14th of March, 2009 – Peace

Hello everyone,
How are you doing on this day? I hope well and bubbling in the Lord. We thank God because we have not been given the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father (Romans 8v15). Praise the Lord. The Bible says in John 14v27:

“Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourself to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]” John 14v27 (Amplified Version)

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14v27 (King James Version)

Imagine you wake up in the middle of the night, and everyone else in the house has gone to bed. You realize that you have a bit of a deadline to meet, something to hand in, in less than an hour. You might get a bit agitated – will I make it in time, why did I go to sleep for this long, oh no, oh this, oh that. You also realize that you are quite thirsty, but you remember something your brother told you that when he went downstairs at night once, the dog outside the house barked at him, and you still have your deadline to meet. So you begin to feel a bit disturbed, and unsettled. Now while this might seem like a small situation, project it into other things in your life – a phone call from your boss or teacher when you have not finished an assignment that was given, an exam which you don’t think you have studied enough for, a serious talk with your parents about your next steps in life e.g. job, marriage e.t.c., … anything.

Many times we let ourselves become agitated, disturbed, fearful, intimidated, cowardly and unsettled. Jesus is saying – stop. Don’t permit it. Just as we know that we have the Holy Spirit here dwelling with us, and in us, (John 14v17) and He is our Helper, our Teacher, our Advocate, our Intercessor, and we rely and trust in Him to be that, so also He is saying that I have given you this gift called My peace. How does His peace look? It is certainly not the sort that makes Him bold one moment, and cowardly the next; or settled one moment and unsettled the next. It is such that enables one to sleep in the midst of the storm, when others are frightened and trembling that they might perish. And it is such that enables you to slip out (not shaking ) in the midst of those who want you dead.

Activate it. How? Don’t let your heart become agitated, disturbed, fearful, intimidated, cowardly and unsettled – through things you feel, see, hear, speak peace to yourself. Another way is through prayer (you believe it is yours) and say –

Father, I thank You for Your peace, Your peace which passeth all understanding. I thank You for the peace You have given me, which is not as the world giveth. I accept Your peace O God. I live in perpetual peace. My heart you shall not be and are not permitted to be agitated, disturbed, fearful, cowardly, intimidated and unsettled. I have peace from God, in Jesus name I pray, amen. Thank You for Your peace O Lord. Thank You Jesus for giving me Your peace.