Peace X

Can you believe we've been doing our study on peace for ten weeks now? Thank you to all of you who've sent me messages on the study. This is the last leg of the study--peace with self.

We'll start with Romans 8:5-8. "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

Those verses pack a big punch.

Peace is produced by the Spirit. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit. It is the opposite of the outcome the flesh produces. Going it our own way always leaves us unsettled and dissatisfied. Understand that "according to" in the verses above means agreeing with. So when we walk "according to the flesh", we are agreeing with what the flesh is telling us or if we are agreeing with the Spirit we are listening, believing and obeying the Spirit.

It is standing at a crossroads. The path we choose on any given topic or any given day shows who we're really agreeing with in our hearts. Sometimes our minds justify it as semantics. The first steps in each direction might look a lot alike. But beware, down the road they take a sharp turn from one another.

Flesh and Spirit. The two are always vying for our attention. It is a battle of mind, heart and will. Flesh wants you to fail. It fights against your Christianity. Why, just when I start doing well on a diet do I run to the pantry for a snack? Because the flesh that is in me wants me insecure and defeated so that I pour all my attention on feeling bad about myself instead of being about my Father's business.

Flesh wants us weak and self-centered. When we are self-centered we are not outreaching. We cannot be focused inward and reach out to others at the same time. We are rendered ineffectual. It seems like a such a clear decision to choose the Spirit yet we all struggle greatly with this. What could be at the root of the problem?

Let's look at Philippians 4:19, "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." We feel no peace if we feel our needs are not being met. We panic and run to flesh and try and make do on our own. We need to remember that God will meet all our needs.

This includes the need to feel loved and the need to have purpose. Even our emotional needs can be met through Him.

He will meet the need--if we let Him.

Be sure to come back next Friday for the last of our talks on peace. Whatever will we talk about next?

Our Grocery List for Shopping at the Deal with Others Depot

I told you last week that this one would require a shopping cart. That's because there's so many things we can't carry them all in our hands. This load requires a buggy. (That's what we call them around here, Southern thing I'm sure.)

Let's check out the things we need to add to our cart in order to have peace with others and begin to think about peace with ourselves. Our grocery list can be found in I Peter 3:8-12.

"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 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."

--harmony
--sympathy
--brotherly love
--compassion
--humility
--not repaying evil for evil or insult for insult
--being a blessing
--watching our words
--pursuing peace

God gives us in these verses a grocery list of good behaviors that lead to peace with others and cause us to be blessings. Why should we give a blessing? Why should we be a blessing? Because, we are to inherit a blessing.

If the very God of the universe can bless us despite our many failures and flaws, we should be able to do the same to our fellow man. Remember the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35. The consequences of choosing wrongly are very costly indeed.

Seeking peace isn't all give. It brings life, love and good days. It is to our benefit to pursue peace. However, peace with others is hard to obtain if we have no peace with ourselves.

Our internal battles always spill out eventually into our relationships with others. I think peace with self will be the hardest one of all to deal with because it is such a constant battle. There is no hiding from ourselves. But, peace with self is a worthy pursuit and a critical one if we are to lead fruitful lives.

We'll talk about that one next week.

Peace, Part VIII...Esteeming Others

Sorry about yesterday. I was running late again. When I got home yesterday and went outside to take that picture you're all wanting. Well I bent down to snap it and the battery died. Went back in and put it on the charger but by the time it was ready, it'd gotten dark. I've got to help out at school today with field day, so you'll have to check in and see it tomorrow. Besides, I couldn't put it up there today. Something about mixing Bible verses with a picture of a butt pott just doesn't seem right to me.

Let's see. Last week we were talking about dealing with other people and how I Thessalonians 5 calls us to appreciate them. That we can understand. Those verses also tell us to "esteem them very highly in love". Now that's not a word we toss around everyday. At least not at my house. So we'd better think on it for a few minutes together.

What does it mean to esteem someone? To esteem means to have great regard for; value highly; respect. We must regard others in love and value them highly. After all, our dear Savior paid a very high price to ransom them for Himself. If they are of value to Him, they should be valued by me. See what it says in I Peter 1:18-19, "...knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things, like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ."

When we esteem others we respect them. Let's look at Romans 12:17-18. "Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." Now flip over to II Corinthians 8:21, "For we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men."

Esteem is the bit that keeps us from charging down the road of vengeance and bitterness. And it reigns us in when we get too full of self.

There's one more thing to note from the verse back in I Thessalonians. It says to "live in peace". Notice that living in peace is not a request, it is a command. Another time in Mark 9:50 Christ commands us to be at peace with one another. Why?

Because, living without peace isn't really living at all. It's like grappling for a foothold in a pit of mud. There is no stable place. Refusing to make peace with situations, circumstances or people in your life comes with ramifications.

Now let's turn to Romans 14:13 and find out what this peace stuff does not involve. "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way." Peace is something we have to work at and push for, but here are some definite don'ts. Don't judge. Don't put obstacles in a brother's way.

These are so much harder to keep than they seem because personal preferences and experiences are strong. I can't, therefore no one can. God said no to me, so that must mean no for everyone.

Sometimes God calls us to abstain from something that is okay for everyone else. It doesn't mean we have a new cause to champion and that we should beat everyone over the head with admonitions if they don't follow suit. No, He's working with us on a particular thing for our life.

The things that are for everyone are already written for everyone in His word. To add to it is to place an obstacle in the life of another believer.

And sweet one, when you refuse peace you harden yourself to what God has told you and to who He created you to be. Then, the one who is supposed to go to Him who offers living water refuses. And you dry up. Ever seen those pictures of a dried up lake or riverbed?

They don't just dry up, they start to crack. And the cracks are jagged. The same is true of us.

When we refuse to obey, we begin to dry up spiritually. We harden ourselves to His call, to His word, to His people. Then we start to crack. The things we could've handled easily now send us into a panic or a rage. We hurt those around us with the barbs we spew from our mouths and the attitudes we adopt.

Not choosing peace is about so much more than simply not letting go of past hurts or future fears. It has painful consequences. And they're are not just for us. Our refusal for peace hurts all those around us.

Next Friday we're going shopping. We'll look at the grocery list of behaviors that do bring peace. Bring your cart...and your coupons.

Who Do You Think You're Looking At?

Last week in our study on peace we talked about how important it was to seek peace with others. Not how easy, how important. Peace isn't easy. It takes effort.

So, how do we learn to be peaceable instead of posturing? Let's turn to I Thessalonians 5:12-13 to find out. "But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another."

The way to live peaceably, to make peace, is by appreciating and esteeming them highly. That sounds like a sappy answer at first glance, but it's in the Bible and we need to give it a shot. First, we have to appreciate those laboring among us (other believers).

But we can't notice what others are doing if we are focused on all we have to do. How often do we grumble and complain over all we have to do when others seem to be just taking things easy? Why are we asked to do everything, be on every committee, when Miss So-and-So never lifts a finger?

That's when we've got the Martha Syndrome--not Martha Stewart, Martha from the Bible in Luke 10:38-42. She's the one who whined to Jesus about her sister not doing her share. We cannot get the Martha Syndrome. Service from a self-righteous woman is not really service at all.

We do not know how much effort it took for someone else to just show up. It could have been ten times greater than all the things we had to do in our little assignments. Make peace with the fact that what you are called to do is never going to look equal to what others are called to do. Rejoice in what tasks you are given. Let God worry about what the others are doing.

That's a lot to ask. But there's more. We need to go beyond merely minding our own business. We do need to stop looking around and comparing jobs, that's true. But we also need to start looking around and noticing, appreciating, the efforts of others.

We're still looking. We're just shifting our focus from 'why aren't you doing?' to 'what are you doing?'. Is there a new mom with other little children? Appreciate the fact that she actually showed up with her teeth brushed and no baby spit on her clothes. That took great effort.

How quickly we forget the different stages of life. Is there an older lady who constantly voices her opinion? Appreciate the fact that she has many years of experience from which to draw and try to listen and learn. Remember that there are many things we still need to know. Sometimes simply being listened to is a great blessing.

Appreciation of others is possible only when we stop looking at ourselves and all we have to accomplish and we start looking at others and seeing who they really are. Our prayer should be that we would be able to look on others with the eyes of Christ, able to see them and love them as He does.

Next week we'll work on the other part, how to esteem someone. This shift in focus is enough to accomplish in one week.

So, who are you looking at? More importantly, how are you looking at them?

Peace, Part VII

I told you last week it was going to start getting a little stickier. In our Friday talks on peace we have talked about peace with God and are now on peace with others. The last couple of weeks were on dealing with other believers who are blatantly doing wrong. Here comes the hard part, the side of judging that has more to do with self preference than sin.

Right at the start let me state that there are certain things that are undeniable absolutes in Scripture. Those are not what we are discussing. Fundamentals of faith are not open to what we feel like doing or what the world around us is calling acceptable. That said, let's carry on.

There are certain things that for one of us God says "no" to while He allows it for someone else. The person God says no to doesn't need to go correct the person who is free in Christ to carry on. And the person who is free doesn't need to worry about the person who can't seem to let things go. That is what Romans 14:16 is trying to tell us.

Here's the part where it gets prickly. Just because there's a way we prefer doesn't mean that's how it has to be done. This is where we have to make peace, because peace certainly doesn't come naturally when it comes to going against our preferences.

But we must be so careful to do this. The friction created by rubbing against "my way" syndrome has set many a fire of divisiveness to blazing in our churches, leaving many spiritually and emotionally burned to the ground.

What sort of things am I talking about? Someone might go to the movies while another thinks it's wrong. Someone might feel the need to give up eating meat while others enjoy a steak. A friend once felt convicted not to have a Christmas tree. Did I call her Ebenezer Scrooge? Did I take down my tree just because she did? Of course not!

I'll give you an example from my own life. I am a big picture girl. If there's a project to do, I see it in my mind complete and finished. I simply work from that mental picture to make it become a reality.

Nothing raises my hackles more than someone nitpicking over details. To go over and over what could be done for each and every point makes me feel absolutely claustrophobic. It honestly makes me want to run screaming from the room.

I am decisive.

I am able to see all those details in my mind at one time.

I am also not perfect.

I am also not always right.

My own way is not the only way and not always the right way.

God in His infinite wisdom requires that this world be a mixture of many different kinds of people and requires us to work together to accomplish His tasks.

I don't get to run screaming from the room no matter how much I might want. Sometimes those questions regarding details are necessary.

If I go my own way all the time, pretty soon I'm going it alone.

It isn't possible to build each other up when we're building by ourselves.

Remember what Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for that shall be called the sons of God." Isn't that what we're after? We want God's blessing. We want to be recognizable as His child.

We get those things by being peacemakers. We have to make peace. We have to go after it.

It reminds me of the scene at the end of the first Lord of the Rings movie, Fellowship of the Ring. It's the scene where the orcs are running through the woods on their way to find those in the fellowship. We must throw down our preferences, put on our war paint, and hunt down fellowship.

Now orcs aren't the prettiest things to be compared to, and in the movie are on the bad side, but we do want to emulate their tenacity. Why do we have to be so aggressive about peace? Because we have an enemy out there that is ripping and tearing away at the body of Christ!

And he's doing it one carpet sample, song style, and clothing choice at a time.

What he cannot accomplish from the outside, he happily lets us do to each other from within. We have to slash through self. If we lack peace as a body, we are a laughing stock to the world.

Next week, how to be peaceful instead of preferential.

Peace, Part VI

We're trudging along in our series dealing with peace. If you haven't joined us before, you can click on the bottom of the post where it says 'Peace Series' and find all the posts we've had so far. We started off talking about peace with God and are now beginning to work on peace with others.

Let's backtrack just a second to a verse we read last time. James 3:18 "The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." There was one more thing I wanted us to see here. It is sown by those who make peace. It doesn't say those who are peacable, it says those who make peace.

Peace doesn't come naturally. We have to make it.

We have to make peace with our circumstances.

We have to make peace with the fact that we are not in charge of the whole world.

We have to make peace with other people.

We have to make peace with our bodies and our mortality.

We have to make peace with time, because I can guarantee you that things rarely happen on our timetable.

We have make peace.

Peace requires our active participation and, if necessary, our sacrifice of liberties. Turn to Romans 14:16-19 and let's take a look.

"Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. so then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."

The verses in Romans previous to these deal with judging one another. Well, the quickest way for us NOT to make peace or build each other up is by judging. Now I'm not saying we should just let everyone do whatever they feel like and never say a word even if it goes against what the Bible teaches. No, there are two separate issues that we must keep in mind and there is a distinct difference in the two. One is meant to bind up, the other always tears down.

Are we the sin police? Do we go around checking under bedskirts and snooping through closets looking for sin in someone's lif that we can expose? Absolutely not. But, if sin becomes evident, it is our job to pray for that person. And then, if necessary, we prayerfully, prayerfully approach. The Bible gives us strict guidelines we are to follow when taking such a course.

Christ tells us in Matthew 18:15-17, "If your brother (that's a fellow believer)sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."

This is rarely the method used for rebuke, but it can be very powerful. It should never be undertaken lightly or with relish. But it is at times necessary to bring back a fellow believer who has walked away from his faith and is caught in a stranglehold of sin. Turning a blind eye to this kind of sin is a deterrent for those who remain faithful. We have been called to address it, unpleasant though it may be.

Next week we'll talk about the flip side of judging--personal preference.

Peace, Part V...Peace with Others

I've said before that in studying this fruit of the Spirit, we could call it Peace-The Prickly Fruit. Kind of like that cactus looking fruit you see at the grocery store, on display but I've never seen anyone actually pick it up and buy it. Well, we're picking ours up. Better put on some gloves before you cut into it, because it's gonna prick you.

You may be thinking I'm just saying that. So far, our talks have been mostly about our nobility through Christ and the niceties that come from our relationship in Him. That's not prickly, it's praiseworthy! The prickly part comes when we put that into practice. And here we are.

We'll begin by first digging into the truths found in James 3:17-18. "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

First, we see that wisdom itself is peaceable. Notice that it didn't say intelligence is peaceable. Intelligence and wisdom are two different things. Many who are intelligent have no peace. You can be highly intelligent and not the least bit wise. (Oh, don't let me get up on that soapbox today. Hoppin' down.)

Next, righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. What in the world does that mean? Well, let's put our overalls on and think like a farmer. Would we, as farmers, just throw our seed on any old patch of dirt and call it a day? No!

I was outside yesterday planting some early things. Before I could put the onions and potatoes in the ground, I had to prepare the bed. I had to work up the soil, breaking up clumps, pulling out sticks and debris. I had to add more compost to it. It took effort. It took thought.

Planting takes preparation. If we eventually want to reap the fruit of righteousness, we have to break up our ground in peace. Why does it say in peace? Because we, as farmers, cannot plant the seed until we have cut through some earth, pulled some weeds, and gotten a little dirty.

It's a hard row to hoe to get that seed in the ground. Remember, we're breaking up our ground. We turn up some ugly truths about ourselves. There may be some unpleasant confrontations with other believers. The weeds of the world are constantly trying to choke out our effort.

We must sow in peace. The peace of Him who called us, the peace of the God of peace. When we try to sow in our own strength and in our own time our rows are crooked and our plows get bent by hidden boulders. And besides, when we plant in our own strength, the only thing we end up producing is self-righteousness. And that's definitely not what we're after.

When we sow in peace we take our time. We are careful to pay attention. And we can hear the voice of the Master Gardener.

We'll talk more about it next week. Bring your trowel and your gloves.

Peace Part IV and a Few Spring Pictures More

We're still working our way through our Friday studies on Peace. This week will be the end of Peace with God. Next week we hit the bumpy road to Peace with Others. Thank you for the sweet notes I've gotten on this study. You are all a real encouragement to me.

We keep our peace when we give away our anxiety. We attain the victory only through Him who is our peace. Ephesians 2:12-22 puts it beautifully.

"Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for though Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

There is a lot we can glean from these verses.

• Without Christ we were separated from God. The only way to have peace with God is through the blood sacrifice of Christ. Did you see those phrases "having no hope" and "without God in this world"? Those are the things to be anxious about! But those are the characteristics of people before they come to Christ. They should not, cannot characterize a child of God. We have hope. We are never then alone in this world. People may fail us. Circumstances may threaten us. But we are never alone and never without hope. That is what gives us an unmistakable peace.



• "He Himself is our peace." When we as Christians have peace, we are able to live in our circumstances and live out our calling because the ultimate peacemaker is at work within us. We read in verse 17 that He came and preached peace. Even though throngs pressed Him wherever He went looking for a quick fix and a miracle meal. Even though rulers sought to kill Him and quiet His message. Even though an enemy slept in His camp. Even though all hell warred against Him. Those are not peaceful circumstances. But still He preached peace. No matter how dire, our present situations cannot compare. He is your peace. So what are you preaching? What is your attitude preaching? What are your actions preaching? What are your words preaching? Are they preaching peace?



• He also gives us peace through unity. Christ unites believers for a common purpose. What a comfort to know that no matter the place in the world or the difference in background, we have Christ as our common denominator and together we can work to make a difference for Him in the world.

Peace is possible. Peace is ours. But peace comes with a cost. It costs us our ability to control. We are required to turn over our anxieties to Him. It cost Him far more. That called for Christ's death. Such a high price, but freely given. You only have to take it.

Peace, Part III

We now return to our regularly scheduled program... Like an interrupted television broadcast, we were interrupted on our Friday series for a couple of weeks for our Valentine study. Well, I guess it was more of a love study. Now we're back at it.

Last time we were talking about the gift of Christ's peace and letting it have first place in our hearts. Letting it lead the way. Our spiritual GPS. For those just joining us, you can search at the bottom of the blog for Peace Series and it'll bring up the other two posts.

Now let's talk about why we need it.

We need all the peace available to us because we have some tough battles ahead. Psalm 34:14 tells us to "depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." Peace requires active involvement. Why?

Since the Garden of Eden we have been at odds with God. The flesh wants one thing, the Spirit wants another. Our first tendency is to self, is to run in the opposite direction from where God is heading. We're a lot like Eve. We take a bite of whatever fruit is in front of us. That's why the verse has to tell us to depart from evil--because that's where God usually finds us.

I'm not just talking about before we were Christians. We can see a thousand reasons right in front of us to be dissatisfied or afraid. There's always something going on that makes us antsy. There's always something on the horizon that would make us happier. Satan makes sure of that. We have to look for peace. We have to go after it. We have to wade through the mess of this world until we find it. Then we have to hold onto it with everything we've got.

We need to make sure we have a firm grasp on peace because we are going to need it. Take a look at Romans 16:20, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." Did you get that? The God of peace will crush Satan. That doesn't sound very peaceable does it? But sometimes we need to confront with conflict to come to a peaceable end. The part about having the victory sounds great, but it also sounds like we're going to come into some pretty close contact if we're going to do some spiritual stomping.

Let's turn to I Peter 5, beginning at verse 6. "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."

Did you notice the last part of Romans 16:20? It is only through His grace that we have the victory at all. On our own we have no power. On our own we "bite the apple" every time. That is why we fail when we try to take on things in our own strength. Only Christ is capable of overcoming. And He gives us victory only after we've humbled ourselves and given all our anxiety to Him.

Peace, Part 2

We're back to it today--our study on peace. Remember last week, I left off by telling you that Christ not only makes a place in His family for us, He presents us with a gift as well. To find out what that is, let's look at John 14:27. "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."

What is our gift? It is His peace. That is the same peace that let Christ sleep in the middle of a tempest while everyone around Him feared for their lives. It is the same peace that strengthened Him in the garden of Gethsemane. That is a supernatural kind of peace. That's the kind I need more of. Did you ever notice in twentieth chapter of John that the first thing Jesus said each time He appeared to His disciples was, "Peace be with you." We don't have to be fearful. We don't have to be troubled. The reason is not because He tells us to be peaceful people or gives us a generic gift of peace. He gives us His peace.

Because we have His peace, we should give let it have first place in our hearts. Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful." The peace that Christ gives to us is a gift. And like all gifts, it can be used or it can be stuck back in some closet and forgotten. What a waste that is!

A fearful Christian is a weak Christian. She is not remembering who God is or what Christ has given to her. I do not mean don't encounter fearful situations. I don't even suggest that our first response isn't fear, naturally it is. Christians don't live in some Pollyanna bubblegum universe. It's the real world and bad things happen to everyone.

It is when we get bogged down by our fears that we are forgetting Christ's peace in us. Something fearful may knock the breath out of us for a second, but it cannot knock us off the path if we are letting His peace rule in our hearts.

We were once given a GPS. When it came time to go visit relatives, we had two options. We could assume that we knew the way and leave the GPS in the box, after all we'd been this same way many times before, or we could use the gift. We could have made it there on our own, but we gave it a try. What a difference! Instead of having to stop to eat at every interstate McDonald's for 800 miles, we could just push the little food button and we had tons of options that were just a couple miles off the route that we never would've found otherwise. When we got to the cities, that sweet little GPS piped up and told us there was a traffic jam ahead and offered an alternative route. Left to our own devices, we'd have been left sitting in traffic. Life was certainly easier with a little help.

The same is true with Christ. His peace is a gift. We must dust off the box, open the gift, and let it lead the way. When we do, we'll find that we can discover a lot more with Him than we ever could on our own. He'll make a way when life piles up or offer us a detour when something comes along that could block our way. It's a great gift and we'll be thankful we have it--if we're willing to accept it.

Peace, Part 1

Life is quieting down a little here and it's time to get back to our Food for Thought Fridays. I'm going to start a series for us on peace. It'll take several weeks, so keep checking in each Friday. I'd love to have you join us for each one.

I've titled this study "Peace, the Prickly Fruit". Why? Because, this is a fruit of the Spirit that is impossible to cultivate without getting poked and scratched! We do not have peace despite the storm, we have peace through and because of it.

Peace is produced through adversity. A cactus can't bloom in a lush, tropical forest. It needs a dry, searing heat to reach its full potential. So do we. We are going to study together three points of peace--peace with God, peace with others, and peace with self. We can expect the going to be dry, hot, and dusty, but the fruit at the end will be sweet.

The first point for us to examine together is peace with God. We'll start off by turning to I Thessalonians 5:23. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." This verse tells us that He is the God of peace. Romans 15:33 also refers to Him as the God of peace. In Isaiah 9:6, one of the names ascribed to the Savior is Prince of Peace. And Matthew 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

When we start to porduce the fruit of peace we are carrying on a family tradition. Peace is a family character trait. You can tell I belong to my mother's family by my eyes. Everyone on that side of the family has big, brown eyes. My children have those same eyes. The same should be true of us spiritually. We should be marked from birth. People should be able to take one look at us and tell we are from the family of God because we are marked by the characteristic of peace.

We have all the rights and privileges of a child of the King but we must remember that they are not our naturally. They are ours through adoption, through Christ. Turn now to Romans 5:1. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Without that justification through Christ, we could not have peace with God. It is only by the covering of Christ that we are able to stand before a righteous and holy God.

However, he does not stop here. He not only makes a place in His family for us, He presents a gift to us as well.

If you want to know what that is, you'll just have to wait until next Friday.

Have a wonderful weekend!