God’s Peace

God is all about peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  Peace is a huge attribute of God, and our relationship with Him.

So what does it mean to have God’s Peace.

God is always at peace, because:

• He knows that the world is going according to His plan.
• He knows who is in control of everything.
• He knows who He is, and does not try to be something He is not.
• He knows that as bad as things appear, He is always close to His people.

Having the Spiritual Fruit of Peace requires us to have faith in the same thing.  To take on this certainty of God, and make it our own, through the prompting and promise of Holy Spirit

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.
John 14:27

We are told that the peace we have when we are in the Spirit is not the World’s peace, which is dependant on circumstances; but God’s peace which is dependant on our faith, and doing what we are taught.  We are not told that we will not be troubled or afraid, we are told not to be troubled or afraid. 

God’s peace is not the world’s peace.

It is better, because nobody can take it away from us.

How do we love?

So how do we show love for others if love is so important?

We all know John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  However I think we sometimes conveniently forget 1 John 3:16.  “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

Love is by nature self-sacrificing.  Laying down your life is not about dying for someone else, it is about living for them.  Laying down your life means letting go of the throttle hold that we have on our own rights, our own interests, our own wants, and choosing to lay that down, and take up the interests of someone else.

It is not about thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.

If we love, then the other Fruit of the Spirit will come naturally.  If we don’t know how to love, then we need to focus on the other Fruit, and love will come naturally.

• If we are kind, we show love.
• If we are patient, we show love.
• If we are good, we show love.
• If we are gentle, we show our love.
• If we are self-controlled, we can show love.

(You see where I am going with this?)

Love is not a feeling, it is an act of our will.  The only way to show love is to do something loving.

 

Day Five : Tucked away (Belt of Truth)

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist… (Ephesians 6:14a)

 

Belts were useful for keeping our pants from falling down, but they were also used for something else.  If you wanted to run in a flowing robe or tunic, you might trip over your own clothes.

So soldiers, and other people, would reach down, and pick up the trailing material, and tuck it into their belt.

The belt kept them from falling over anything, and allowed them to move faster.  (Even if they looked like they were running in baggy pants.)

 

I heard a saying once.  “Always tell the truth, it is easier to remember.”  I often see that in practise.  People get caught up in lies, telling themselves things like “It is for her own good” or “It doesn’t really matter” or “Sometimes the truth hurts more than a lie.”

The problem with a small lie is that it is like being a little pregnant…. sooner or later it will show, and give birth to something bigger.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:31-32)

We need to live in the light of the Truth, always.

There is no excuse to depart from the Truth.  God is Truth, Satan is the Father of Lies.  When we tell lies, we are speaking his language.

We need to always tuck ourselves into the belt of Truth, so that nothing will hang down and trip us up on our path.