This week we talked about peace. It is among the "fruit
of the Spirit" and something that has been given to us by God that we NEED
in this life we live.
In John 14:27, Jesus tells us that, through the Holy Spirit,
He would be leaving us HIS peace. He also says that He does not give like the
world does — based on conditions of what is earned or deserved. The peace He
gives us is a gift without condition. It is given by faith, through grace.
But what is peace? It is a lot more than a warm feeling. The
Greek word for peace at is it used in the New Testament is eirene, which means
security, safety, prosperity and felicity. It has the same meaning as the Old
Testament, Hebrew word, shalom. The essence of the word shalom (health, wealth,
peace, joy, highly favored) is "nothing missing and nothing
broken." This runs a lot deeper than an emotional good feeling.
Romans 5:1 and following says we have peace with God because
of what Jesus did. We need to forgive
ourselves because God forgave us. We
need to receive God’s grace in order to experience His forgiveness and the
peace that comes with it. We have access
to peace because of Christ, not because of what we do or do not do.
Psalm 119:165 tells us how we truly tap into this peace. It
says that those who love the law will find great peace. Now, you are not
earning peace by keeping the law. Firstly, it doesn't say that those who KEEP
the law find this peace — but those who LOVE it. Loving the law means our heart’s
desire is to follow God’s principles. We
are incapable of keeping all the law, but we can love it because of the fruit
God’s principles can bring in our lives, and the ability we have from the Spirit
to follow God’s principles despite our flesh. The more we know and
understand about God's principles, the more we realize that they are designed
to bring blessing to our lives. So, then our desire to obey Him is rooted in
understanding His love for us and not religiousness.
When you learn to DESIRE to live by God's principles, you
will make your own way prosperous. Obeying is not going to make God love you
more, but it will cause you to experience more of the love He has for you.
Ephesians 6:14-16 talks about the armor of God. The truth is the center. Then the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness is
put on to cover our heart. Our feet were
fitted with the Gospel of peace. Why
does peace have to do with our feet?
Because the enemy is under our feet.
He is defeated because of Jesus
and the peace He gives us with God.
Finally, like all of the fruit of the Spirit, you exercise
it by making a choice to let it flow out of your heart (where it already is
residing). Your flesh and your soul are not capable of having the "peace
that goes beyond all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Now peace can guard
our hearts and minds through Christ (instead of us having to guard it like in
the Old Testament). Only the Spirit in
you can bring that. It can allow you to have peace when it makes no sense that
you would have peace.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on
online media. To learn more about Living
Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
