Peace is a very familiar word. It is a word we hear all the time and a word that describes a feeling of contentment and rest that few of us manage to walk in every day. Yet, that is exactly what we Christians are called to do. Walk in peace every day regardless of our outward circumstances.
Look at the definition of the word peace
Peace: freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; state of tranquility; serenity.
How many of you experienced this kind of peace last week? How many of you even in the midst of trouble had an underlying sense of peace?
So why don’t we all walk in peace throughout the week or throughout our entire lives for that matter. Jesus said He left His peace with us. And we are to use the gifts that He has given us. Peace is one of those gifts. So why don’t we use it more often?
John 14:26-27 "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.”
Deuteronomy 3:8 " The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."
So if you are a child of God than you should be able to have this peace every moment of every day, right? What would that mean to truly walk in this kind of gift each day? It would mean…
No Worries * No Anxiety * No Fear * No Stress
Worry is one of the main culprits that will steal your peace in a moment. Worry takes us away from Christ and sets us right down in the middle of the world and all it’s trouble. And the Bible tells us we are not to worry, indeed we are called foolish when we do so, since all authority has been given to the Father. What can we do by worrying anyway? So why do we worry when the Bible clearly tells us that to do so places us among the thorns in life. What is the secret to walking the Pathway 2 Peace.
Don’t let worry control you.
Matthew 13:22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
When you worry you’re taking on the burdens yourself instead of letting go and letting God. I know this is easier said than done, I promise. But it is possible and God would not ask us to do anything we were incapable of doing.
We are all called to walk in peace.
Not walk among the thorns, but to walk in the green pastures of assurance and security, and love and hope and grace and mercy. To walk knowing that we serve a God of provision, a God of favor and a God who sees. How many of you know you serve an Almighty God?
We are all called to walk in that peace.
q How many of you know that it is possible to have trouble in your life and still have peace?
q How many of you know that you can be doing something you don’t want to do and still have peace about it?
How many of you know however there is a difference between having peace and walking into that peace?
Ø I have a car, but I have to choose to drive it to get anywhere
Ø I have a computer, but I have to choose to turn it on if I want to see anything
Ø I have a washer, but I have to choose to use it to have clean clothes.
Ø I can have the washer all day long but if I never put any soap in it and add my clothes to it I’ll walk around in dirty clothes all day long as well.
In other words you can HAVE a thing and yet never enjoy it or put it to use in your life. So what do I mean by having peace and walking into peace. What is the difference in your walk with Chirst?
Having Peace = Assurance of Salvation – Security – In the end, we win.
Walking in Peace = Assurance that God is in control NOW and that He is guiding my steps NOW. Security in knowing that I am not alone and that there is a purpose and plan to my life. Walking in peace is knowing that even when you can’t see trouble coming God can, and He is a God of provision. Walking in Peace is knowing that God is looking out for your best interest all the time. The Bible tells us it is possible to walk in peace every moment. Jesus says He left His peace with us. And the Bible even tells us how to find this peace. We have to pursue it.
Just like the car, the computer and the washer, peace is something that requires an action on our part. The action of picking it up and using it.
1 Peter 3:10 –12 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
If you look deeply into the Word you find that even peace requires action on our part. It is something we have to pursue. Christ left it here for us. God left us the owners manual, but we still have to choose to turn it on. So how do you pursue peace?
We have to go get it. Peace is a place we choose to go. First of all you have to decide you want it. Nothing is free and everything in life requires some sort of decision or action on your part. How bad do you want this peace? What are you willing to do for it?
I can tell you right now that if you have experienced it for any amount of time in your life and then lost it, you will do anything to have it back. The peace that surpasses all understanding is more addictive than the air you breathe. And yet we all still choose to walk without it at times, even though we know it feels so GREAT to be in it.
I think this is why God allows bad things to happen. Unfortunately it is in the midst of trouble that we tend to stop and look towards Heaven. It is usually only when we are out of control that we turn to God and say, “Ok, I’m willing to let you be in control for a while now”
And that is the key. There is only two things you need to do to walk in peace, and the first is Let God be God.
#1 – Understand that God is in control
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all you heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.”
Pretty simply stated. Easy to understand. No room for mistranslations, right? Simply trust God for He is in control and He will guide your steps, that’s it.
#2 – Follow his directions
James 1:22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
What good does it do for you to acknowledge that God is in control and then choose not follow the directions. He has left you a manual for your life in the form of the Holy Bible and His voice inside your head in the form of the Holy Spirit. God speaks to you first through His word and then in your heart. The closer you get to Him, the clearer His voice becomes. It starts in this book of life. And you cannot walk in its precepts unless you first pick it up and spend time learning them.
The first directive is the hardest to come to terms with and the one we all spend most of our lives playing tug-a-war with. This is the one you need to settle in your soul to start walking in peace. This is the reason it takes people being in trouble and coming to the end of their rope. It is THEN they decide that God is control and in fact they have NO CONTROL over anything.
Luke 12:25 "And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?”
Notice God says adding an hour to your life is a VERY LITTLE THING … This is a small thing for God, but impossible for us. Yet time and time again we believe we are better equipped to lead our life. The minute things start going good again, and God rescues us from any turmoil and sets our feet back on solid ground we leave Him behind. We are quick to take off down our own pathway and forget to call on him before we move so He can lead us in the right direction. We call on God for the big things, but forget that God wants to be part of EVERY DECISION, not just the ones we can’t handle. He has the birds eye view of our life. He knows our purpose and He can work all things out for the good even when the enemy does throw us off track. God can set us right back into the place we need to be and even provide a better place just to tick Satan off.
You have to trust him
EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, EVERY MOMENT.
BUT THIS IS A CHOICE
If your like me however you tend to try to handle your problems on your own, and they are always ready to overwhelm you. You take on your problems one at a time, and as soon as you finish with one problem, there is another directly behind it waiting to pop up into first place.
I believe I have a rotating mechanism of problems in my brain that looks like a Pez Dispenser. It dispenses my problems systematically and never gives me time to breath or enjoy life. It is always full of problems and seems to have a never-ending supply of situations that need my immediate attention. It is constantly trying to convince me that God is NOT in control and that I’m lost and overwhelmed. It is my Pez Dispense of Problems.
But I want to show you something
You always have a choice when problems come flying at you. Even when the enemy overwhelms you with negative thinking and the worries come crashing in on you, you still have a choice. When your brain kicks into overdrive and your being over loaded with fear and problems …
You can choose to turn them into promises
For every problem your mind gives you, God is waiting there with promises that He has already fulfilled in the spirit. You simply have to claim them in the flesh. Everytime the Pex Dispenser hands out a problem in your life. Turn it into a Promise of God. It is a choice you make. It is a decision to walk in the peace Christ gave you.
The Lord is just waiting for you to choose HIM
For every problem, He has a promise
For every issue, He offers a solution
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LET GOD BE GOD
That’s it
As hard as that is sometimes it CAN BE DONE
And God showed me a shortcut last night
When you really need him FAST, NOW and RIGHT ON TIME
There is a Pathway 2 Peace available to us all
It is in praise and worship that we find a gateway to the Pathway of Peace. It is in singing his praises and remembering his blessings in your life that you come to understand that He has never left you.
Psalm 100:3-5 “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him bless His name. For the LORD is good; His loving-kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations”
Therein lies the secret to the Pathway 2 Peace. You must remember the Lord in all you do. Remember who He is. Remember who you are. And remember that His promises are everlasting. It is in this knowledge that you will find peace. And no scheme of the devil can knock you off track when you walk in this kind of assurance.
God bless you as you learn to walk the Pathway to Peace.
