reconciled back to God. When a person becomes a friend of God, their spiritual
condition changes from death to life, from separated to connected and
ultimately from perishable to imperishable. A believer is adopted into God's
family which means citizenship in heaven for all eternity. Believers have also been given the Holy Spirit
who becomes their Guide and Teacher and source of wisdom reminding them of
everything Jesus has said. With Jesus’ words of hope and His work on the cross
comes a sense of peace to those who have become His disciples. They know
their salvation is secure!
John 14:26 TNIV
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all
things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 14:1-4 TNIV
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God;
trust also in me. My
Father's house has plenty of room; if that were not so, would I have told you
that I am going there to
prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come back
and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You
know the way to the place where I am going."
Galatians 5:22 NIV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
NIV
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He
anointed us, set his seal of
ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.
Ephesians
1:13 NIV
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed, you
were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
Warning: Unconfessed sin builds a wall between humanity and God.
Isaiah 59:1-2 NIV
Surely
the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your
sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Proverbs 28:13 NIV
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but
whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
John 8:34 NIV
Jesus
replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
Matthew 6:24 NIV
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love
the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and Money.
When we do confess our
sin the dynamic in our relationship with God changes because we are now open to
the Holy Spirit who has the power to direct us back on the path to living a
life pleasing to God. Confession and repentance lead to peace with God.
1 John 1:9 NIV
If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
2 Chronicles 7:14
NIV
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then
will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Psalm 32:1-5 NIV
Blessed is he whose
transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose
sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When
I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your
hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of
summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD
"— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Followers of Jesus can
experience a peace that transcends all understanding even during the most
difficult of times. They have the Holy Spirit who indwells in them so they never
have to face difficult circumstances alone. I can personally testify that since
becoming a follower of Jesus I never feel alone anymore. I also feel at peace
even when I am struggling with the circumstances of living life alongside a sinful
and broken world.
During my days of living
a Godless self-centered life I used to feel empty and uneasy within myself in
and amongst any of my circumstances. For many years daily life was a struggle
and very unsettling to me. I resorted to substitute avenues of comfort to get
me through each day. As a devoted follower of Jesus I now know that that I am
loved by God and have the wisdom, direction and discernment I need to navigate
through the pitfalls that living in this fallen world can bring about. With the
knowledge and relationship I have with the Holy Spirit working in my life,
peace is at hand and I am able to get back on the right path to living this
life for God and for the sake of His kingdom.
My favorite Bible verse is from proverbs and sets the stage for
living in peace and being at peace with God:
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Trust in the
LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In
all your ways acknowledge Him, and
he will make your paths straight.
Jesus also reminded His disciples about His peace and victory over
sin and death which we can also take to heart as well:
John 16:31-33 Living Bible (TLB)
“Do you finally
believe this?” Jesus asked. “But the time
is coming—in fact, it is here—when you will be scattered, each one returning to
his own home, leaving me alone. Yet I will not be alone, for the Father is with
me. I
have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on
earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome
the world.”
What a great reminder of God’s awesome promises!
So in this very busy fast pace world take the time to look up in the night sky and remember how big God really is. His peace will soothe the soul, calm the spirit. His peace will give us the rest and strength we need to live for Him and His purpose.
God's purpose is to rescue the restless and lost from a turbulent unsettling world tainted by the whims of a fallen humanity. God's purpose is to give real peace to those who will admit they need to be saved.
So trust in the one who can be trusted and peace will be your everlasting reward. God's love will always be at the center of His peace just like Jesus' love was at the center of His willing sacrifice to save us.
Just Sayin………………..Dave
