“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you…” —John
14:27
“Are you severely troubled right now? Are you afraid and
confused by the waves and the turbulence God sovereignly allows to enter your
life? Have you left no stone of your faith unturned, yet still not found any
well of peace, joy, or comfort? Does your life seem completely barren to you?
Then look up and receive the quiet contentment of the Lord Jesus. Reflecting
His peace is proof that you are right with God, because you are exhibiting the
freedom to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never
turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. […] With regard to the problem that is
pressing in on you right now, are you “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2) and
receiving peace from Him? […] … if you only try to worry your way out of the problem,
you destroy His effectiveness in you, and you deserve whatever you get. We
become troubled because we have not been taking Him into account. When a person
confers with Jesus Christ, the confusion stops, because there is no confusion
in Him. Lay everything out before Him, and when you are faced with difficulty,
bereavement, and sorrow, listen to Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled…”
(John 14:27).” CHAMBERS
Sometimes we have to be reminded about certain immutable …
never changing … facts. When you were
born again you were given a new nature.
That new nature is spiritual. But,
you are still subject to the effects of a fallen world. Just because you are a Christian does not mean
you will not suffer from a broken heart, illness, or financial hardship … what
it means is that you have a capacity to endure all of those things by the power
of the Spirit in you. The fruit of the
Spirit is (Galatians 5:22-23) “love,
joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control”. The fruit is a product of
your relationship with the Lord. The closer
you draw to the Lord as you walk in obedience to the Word, the more you will
see the fruit of that relationship. (Romans 8:4-5) “do not live according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh
have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” You must set your mind on the Spirit.
That means you can’t live your life any way you choose and
then, like a light switch, turn on your Spiritual nature to get you out of a
jam. In fact, the point of the fruit of
the Spirit will see you through a circumstance, and not save you from it. Most of the trouble that we face is not
something that leads to death. Did you
notice that “good health” is not one of the fruit? Neither is financial prosperity. Are you struggling with something that is
sapping your strength .. interrupting your sleep? As hard as you pray, God may
not make it go away, but He has already provided the means for you to endure
it. The world doesn’t need to see how a
Christian lives with no problems … but instead how Christians endure in the
midst of their troubles. (James 1:2-4) “Consider it pure joy, my
brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know
that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish
its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Think about it. ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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