Peace--A Weapon Against Satan

April, 2007

“Peace--A Weapon Against Satan”

Psalm 23

INTRODUCTION: Living our daily lives at home, at work, or wherever we go during the week, our sense of peace is actually a weapon against Satan. The marketplace of our lives creates many opportunities to rob us of our peace. Stress on the job, bills, breakdowns, deadlines, health problems, relationships--you name it--all of these things drain us of our peace. Most of us confess that we don’t have our weapon of peace handy when we need it the most.

How can we successfully live our daily lives in such a fast-paced, stressful world? How can we have spiritual authority over all these attacks by the enemy? Is it even possible?

When Jesus confronted the devil, he did not confront him with his emotions or with fear. His PEACE actually overwhelmed Satan as He calmly pointed him to scripture. Jesus tells us that we, too, can have a sense of overcoming PEACE that is more than adequate for our circumstances, but we have to continually remind ourselves of that fact. There is much said about peace in the scriptures. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:27, “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.” If we are His disciple, we can tap into the peace we need rather than continually being overcome by stress and worry.

1. Things that rob us of our peace--Why we are robbed:

STORY: Maria was concerned that her Mother seemed to be churned up, stressed out all the time. Every time she went to visit she learned the details of how someone had mistreated her or that she was in a fight with a neighbor over something. Something or somebody was always getting her upset. Maria had an idea.

On the next visit she took her a green ball. This ball symbolized PEACE. She told her Mother, “I am giving you this Serenity Ball. If you overreact to a situation, you are letting someone else have control. If you are not the one bouncing the ball, there is no peace.

She went on to tell her, “you are to decide how to act and feel. Only the owner can claim it back.”

“When you see this ball it is a reminder that peace is a cherished possession and we must guard it jealously.”

Sometimes we need some kind of tangible reminder when we are allowing Satan to rob us of our peace. We can regain our peace but it is something that doesn’t happen automatically.

a. Satan comes to rob us: We are robbed of our peace because it is Satan’s business to not only rob us but to “steal, kill, and destroy us” (John 10:10). We fall for it most of the time.

b. We allow it to happen.

STORY: An old man and woman was married for years even though they hated each other. When they had a confrontation, screaming and yelling could be heard deep into the night. The old man would shout, When I die, I will dig my way up out of the grave and come and haunt you for the rest of your life!”

Neighbors were afraid of him and thought that maybe he would do exactly that.

Everyone was relieved when he suddenly died of a heart attack. After the funeral his wife went straight to the local bar to party. Her neighbors were concerned about her safety and asked, “Aren’t you afraid that he might be able to dig his way out of the grave and come back to haunt you?”

The wife put down her drink and aid, “Let the old jerk dig. I had him buried upside down.”

Our fears are often as senseless as those of the townspeople. We are robbed of our peace because we buy into the lies of the enemy. Other times we allow the very real pressures of life to devastate us.

David gives us some valuable insight into our situation through the eyes of a shepherd. Let’s see what he has to say to us in Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd. You will notice a personal relationship here with the sheep which also applies to us. Scripture says, “We are his people the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

Do you know the shepherd? Jesus said to His disciples in the New Testament, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).

c. Don’t seek out the shepherd: The third reason I believed that we are robbed

of our peace is because we don’t take time to seek out the shepherd in order to be refreshed and restored.

2. How Do We Get Peace Back Into Our Life?: The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want. (NIV)