Peace

Prior Page:  Love

This is in early draft form, but shared so that it may be a blessing in your life…

The Effect of Love

Peace is possible through the fruit of Love.  The process for allowing true Love to flow through you creates a change within you.  Once your focus is on Loving those who God intends for you to Love, you stop focusing so much on yourself, and Christ’s promise of Peace comes to fruition.

The Danger of Focusing on Peace Too Soon

Misunderstanding Peace

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Elusive

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Fleeting

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Peace Defined

Peace
1. the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.
2. ( often initial capital letter ) an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities and abstain from further fighting or antagonism: the Peace of Ryswick.
3. a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations: Try to live in peace with your neighbors.
4. the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security: He was arrested for being drunk and disturbing the peace.
5. cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.
6. freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity.
7. a state of tranquillity or serenity: May he rest in peace.
8. a state or condition conducive to, proceeding from, or characterized by tranquillity: the peace of a mountain resort.
9. silence; stillness: The cawing of a crow broke the afternoon’s peace.
10. ( initial capital letter, italics ) a comedy (421 b.c.) by Aristophanes.

It’s important to keep in mind that Peace does not come on your terms, it comes on His terms.  Peace does not come for those who live their life the way they want to, and make decisions without consulting their Lord, Jesus Christ.  Peace is the fruit of Love, it’s not something that is automatic just because you ask for it.  As you align with Christ through the “stage” of Love, Peace naturally blooms in your life.  Peace comes through the growth in your relationship with Christ, and by the experience of obeying His wisdom and guidance.

The word Peace appears in 369 verses in the New King James Version of the Bible. God must be telling us this is a pretty important topic!  http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=peace&t=NKJV

Peace from God’s Wrath

The Old Covenant was a covenant between God and Israel. The Old Testament is a story of how His people, even in the face of direct supernatural intervention, turned their back on Him, and how God dealt with them through punishment. It is a book of Law and rules and the focus is on obedience. God commanded the use of peace offerings to represent sacrifice and atonement from sin. Peace offerings are meant to be sacrificial in nature, in order to assure communion with God, despite and especially in response to sins committed against Him.

However, through God’s grace, we are now the beneficiaries of a New Covenant in Christ. This covenant with God promises peace from His wrath, through His mercy through the atonement of the sacrifice of His Son. Jesus became our peace offering, one that cannot be added to. This covenant is a covenant of Love; God offers us a relationship with Him, through communion with Christ, so that we may be holy because He is holy.

For your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.

For the LORD has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God.

“For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.

With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the LORD, your Redeemer.

“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.

For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
– Isaiah 54:5-10

Peace from Performance

It’s important to understand that we do not earn our salvation through our own goodness or worthiness. The Bible states that Jesus took on the sins of the world (past, present, and future) so that we could share in communion with Him.

He accepted the full punishment for your sins! This is critical to understand in order for you to receive the Peace that He offers. If someone you loved had a debt that they could not pay and you paid that debt for them, how would you feel if they said “thank you” but continued to make payments on the debt that you already paid? You’d likely say something like, “but I already paid the debt, you’re free from obligation!” And they say “I know you paid the debt, but I’m just so unworthy of your Love and grace, I need to continue to sacrifice”. And you say “but I paid the debt because I love you and I want you to be at Peace from this obligation – I don’t want it to weigh you down!” They say, “thank you, but I just can’t believe that you would do such a thing”. And you say “but it’s already done! The debt is paid!” This scenario would likely leave you feeling very hollow about the relationship.

In a sense, the above dialog is basically what’s at work between God and the person who believes that He requires them to be obedient or do good works in order to earn forgiveness. No! Forgiveness is a gift of His grace through the gospel (the too-good-to-be-true news) of Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Obedience and good works are the fruit of a restored relationship with Him, not the way to earn His Love, grace or mercy. You already have His Love, grace and mercy. All you have to do is accept it.

This release from the need to perform to earn God’s Love is a key to receiving His Peace. He paid more than you owed with the sacrifice of His Son. Accept that for what it is, even though you don’t deserve it, and be freed from the bondage of trying to earn His Love.

Peace from Religion

Peace from religion could be a component of the ‘Peace from Performance’ topic, but it is distinct in some ways and important to grasp on its own, so will be discussed separately here.

Jesus doesn’t care what church you go to. Jesus doesn’t call you, or care if you choose, to call yourself Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Latter-day Saint, Seventh-day Adventist, or anything else. What Jesus cares about is your heart, and that your heart is focused on Him and that you demonstrate trust in Him, based on the scriptures. Period. Let this sink in.

Whatever activities your church (or religion as a whole) mandates, encourages or suggests that are not explicitly part of the New Covenant of Christ are also man-made. They are man’s attempt at either control, pursuit of their own agenda, or possibly innocent misunderstanding of the Word of God. This can take many forms:

The Call to Tithes and Offerings

Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
– 2 Corinthians 9:5-7

Read the above one more time.

According to the New Covenant, you are not obligated to give. The New Covenant releases us (as believers in Christ) from Old Testament obligations. You are not obligated to give because your church tells you to, and you certainly are not obligated to give to your church because your church tells you to. Be wary of marketing disguised as God’s truth.

Christ’s sacrifice provides God’s unconditional Love, as long as we accept it. Period. We do not earn favor with God with tithes and offerings. Cheerful giving is the fruit of our communion with Him. It is a fruit of Prosperity (read next page for details).

This is contrary to what many churches would tell you. Most churches would tell you that the commands and promises concerning tithes in the Bible apply directly to our lives. today They’ll site Malachi 3:8-10, as an example:

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”
– Malachi 3:8-10

However, they fail to account for, or at least fail to provide the proper perspective for, the fact that these commandments come from the Old Covenant, and that Christ’s sacrifice releases us from obligation (read 2 Corinthians 9:5-7 again if you need).

It’s understandable why they would teach this way: if no one gave tithes and offerings, churches would not have the reach that they currently have. The problem is that the vast majority of tithes and offerings are man-induced rather than spirit-induced. The church leader will stand in front of the congregation and proclaim that God commands tithes and offerings, and basically expresses that you will either be punished or are missing out on blessing if you don’t tithe – then, of course, they hand out the offering plate. These tithes are basically meaningless to God under the New Covenant, from a spiritual perspective. The “tithes” may be put to good use, but who is to say that the tithe given is actually being used for God’s truth, when the call to tithe itself was not based on God’s truth?

Spirit-induced tithes, on the other hand, are spirit-led (imagine that!). The Spirit leads in revelation through prayer and environment. The Spirit may promise blessing, but that’s between you and Christ. He will reveal how to use your time and materials for His purpose, and your obedience is fruit of your trust in Him.

The point is, you can be at Peace that God will Love you the same whether you tithe 0% or 10% or 90% of your income. It simply is of no effect on your salvation or relationship with Christ.

Peace from Pride

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Covetousness

Without the focus on what others have that you don’t have, you begin to experience the Peace of accepting the blessing of what God has already provided.

Lust

Without the focus on carnal desires, …

Ambition

Without the need to make a name for yourself, …

Pursuit of Idols

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Releasing Control of Others

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Peace from Sin and its Effects

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Peace from Grudges

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Peace from Anxiety (?)

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Peace from Trusting God’s Plan

You don’t need to obsess about what is in your future or what your purpose is – that’s part of the journey.

Peace from Impatience

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[Heading for Component of Peace]

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Challenges of Peace

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The Effects of Peace on Those Around You

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How Peace Prepares You for Prosperity

When you are at peace, only then will you see clearly enough to recognize true Prosperity – the abundance of spiritual prosperity you already have, now and in your future.

God’s concept of prosperity is far different than yours.  His concept is infinitely more satisfying, but you won’t recognize that until you’re in Peace. Man’s preoccupation with financial prosperity, subverting Love and Peace, is the cause of much pain and sorrow in our world.

Next Page:  Prosperity