LEARNING DAILY

Galatians 5:22-23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Philippians 4:6-7, 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.

Jim Piper spoke on the fruit of peace at NorthRock Church this past weekend. Peace is talked about so often in the world today. It is obvious the peace the world talks about is not God’s peace. “God’s peace exceeds everything we think about; His peace guards our heart and mind” (JP).  In Audrey’s notes she has written, “God’s peace is not dependent on circumstance; God’s peace comes in the middle of unsolved challenges. It is beyond human logic. It is a gift from God; it is not created through positive thinking.  It is spiritual in nature; the more you walk with God, the more peace one has (Galatians 5:25).”

Choosing to pray when anxiety comes results in the peace of God – three things happen according to Paul’s writing to the Philippians. First, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”. It is truly amazing how God responds to those who pray in the midst of their difficulty. Second, God “will guard your hearts”. Through Scripture Believers are told that their heart influences all aspects of their heart; it is to be guarded at all cost! Third, God’s peace will guard “your mind”.

To continue with what Piper said, “If you walk with God, His peace is already in your possession” (John 14:27). He explained with three thoughts why Believers do not experience God’s peace more fully. First, he said this was “because we forget life includes ‘unavoidables’.  Jesus said, “In this life you will experience troubles. The narrow way is not the easy way! “For some reason, we are always surprised by troubles. Peace is not the absence of trouble; it is giving it to God as soon as it comes” (Audrey’s note). Has anyone been able to stop the uncontrollable things from happening? “Stop trying to be God and control life” (JP).

The second reason believers do not experience the peace of God more fully is “because we forget that God will make all things right in His time [and I will add in the way He knows best]”. His way, His time – even if its not in our lifetime – is always best. Piper added, “The truth will come out and the things needing to be corrected will be corrected”.

The third reason believers do not experience the peace of God more fully is, because we focus on the problem instead of focusing on God”.  Audrey wrote, “what we focus on magnifies”. Piper suggested that Believers “replace worry with prayer. In prayer, tell God what you need. Always express gratitude for all your blessings and replace bad thinking with good thinking.”

Let me encourage each person who reads this to do what Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Walking the narrow way with the Lord is not freedom to do whatever we want. This verse tells us that we walk with the Holy Spirit as a Believer keeping up with Him and going where He leads. This does not happen automatically; it is a day-to-day choice. Doing so is the only way to bring peace, “God’s peace” into our life!