Peace If You Want It

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and champion faith. It emphasizes that God is our peace and that we can trust Him completely. It encourages us to abide in Jesus and live in the Father's heart to experience His peace. We are reminded to cast our cares onto Jesus and rely on His love and provision. The message is that we are valuable and loved by God, and His perfect love casts out fear. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Ephesians 2.14-16 For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. This isn't even a promise. This is a fact. The truth. Not a truth. Truth. The Lord God Almighty, the one whose nature we debate, whose existence itself we debate, this one who made the universe, the one who made all that we see and all that we do not see, this living one, he is our peace. It doesn't say he brings it to us. It doesn't say that he will make it in us. It doesn't say that it will come to us. It doesn't say we will earn it, or even that we will be granted it in grace. It says very clearly that he is our peace. If you want peace, he is it. You don't get it, earn it, make it, develop it, seize it, receive it, worship into it, or anything else. God is our peace. In him we have it. Outside of him, we do not. Black and white, binary, no other options. Now, who doesn't want peace? It just sucks. It really does. Who wants to have thoughts that torment them? Daydreaming images that bring fear? Rememberings that keep us up at night, that brings tears to our eyes? Or feelings, terrible feelings? Embarrassment, shame, anger, sorrow? Jumping at every sound and just waiting for the horror to arrive at our bedside to start the ordeal, whether imaginary or, sadly, quite real and physical? Who wants that? Who wants to live that way? No one. Everything can be fun and games until we're alone in the dark with no one who can hear us or see us, and then it's a whole other ballgame. Then it is anxiety, depression, and terror. Who wants that? The other side of that coin is peace. Who doesn't want peace? Peace is contentment, harmony, freedom from hostility, freedom from repressive thoughts and feelings, and tranquility. It's what we all search after. It's the dream. We look for it financially. We look for that high-paying job. We look for the lottery win, the big score, the killer deal, so that we'll have money to buy food, get a place to live, a vehicle to drive, to afford vacations and travel, to get those things we want without worry or struggle, to wear nice things, to have a house we're comfortable in and proud of because it has all those little knickknacks we enjoy having around us. We look for it in our relationships, trying to find someone who won't betray us, who won't cheat on us, who won't blab about those things we say when we're alone, those deepest thoughts, the silly things we like to do, the way we are in private, that really real inner you that you share with no one else. All walls down, all weapons put away. The one who lets you be the way you are without seeking to change you or alter you. The peace of that kind of acceptance. The knowledge that nothing you can do can cause a problem between you. Total acceptance. Epics have been created about finding this kind of peace. It's a longing in all of us in one way or another. This has nothing to do with sex. It's about the peace that comes from finding a person on this earth that you can trust with the you that you are. We look for it in the way we live. We all have dreams and ideas about the perfect house, how big it is, what it looks like, what's in it, what we can do with and in the spaces it provides. But we would be thrilled and happy to have a place that is simply stable. Somewhere we don't need to worry. If every knock on the door is the landlord to evict us, that we won't wake up and be unable to pay the bill, that it is in reasonable shape. We're not dealing with mold, drips, cracks, rot or warps. The windows and doors both keep out the elements and provide a modicum of safety. Hollywood was based on the idea of gaining peace. Saving the day, saving the relationship, saving the neighborhood, saving the galaxy or even the universe. Getting the dream girl or boy. Winning the big game. Passing the test. The dog saving the child. The farm doesn't get sold to creditors. The little puppet saves his pals. The diamond is returned. I could go on for days and days. It is the main thrust of many of our imaginings. Most of them really. Getting, achieving or saving the thing that will give us the happy ever after. Franchises of sequels are built on the idea of achieving the goal in production number one and after that, keeping it, maintaining it, remaining in it. Every culture on this earth has a version of it. A way that you are supposed to achieve it. For some, it is consumer based. You're working to attain the funds to buy the things that will enable you to relax and therefore obtain peace. In others, you're giving up materialism and realizing the oneness of all things to attain peace. Perhaps you'll be called to rest on your honor and attain peace knowing that you are honorable in what you do. There are as many paths to follow as there are people. Each and every one predicated on the idea that peace exists, it is out there and we can get to it. Well, peace is out there and in here and over there. It's everywhere for it is God and God is everywhere. There are no special instructions, no hard to follow directions. It is simple, basic and for everyone who is a human being. Abide in Jesus. Have peace. Done. That's it. God is peace. Therefore, when we are in Him, we have peace. It's right there. You don't even need to reach out for it. It is simply there when our eyes and minds are on Him because at its core it is about trust and the Lord God can be trusted absolutely. We believe in Jesus. We say He is our Lord. We are saved. We can trust what He says. We can give Him our cares and then He has them. If we believe that, we will have peace because He is God and He is good for what He says. He says our needs will be met. Philippians 4.19 He will feed us. Exodus 16.8 He will clothe us. Genesis 3.21 He assures us we are saved. Isaiah 61.10 He will guide us. Psalm 32.8 He will protect us. Psalm 3.3 He will prosper us. Nehemiah 2.20 He will lift us up. Ezekiel 3.12 He is our all in all. Colossians 3.11 Yahweh is all these things to us and for us. This is who He is. How do we get it for ourselves? We don't. He graces us with it. We don't deserve it. He gives it to His children anyway. You will keep whoever's mind is steadfast in perfect peace because He trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for in the Lord, the Lord is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 6.3-4 So we get all that other stuff by grace. Peace we get by putting our trust in the Lord. When we trust in Him, we will have peace. We need to keep our eyes on Him. We need to keep our thoughts on Him. The Word is our tool, helper, and friend in this. The Holy Spirit is our comforter, teacher, and guide in this. Together, they help us to stay on the Lord because the Word renews us to the things of God and the Holy Spirit brings to mind all that we have heard. This isn't a pebble. It isn't a gravel drive or a footpath. This isn't a canyon being worn away little by little. This is an eternal rock of truth that never moves, never shrinks, always grows, is always steady, always there, immovable, indestructible, eternal, and set aside for us, for us. There is a spot reserved there for you. In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I'm going to prepare a place for you. John 14.2 Jesus said this, and it could very well be literal. I'm in no way saying we won't have a physical dwelling in the kingdom waiting for us. The King James translates the word homes as a mansion prepared for you. But the word means many things at the same time. Jesus spoke in the literal and the allegorical, sometimes at the same time. Now, in Greek, the word translated homes or mansion is monai, m-o-n-a-i. I don't know if that's how you pronounce it. In the Hebrew, it is anova, a-n-o-v-a. They both can refer to a habitation, like a small house or a tent. Nothing particularly extravagant, but definitely nice. But both words can also mean a place of habitation in one's heart. Now, in the practice of the day, when you were betrothed, you were as if you were married, but the relationship wasn't consummated. For a year, you were husband and wife in all but a physical relationship. Now, I've heard it said that the girl lives in her father's house and also that they lived together, but separately. Having learned more about the Jewish customs and rules for living righteously that they laid down and followed, I really favor her living at her father's house during that time. But the point was that for a year, they were not intimate. And during this time, the bridegroom built an addition to his home. This addition would be the room to which he would take the bride to consummate the marriage. When we are born again, resurrected from our dead spirits into Jesus' eternal spirit, we are sealed and set apart as his bride. Revelation 21, 9-11 and Ephesians 11, 2. As such, Jesus ascended into heaven when he was resurrected to prepare our place, our room, our habitation in the kingdom where we will join with him in always being finally sanctified in entirety and pure before the Father. So where do we live in the meantime? In the Father's house, of course. Jewish law and living practices are a shadow of what our relationship with God is supposed to be. Old Testament points to the New Testament. We can't live in heaven literally while we are still being here in physical bodies on this earth. So where are we to be? In the Father's heart. Until we arrive in heaven as the bride of the Anointed One, we are to live in the Father's heart. Now we can only do that by abiding in Jesus. For it is only in Jesus, by Jesus and through Jesus that we can stand before the Father and inhabit his heart. He is righteous. And only by being righteous can we be with him. We are not righteous. And we can only stand in that state by being in Jesus. It is what we are called to do and how we are to live. Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. The law was satisfied and perfected in Jesus. So now instead of looking to the law as the standard for our righteous living, we are to look to Jesus. Jesus is the word. The law is the word. It's all in Jesus. All sacrifice is attained. All sin washed away. All repentance possible. In him we can break our pride, our arrogance and self. We can pick up what he freely offers by faith through grace. And in that faith he gave us, we are able to choose the Lord every time, every day, in everything. Jesus is the eternal living sacrifice, the door by which we enter the presence of the Lord. The only way in. None other exists. None other is possible. It doesn't matter how nice you are, what rules you follow, or how you feel. Jesus is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. He is the path by which we enter the Father's heart and remain there. Abide in Jesus. Live in the Father's heart. Live in his peace. Don't work for it. Don't seek it. It is right there inside you. Accept it. Believe it. Receive it. And then stay there. Use the word on yourself. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Obey the Father. Enjoy the peace that is God. Your inheritance is a child of the most high, merciful, almighty God. All things reconciled in our bodies by Jesus, in Jesus, through Jesus, for the Father. Why would anyone want anything else than the perfect peace of his perfect love? Our daily affirmation of God's love is 1 Peter 5, 6-7. One of my favorite memories is sitting on a couch in the TV room. I was reading at the time, I'm not sure, but there was an explosion of little footfalls. My three-year-old burst into the room, launched himself on the couch, threw the toy that was in his hands behind the couch, and then raced from the room as fast as he could. Moments later, from the main room, I heard the older sibling calling out, where is it? And the little one responding, truthfully, I don't have it. He had wanted that toy, and he knew that he couldn't keep it, so he cast it into a hiding place to keep it safe and out of everyone's hands. Later, I moved the couch and found like half a bucket of toys that had been stashed there. I really enjoyed that. Since then, I've paid attention, and every child I've had has a special hidey spot where favorite toys get stashed. Regardless of actual ownership, I go there myself when I'm searching for things that they have shown interest in. Peter calls all believers to be the same way. Let Jesus be your favorite spot to cast your cares. When you feel the world or the enemy rising up to make you feel pressure, worry, anxiety, depression, or any other negative thing, run as fast as your spiritual legs let you. Throw that stuff onto Jesus' lap, and then cheese it. When the world or the enemy arrives and demands to know why you aren't worried, fearful, anxious, or whatever, honestly say that you don't have those thoughts anymore. They aren't yours. You can't have them. Anytime your brain reminds you of anything that you've put into Jesus' lap, remind yourself of that. Nope. That's not my mind anymore. Go see Jesus. Once a day, twice a day, 50 times an hour, frequency doesn't matter, intensity doesn't matter. All that matters is that Jesus has it. You don't. You don't need it. You only need to listen to Jesus on it, and He'll tell you, I have it. You're good. When Jesus has your cares, you're free to listen in prayerful worship to the Father. You'll hear His voice, hear His plan, and have the opportunity to obedience your way to victory in Him. That's the great thing about casting. It helps us stay humble and broken, admitting and relying on the fact that we can't do it, but He already has. Why worry? Why fear? We have peace in Him because He is peace. As we close, remember that you have earth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love, and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one, and remember the Lord loves you, just because you're you. 1 John 4 9-10 tells us, by this, God's love was revealed in us that God has sent His onlyborn Son into the world, that we might live through Him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.