Quotes:
“The best fighter is never angry.” ― Lao Tzu
“Peace comes from within.” ― Gautama Buddha
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
“Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.” ― Eckhart Tolle
“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past.”
― Gerald G. Jampolsky, Love Is Letting Go of Fear
“Peace holds within itself trust in the Lord, the trust that He governs all things and provides all things, and that He leads towards an end that is good. “ -Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)
“Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light.“ -Norman B. Rice (born 1943)
Psalm 122:1-9 (8) [written in 992 BC; after Joab reproves David for his grief over the death of his son Absalom (II Samuel 19:1-10)].
The name Jerusalem - ירושלים - contains within itself the word Shalom - שלום. “Shalom” has four meanings: Hello, Goodbye, Peace and Completeness.
Peace is the most important gift we can ask from God.
Peace brings contentment and completes us.
Let’s consider three primary aspects of “PEACE”:
Comfort (Everlasting):
Isaiah 40:1-3 “1- Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God 2- Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins. 3- The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
God’s Word (Everlasting):
Isaiah 40:7-8 “7- The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8- The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Strength (Everlasting):
Isaiah 40:28-31 “28- Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29- He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30- Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31- But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
I have heard it said that, “there are two lasting things we can give to our children. The first is roots; and the second is wings.”
Chickens and turkeys can fly, but they prefer the ground.
Small birds fly mostly from one tree to another.
Eagles soar!
If you have God’s Comfort, communion and companionship you will have inner peace.
If you know God’s Word is forever established and is truth you will have inner peace.
If you have God’s Strength you will have inner peace.
If you have all three you will be complete and whole which brings forth “peace that passesth understanding.”
Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Inner peace is important because there is an inner war constantly being waged:
Romans 8:1-8 “1- There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2- For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3- For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4- That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5- For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6- For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7- Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8- So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Paul spoke passionately about this inner struggle:
Romans 7:14-25 “14- For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15- For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16- If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17- Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18- For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19- For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20- Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it,
but sin that dwelleth in me. 21- I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22- For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23- But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24- O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25- I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
As Paul, we can only win this battle by submission unto God and His will.
This in-turn brings a true inner-peace… “that passeth all understanding”.
As Jesus stood on the bow of that vessel, let Him stand on the bow of your life and say, “Peace Be Still”!
Ephesians 3:11-21 “11- According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12- In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. 13- Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14- For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15- Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16- That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17- That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18- May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19- And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20- Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
“Shalom”
