When Peace Is Like A River

By Amber Thiessen

How do you know if your soul has peace?

An elderly woman lies in her hospital bed, the sun sets, the lights go dim, she becomes restless and unsettled. Her son and daughter sit at her bedside, saying their goodbyes for the evening, reassuring her that they will come and see her the next day.

She stops them. Don’t go, she pleads.

They sit back down awkwardly, wondering at this request. She tells them she’s afraid. What happens if I fall asleep and I don’t wake up? She asks.

Ill-prepared to answer her, they gave some vague, calm reassurance and left, the unsettled soul to face her own fears.

In rural Africa, there was an older couple, the husband became sick over a few days, suddenly turned critically ill one night. On that same day, the wife became plagued with a loss of vision, she couldn’t drive and they were unable to evacuate for medical help.

As he recounted this story, he shared of their evening together, praying, worshiping, discussing his last wishes. He knew, as he lay his head down to sleep, he may not wake up the next morning, but, trusting his life in the hands of his Savior, he fell asleep in humble surrender.

What an example of perfect peace.

I’ve had fears in my life. Fears for my children and their safety, as we lived in rural Africa, or the season after my daughter’s bone marrow transplant, living in isolation, praying she wouldn’t “catch” anything bad with her weakened immune system. Fears in my mothering and my marriage, that I’m not good enough, that I’m not ‘measuring up’.

These fears creep in, increasing the temp of our heartbeat and causing thoughts to race through our mind.

The middle of a pandemic also causes fears to rise, as children go back to school, resume activities and masks become the new normal. There are fears because of so many uncertainties, as we are inundated with lots of information and new requirements. We wish that it wasn’t this way, we resist our new reality.

Peace is like a river

“For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream” Isaiah 66:12

As the old hymn goes, “when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say it is well, it is well, with my soul.”

A river is a body of water, channeled by it’s surroundings. The river curves and flows along with the landscape it finds itself in, across prairies, down the mountains, until it reaches it’s destination.

When ice jams, or fallen trees block the river’s path, it diverts, and the water finds itself flowing confidently in unknown (and unwanted) territory.

The river flows confidently because it follows the path of gravity: Obstacles may block it’s way, erosion changes it’s path, and the landscape guides it’s direction. Water won’t stop moving, it always keep going, even when it’s slow.

How is this true for us?

The Gospel reminds us that Christ is the Prince of Peace. He was destined to come to earth, to live a perfect life, to suffer betrayal, hatred and physical pain, in order that we would be reconciled to God.

When we love and follow Christ, that perfect peace flows steady like a river into our souls, because peace is our position in Him, it is our state of being.

In the same way, the peace of God is meant to confidently flow in our lives. When we face obstacles, the path may be redirected, or circumstances cause our way to bend, we remember that perfect peace is flowing like a river along with us on our journey.

So, is your soul at peace?

Posted at: https://www.amberthiessen.com/post/when-peace-is-like-a-river

Remembering Our Peace

Lara d’Entremont 

“I just want peace!”  I cried, as my little boy had yet another tantrum after being told not to stand on the kitchen table. I was surrounded by water running in the sink, messy counters, and a bowl of raw dough still needing to be cooked.

Maybe as a mom you exclaimed those same words as you threw your hands in the air while your children bickered over a toy for the tenth time that day. Maybe as a friend caught in a dispute you cried, “Can we just be at peace with one another?” Perhaps at work you wished for a peaceful day without any hitches. Perhaps you said it one weary day of scrolling through social media passing by bad news after more bad news.

We want peace. While some of us enjoy the ups and downs of a roller coaster, most of us don’t want that reflected in our daily lives. We like our calendars to be filled in an orderly fashion so we can flip to the future weeks and see how life will play out. We want our relationships to be predictable. But in a world cursed with thorns and thistles—or perhaps in better words, pandemics and paranoia—that’s not always the case

How do we tuck peace away in our hearts when we live in a sin-struck world? Where do we find “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:6–7) when our world feels like anything but at peace?

THE SOURCE OF OUR PEACE

When our world is disordered, we often run for comfort and distractions. Something to block out the noise so we can pretend for a moment that it vanished. A day off. A vacation. Scrolling through Instagram or Facebook. Binge-watching Netflix. Playing video games. An overflowing bowl of ice cream. Extra sleep. A run on the trail. And sometimes we do need that. Stress doesn’t just make us emotional—we also feel it in our bodies. Headaches, nausea, achy bones, stomach problems. When we’re in a stressful season, caring for our bodies is necessary.

But caring for our bodies won’t take away the stressful situation. Sleeping in won’t make our toddlers stop bickering in the afternoon. Getting more exercise won’t stop sickness from entering our homes. A vacation won’t heal our fraying relationship. Watching another season of our favorite TV show won’t make the bad news go away.

We have a better hope than the world does (John 14:27). As believers, Christ gives us perfect peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7) because he’s the Lord of peace (2 Thess. 3:16).

The source of our abounding peace begins with the gospel. When we were alienated from God, we had no source of everlasting peace. No hope of a future where all tears would be wiped away. We had no hope that our suffering held eternal purposes. We had no hope that if everyone abandoned us, we still had a perfect Heavenly Father who loved us. But now, in Christ, by grace through faith, we’re given this abounding peace. By Christ’s blood, we have this peace with the Father (Eph. 2:11–13). 

REMEMBERING OUR PEACE

We often cry, “I just want peace!” forgetting that we already have access to it. It’s not something we have to conjure up or go searching for. Christ has given us this peace by his grace. It’s already ours because we’re secured in him. When we feel restless and overwhelmed, it’s not about climbing and grasping, but about remembering what we already have.

How do we remember this peace we have been given? Here’s how God has instructed us:

Meditate on His Word

John Calvin wrote in his commentary that our peace “does not bend itself to the various shiftings of the world, but is founded on the firm and immutable word of God.”[1] When we set our minds on God’s Word, we can be encouraged and reminded of our eternal peace. As Calvin notes, God’s Word is firm and doesn’t shift and change like our lives and culture. It’s firm. By this unwavering Word, we’re reminded of God’s everlasting goodness, his unwavering love for his children, his abundant grace, and his kind sovereignty. We’re reminded of our secure place in God’s house.

Psalm 19 tells us that God’s Word revives our souls and rejoices our hearts (vv. 7–8). Scripture has this kind of power because it’s alive. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” (Heb. 4:12). No other book holds this kind of living power. This book has the words to save souls and bring courage to the weariest of pilgrims. Make room for God’s Word in your daily life and see it renew your fretful heart.

Look to the Church

Despite how isolating our suffering and stress may feel, God has not left us alone. After giving his disciples the Great Commission, Jesus declared, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” (Matt. 2:20b). One of those ways he is always with us is through the local body of believers. He knitted us into a family of children belonging to him. In this family, we’re to encourage and build one another up in our faith (Heb. 10:24–25). When stress fogs our eyes, we can look to other believers to clear the haze and remind us of our peace in Christ.

Sometimes this may mean remembering reasons to celebrate—other times it may mean crying together (Rom. 12:15). Sometimes it may mean being drawn shoulder-to-shoulder with a fellow believer so they can help carry our loads—other times it may mean being shown how to carry the burden better (Gal. 6:1–5). Whatever it may be, we can be reminded of our peace from our siblings in Christ. Stop suffering under fear’s crushing weight alone. Look to your local body of believers, lean on them, and learn how you can one day do the same for others.

Worship by Singing

We not only instruct and encourage one another with our words, but also by our singing. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God,” (Col. 3:16).

By God’s grace and creativity, the church is gifted with beautiful voices to sing truth. Let’s take advantage of this gift and use it to remind ourselves of our reasons to be peaceful beyond understanding. 

Call on Our Heavenly Father

Not when all else fails, but at all times, let’s call out to God with our anxious, restless hearts. As Paul penned to the church in Philippi, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Phil. 4:6–7).

Because of Christ, we can step before God’s throne and cry to him. We can follow the example of the psalmists and weep before God with truthful words. We can tell him our sorrow, our fears, our shame, and our anger. Maybe by our prayers we will find courage and end in praising our faithful Father. Or maybe it will simply be the act of bringing our grief and stress before God that we will find comfort. Whatever it is, call on your heavenly Father. Through Christ, he is always near and ready to listen to what his children have to say.

PEACE FROM GOD

If we’re at peace with God by the gospel—our wretched sins are forgiven by trusting in Christ—we will have peace from God. When all other ground is as sinking sand, as the hymn writer wrote, our feet can stand firmly on Christ, our Solid Rock:

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.[2]

Perhaps you want peace amidst your flaming suffering. Or perhaps you’re simply looking for peace within a hectic day with a toddler and housework like myself. Whatever our lot God draws for us, we can find peace by resting on his unchanging grace.

[1]  https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/philippians-4.html

[2]  Edward Mote (1797-1874), My hope is built on nothing less.

Lara d’Entremont is a biblical counselor in training, and her desire in writing is to teach women to turn to God’s word in the midst of their daily lives and suffering to find the answers they need. She wants to teach women to love God with both their minds and hearts. Lara is married to Daniel and they live in Nova Scotia, Canada. See more of her writing on her website, Twitter, or Facebook.

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/remembering-our-peace

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Ben Ciavolella

In light of Matt Foreman's insightful article, it seems appropriate to look at some practical advice from The Beatitudes by Thomas Watson.[1]. Here's what Watson had to say about becoming a peacemaker:

How shall we attain to peaceableness?

1. Take heed of those things which will hinder it. There are several impediments of Peace which we must beware of; and they are either outward or inward.

a) Outward; as whisperers (Rom. 1:29)

There are some who will be buzzing things in our ears purposely to exasperate and provoke; among these we may rank Tale-bearers (Lev. 19:16). The Tale-bearer carries reports up and down, the Devil finds his Letters by this Post; the Tale-Bearer is an Incendiary, he blows the coals of contention. Do you hear (saith he) what such a one saith of you? Will you put up such a wrong? Will you suffer yourself to be so abused? Thus saith he by throwing in his fireballs, foment differences, and set men together by the ears; we are commanded indeed to provoke one another to love (Heb. 10:24), but nowhere to provoke anger: We should stop our ears to such persons as are known to come on the Devil's errand.

b) Take Heed of Inward Hinderances[2] to Peace, such as:

i) Self-Love (φιλαυτία). Men shall be lovers of themselves (2 Tim. 3:2): And it follows, they shall be fierce (ἀνήμεροι; v. 3) The setting-up of this Idol of Self, hath caused so many Law-suits, Plunders, Massacres in the World. All seek their own (Phil. 2:21). Nay; it were well if they would seek but their own. Self-love angles away the Estates of others, either by force or fraud. Self-love sets up Monopolies and Enclosures; it is a Bird of prey, which lives upon rapine. Self-love cuts asunder the bond of Peace. Lay aside Self. The Heathens could say "We are not born for ourselves" (Non nobis solum nati).

ii) Pride (ἀλαζονεία). He That is of a proud heart, stirreth up strife (Prov. 28:26). Pride and Contention, like Hippocrates Twins, are both born at once. A proud man thinks himself better than others, and will contend for superiority. "Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence" (3 John 9): A proud man would have all strike sail to him. Because Mordecai would not give Haman the Cap and Knee, he gets a bloody warrant signed for the death of all the Jews (Esther 3:9). What made all the strife between Pompey and Caesar, but pride? Their Spirits were too high to yield one to another. When this wind of pride gets into a mans heart, it causeth sad Earthquakes of division. The Poets fain, that when Pandora's Box was broke open, it filled the world with disease. When Adam's pride had broken the Box of Original Righteousness, it hath ever since filled the world with debates and dissensions. Let us shake off this viper of Pride; humility solders Christians together in Peace.

iii) Envy (φθόνος). Envy stirreth up strife; the Apostle hath linked them together (1 Tim 6:4). Envy cannot endure a Superiour; this made the Plebeian faction so strong among the Romans, they envied their Superiours: an envious man seeing another to have a fuller Crop, a better Trade, is ready to pick a quarrel with him. "Who can stand therefore envy?" (Prov. 27:4). Envy is a vermin that lives on blood; take heed of it; peace will not dwell with this inmate.

iv) Credulity (ταχυτείθεια). "The Simple believeth every word" (Prov. 14:15). A credulous man is a kin to a fool; he believes all that is told him, and this doth often created differences. As it is a sin to be a Tale-bearer, so it is a folly to be a Tale-believer. A wise man will not take a report at the first bound, but will sift and examine it before he gives credit to it.

2. Let Us Labour for those things which will maintain and cherish peace, such as:

a) Faith. Faith and peace keep house together. Faith believes the Word of God; the Word saith, "Live in peace" (2 Cor. 13:11). And as soon as faith sees the King of heavens Warrant, it obeys. Faith persuades the soul that God is at peace; and it is impossible to believe this, and live in variance. Nourish faith; faith knits us to God in love, and to our Brethren in peace/

b) Christian-Communion. There should not be too much strangeness among Christians; the primitive Saints had their love-feasts (ἀγάπαι). The Apostle exhorting to peace, brings this as an Expedient: "Be ye kind one to another" (Eph. 4:32).

c) Look not upon the failings of others, but their graces; there is no perfection here. We read of the "spots of God's children" (Deut. 32:5). The most golden Christians are some grains too light. Oh let us not so quarrel with the infirmities of others, as to pass by their virtues. If in some things they fail, in other things they excel. 'Tis the manner of the world to look more upon the Sun in an Exlipse, than when it shines in its full luster.

d) Pray to God that he will send down the Spirit of Peace into our hearts. We should not, as Vultures, prey one upon another, but pray one for another. Pray that God will quench the fire of contention, and kindle the fire of compassion in our hearts one to another.

------

[1] Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes, or a Discourse Upon Part of Christ's Famous Sermon on the Mount (London, 1671). 

[2] Original: "lets" (credit to Banner's 2014 edition for clarifying). 

Ben Ciavolella is a student at Westminster Theological Seminary. He works as a publishing assistant for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

Posted at: https://www.reformation21.org/blog/blessed-are-the-peacemakers

MAKING PEACE AT HOME

David McLemore

The hospital won’t tell you this. Neither will the pediatrician. And parenting books don’t warn you. Here’s all you need to know about raising multiple children: it requires a degree in conflict management. Or at least a certificate.

Take my home, for example. The front door is a portal into a tornado of Nerf guns, baseballs, and empty snack carton. We moved during January and some walls could already use a fresh coat of paint! It wouldn’t matter, though. In our last house, the freshly painted ceiling lasted a week before the pristine white acquired a grease blob from one of those sticky hands traded in for tickets at Chuck-E-Cheese. My house has constant chatter and an ongoing wrestling match that may never have a winner but daily has losers, as the cries down the stairwell prove.

My house is just one example of the conflict swirling around all the time. Everywhere I go, conflict looms. We’re one decision away from it at the office. One misspoken word away at church. One tweet away online. I wish I had the ease of John Lennon’s imagination, that peace is “easy if you try." But I don’t, and you probably don’t either.

Peacemaking isn’t an easy gig. But God has called believers to be people of peace, so we can’t ignore it.

DEFINING PEACE

Have you ever tried defining peacemaking? It’s not as easy as it seems. My attempts, especially early on to my children, were filled with negatives. “Don’t do this.” “Don’t do that.” Peace sounded like the absence of things. And that’s true, to a degree. Peace does mean the calming of relational storms. It means forgiving and moving on. It means forgoing retaliation and removing oneself from the fray. But it also requires positive action.

When Isaiah looked down the corridor of history to see what was coming, he said, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa. 52:7, my emphasis).

In the midst of national conflict, Isaiah saw the end of it in the gospel’s publication. He saw the positive action of God swallowing up the negative action of his people. He saw not merely news of a cancellation or removal, sending Israel to its proverbial room, but news of justification and righteousness, a divine hug reconciling all things to himself.

God’s good news is the “gospel of peace” that Paul tells us to wear (Eph. 6:15). Paul’s Ephesian 6 metaphor is not a defensive strategy. It’s an offensive one. We are to put on God’s armor not to protect us from the world but to give us the tools by which we can push his kingdom forward. Of all the armor he gives, only the shield is to protect. The rest of the armor is for offense. So why do we hide so often? To be a peace maker means to be a warrior in Christ’s kingdom, suited in his armor, ready for every good deed, advancing into the conflict to pull things together.

When hell broke loose on earth, God moved in with holy action. When conflict arises, we need to step in. When it’s set loose in the home, we must do the same. And our children must learn to do so, too.

MAKING PEACE

Given our long history of sin, the bible shouldn’t reflect as positively as it does about God’s people. We have a glorious future because something happened two thousand years ago that changed the story. The Apostle Paul put it succinctly: Jesus made peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:20). While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). Facing cosmic conflict, God didn’t avoid it. He entered into the fray. He made peace.

In history’s most famous sermon, Jesus told his followers, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). To be a son of God means to be like God, like Jesus. He is an intervening God, willing to get his hands dirty, to empty himself, to serve as a slave. The reigning one became the crucified one. Why? To make peace.

So making peace is a messy business. It is cross-shaped and soaked with blood. To follow Jesus into his peacemaking work is to follow a path that leads to the grave where we lay down our selfish desires for the good of God’s kingdom, too. We set aside what we want for what God wants. We make peace like he did.

Like Christ, we must endure—and teach others to endure—the cross of peace-making for the joy set before us. The joy won’t come in the moment. It lies on the other side. The happiness of the gospel came with the resurrection, three days later. It might take days for peace making to unravel the shrouds of conflict. Pride. Anger. Resentment. Jealousy. Frustration. All are bound strong.

Going to those places and slaying those dragons is no easy task. It takes faith, hope, and love. It requires endurance. It necessitates the Spirit breaking into our lives. No wonder to do so is to be a son of God.

BRINGING PEACE

The easy way out of conflict is to avoid it, to usher in silence, to put the kids in separate rooms. But that only shifts the conflict from external to internal. Yes, the fists stop flying, but our hearts don’t stop feeling. We take what is seen on the outside and hold it captive inside. Hiding conflict in the corners of our heart, burying it in the darkest places of our soul only ensures the conflict rages on, and, in fact, grows. Like sin, conflict dies in the light. It breathes it’s last when something brighter enters in, when it is brought before Christ’s blazing glory.

The #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements prove this point. Those who kept conflict under wraps failed not only to love and care for those abused but failed to bring peace as Christ brings it. Those responsible for shepherding failed to fight off the lion, opting to move the sheep to a different pasture instead. The external conflict may have ended in one field, but peace was not brought to the world.

“A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace,” James 3:18 says. The wisdom of God tells us to be active sowers. “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing” (Proverbs 20:4). A farmer faces conflict every time he faces his field. To do nothing guarantees an empty harvest. Why do we think it’s any different in other matters? Diligent ones reap a full harvest.

The harvest of righteousness sown in peace is, like farming, an active duty. We may think we are bringing peace by not confronting conflict head on. But that is to let the weeds grow deeper roots. As Ray Ortlund has said in a sermon, “Just not building relationships of comfort and honesty and gentleness—not doing that is peace-depriving. We might have many ways of doing life that seem natural to us but in fact are forms of death.” Bringers of peace don’t neglect the field, they sow and reap.

The cries from my stairwell will never be silenced by sending the boys to their rooms. I must step in as Jesus taught me, making peace for his sake. Conflicts may loom large, but there is a king on a throne who can bind the strong man. We can trust him for a peaceful heart, for peaceful homes, and even for peace in the world.

David McLemore is an elder at Refuge Church in Franklin, Tennessee. He also works for a large healthcare corporation where he manages an application development department. He is married to Sarah, and they have three sons. Read more of David’s writing on his blog, Things of the Sort.

Posted at; https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/2019/10/11/making-peace-at-home

Peace is not the Absence of Conflict

Shepherd’s Press

The world is looking for peace. Whether it is in the children’s playroom or at an international negotiating table, peace is described as the absence of conflict. Thus, terms are sought to minimize or eliminate conflict. But this is a futile pursuit. A mom knows that discord and self-service rules young hearts. The sad reality is that diplomats attempting to negotiate peace treaties ignore this most basic truth: people are born at war with God and with each other. The human heart will not naturally be drawn to peace. Conflict is the natural disposition of the heart. Conflict comes because we are born driven to gratify the cravings of our bodies. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

This means that it is dangerous to identify peace as the absence of conflict. A forced or negotiated peace may end the external conflict but the inner turmoil remains. This is true for children as well as for the summits of world leaders. As long as the human heart is involved, true peace cannot be measured by the absence of external conflict. Peace without heart change is as elusive as a mirage. 

Rather, for Christians, our goal must be to know Christ in the middle of the conflict. Peace is the fruit of the presence of God’s Spirit. This means you can always know peace. We may never eliminate conflict but we can always know the peace that comes from knowing the God of peace. Instead of eliminating conflict, the Christian overcomes conflict with the powerful force of good. This means I don’t have to control people to find peace. God calls you and me to return good for evil. That way, even if the other person continues to do what is wrong, you can pursue Christ and find his peace.

You are to teach your children that they don’t have to retaliate to know peace. They are to find peace in doing what is right before God. If you are able to help your children see that peace is found in following Christ, rather than in eliminating conflict, you will have taught them a valuable life lesson. This focus keeps the gospel in constant view. Without Christ, true peace is never possible. Every conflict is always an opportunity to talk about our need for Jesus. 

Your goal is not so much to end conflict as it is to see hearts given to Christ. Don’t look for peace where it cannot be found. Make Christ the source of your peace. Help your children to know that conflict will always be with them. Help them to see that peace is knowing and following Christ in the middle of conflict.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart.

Posted at: https://www.shepherdpress.com/peace-is-not-the-absence-of-conflict-2/

Quiet Resting Places

Article by Charles Spurgeon

"My people shall dwell in quiet resting places."
-- Isaiah 32:18

Peace and rest belong not to the unregenerate, they are the peculiar possession of the Lord's people, and of them only. The God of Peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon him. When man was unfallen, his God gave him the flowery bowers of Eden as his quiet resting places; alas! how soon sin blighted the fair abode of innocence. In the day of universal wrath when the flood swept away a guilty race, the chosen family were quietly secured in the resting-place of the ark, which floated them from the old condemned world into the new earth of the rainbow and the covenant, herein typifying Jesus, the ark of our salvation. Israel rested safely beneath the blood-besprinkled habitations of Egypt when the destroying angel smote the first-born; and in the wilderness the shadow of the pillar of cloud, and the flowing rock, gave the weary pilgrims sweet repose.

At this hour we rest in the promises of our faithful God, knowing that his words are full of truth and power; we rest in the doctrines of his word, which are consolation itself; we rest in the covenant of his grace, which is a haven of delight. More highly favoured are we than David in Adullam, or Jonah beneath his gourd, for none can invade or destroy our shelter. The person of Jesus is the quiet resting-place of his people, and when we draw near to him in the breaking of the bread, in the hearing of the word, the searching of the Scriptures, prayer, or praise, we find any form of approach to him to be the return of peace to our spirits.

"I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God.
'Tis everlasting peace, sure as Jehovah's name,
'Tis stable as his steadfast throne, for evermore the same:
The clouds may go and come, and storms may sweep my sky,
This blood-sealed friendship changes not, the cross is ever nigh."

Charles Spurgeon

Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) served as the Pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England for nearly forty years and is the founder of Spurgeon’s College. Having preached to over 10 million people in his lifetime and being widely considered the “Prince of Preachers,” Spurgeon published more words in the English language than any other Christian in history and baptized more than 14,000 converts.

Posted at: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/quiet-resting-places

How to Find Strength in the Strength of God

Article by John Piper Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

How do you do a task in the strength of another? How do you exert your will to do something in such a way that you are relying on the will of another to make it happen?

Here are some passages from the Bible that press this question on us:

• “By the Spirit . . . put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). So, we are to do the sin-killing, but we are to do it by the Spirit. How?

• “Work out your own salvation . . . for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12–13). We are to work. But the willing and the working is God’s willing and God’sworking. How do we experience that?

• “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul did work hard. But his effort was in some way not his. How did he do that?

• “I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:29). We toil. We struggle. We expend effort and energy. But there is a way to do it so that it is God’s energy and God’s doing. How do we do that?

• “Whoever serves, [let him serve] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies” (1 Peter 4:11). We serve. We exert strength. But there is a way that our serving is the effect of God’s gracious power. What is that way?

Introducing A.P.T.A.T.

In 1983 I gave my answer in a sermon, and to this day I have not been able to improve on these five steps summed up in the acronym A.P.T.A.T. (rhymes with Cap That).

In 1984 J.I. Packer published Keep in Step with the Spirit, and gave the very same steps on pages 125–126. He calls it “Augustinian holiness teaching.” It calls for “intense activity” but this activity “is not in the least self-reliant in spirit.” Instead, he says, “It follows this four-stage sequence”:

First, as one who wants to do all the good you can, you observe what tasks, opportunities, and responsibilities face you. Second, you pray for help in these, acknowledging that without Christ you can do nothing—nothing fruitful, that is (John 15:5). Third, you go to work with a good will and a high heart, expecting to be helped as you asked to be. Fourth, you thank God for help given, ask pardon for your own failures en route, and request more help for the next task. Augustinian holiness is hard working holiness, based on endless repetitions of this sequence.

My five steps omit his first one (“note what tasks are in front of you”). I divide his second step into two: A. Admit (his word, “acknowledge”) that you can do nothing. P. Pray for God’s help for the task at hand. Then, I break his third step into two. He says “expect to get the help you asked for.” Then, with that expectation, “go to work with a good will.” I say, T. Trust a particular promise of God’s help. Then, in that faith, A. Act. Finally, we both say, T. Thank God for the help received.

A. Admit
P. Pray
T. Trust
A. Act
T. Thank

Trust God’s Promises

I think the middle T is all important. Trust a promise. This is the step I think is missing in most Christians’ attempt to live the Christian life. It is certainly my most common mistake.

“We don’t just pray for help hour by hour; we trust specific promises hour by hour.”

Most of us face a difficult task and remember to say, “Help me, God. I need you.” But then, we move straight from P to A — Pray to Act. We pray and then we act. But this robs us of a very powerful step.

After we pray for God’s help, we should remind ourselves of a specific promise that God has made. And fix our minds on it. And put our faith in it. And say to God, “I believe you; help my unbelief. Increase my faith in this promise. I’m trusting you, Lord. Here I go.” Then act.

Paul says we “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7) and “live by faith” (Galatians 2:20). But for most of us, this remains vague. Hour by hour how do we do this? We do it by reminding ourselves of specific, concrete promises that God has made and Jesus has bought with his blood (2 Corinthians 1:20). Then, we don’t just pray for help hour by hour; we trust those specific promises hour by hour.

When Peter says, “Whoever serves, [let him serve] as one who serves by the strength that God supplies” (1 Peter 4:11), we do this not only by praying for that supply, but by trusting in the promise of the supply in specific situations. Paul says that God supplies the Spirit to you “by hearing with faith” (Galatians 3:5). That is, we hear a promise and we believe it for a particular need, and the Holy Spirit comes to help us through that believed promise.

10 Promises to Memorize

So, here is my suggestion for how to do this. Memorize a few promises that are so universally applicable, they will serve you in almost every situation where you face a task to be done “by the strength that God supplies.” Then, as those tasks come, admit you can’t do that on your own. Pray for the help you need. Then, call to mind one of your memorized promises, and trust it — put your faith in it. Then, act — believing that God is acting in your acting! Finally, when you are done, thank him.

“Act — believing that God is acting in your acting!”

Here are ten such promises to help you get started. Of these, the one I have used most often is Isaiah 41:10.

1. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

2. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

3. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)

4. “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6)

5. “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalms 84:11)

6. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

7. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” (Psalms 23:6)

8. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

9. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

10. “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalms 50:15)

Never cease to ponder Paul’s words, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Not I. Yet I. By faith.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, and most recently Expository Exultation: Christian Preaching as Worship.

God’s Peace Is Different From the World’s Peace

Article by Nivine Richie

People everywhere search for peace. They sing songs about it and travel on pilgrimages to find it. They even wage war to protect it. Many wealthy, famous, and powerful people would trade everything for just one moment of peace. What they often find, however, is the world’s false peace which is different from the peace offered by Jesus:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

The peace offered by the world is an empty promise and can only bring temporary comfort. God’s peace is a permanent peace offered by the only One who can be trusted to keep his Word and heal our sin.

The world’s peace is fleeting and changes with circumstances.

During times of prosperity, nations experience temporary peace. But when economies struggle, countries find themselves on the brink of civil war as well as war with their neighbors. The peace of the world is a precarious thing. Conflict erupts when people are hungry; peace disappears when circumstances turn ugly:

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. (Micah 3:5)

The world’s peace is built on the weak foundation of compromise.

In the Old Testament, God warned the Israelites that if they inter-married for political reasons, they would face the temptation to compromise their love for the one true God and end up serving false gods. This compromise, though it would create a temporary absence of conflict, would ultimately lead to destruction:

Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you. (Exodus 34:12, NIV)

Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever. (Ezra 9:12)

The world’s peace ignores the root of the problem.

When asked, “What’s wrong with the world today?” many will point to volatile stock markets, corrupt governments, disappearing rainforests, poor diets, lack of healthcare, broken families, overcrowded schools, and more. The world tries to fix these problems by doing good: feeding children, building wells, regulating markets, conserving wildlife, funding charter schools, and thereby achieving a type of peace.

The world’s peace tries to fix the symptoms of sin but fails to see how the root of the problem is the sin-disease itself, something that can only be healed by Christ—not by money, regulation, or reform. Dealing with the symptoms of sin but failing to diagnose the sin itself is not new. In the Old Testament, the false prophets treated sin “lightly” and proclaimed the problem “solved” when it wasn’t:

They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).

Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash. (Ezekiel 13:10)

In contrast to the world’s promise of peace, God’s peace is permanent and firmly grounded in his Word. He doesn’t ignore our sin—he heals it, making his peace a different kind of peace from what we find in the world.

God doesn’t ignore our sin—he heals it.

CLICK TO TWEET

God’s peace is permanent and secure.

When circumstances are free of conflict, we enjoy momentary peace. But when we face difficult relationships, health problems, and financial crisis, the momentary quiet is disrupted and chaos rules the day.

Our God offers peace in the midst of chaos. His peace doesn’t change with the circumstances; it is secure in spite of the circumstances.

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

God’s peace is built on the sure foundation of his Word.

Young or old, male or female, we’ve all experienced the pain of a broken promise. No matter how much our families, friends, and coworkers love us, at some point, someone will disappoint us. And despite our best intentions, we are likely to disappoint someone else by saying one thing and doing another. God’s Word, however, can be trusted. He never contradicts himself or acts in a way that is out of character. He will never disappoint.

Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165)

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

God’s peace is ours because Jesus heals our root of sin.

All religions other than true Christianity have one thing in common: They try to achieve peace with God by doing works and following rules. Christianity is different.

In Christ, we are offered peace with God because we who “once were far off” (Ephesians 2:13) have been reconciled to God through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus’ sacrifice addresses the root of the problem that the world ignores. By his sacrifice, he bridged the gap that sin inserted between us and God. He took the punishment for our sin and, in exchange, he gives us peace with God.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility. (Ephesians 2:14)

And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (Isaiah 32:17)

While we experience eternal peace through reconciliation with God in Christ, we also receive the gift of his Holy Spirit. Because of him, we enjoy the blessing of peace in our daily lives—even when we find ourselves in the midst of turmoil.

Nivine Richie is a women’s Bible study author and teacher in Wilmington, N.C., where she lives with her husband and two grown children. She is the author of Enduring Faith: An 8-Week Devotional Study of the Book of Hebrews. A university finance professor, she is actively involved in the Christian faculty association on campus. Nivine has participated in and taught many small group studies over the years, and she seeks to help others launch their own small groups. She loves the coast, camping, and a good cup of coffee. Find her at www.unfoldinghisword.com.

Article posted at:  https://unlockingthebible.org/2018/08/gods-peace-different-worlds-peace/