Never-Ending, Unshakeable Peace

John 14:27 – 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 yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.} (emphasis mine)

John 14:20 – …I am in My Father, and you {are} in Me, and I {am} in you.

John 14:30 – {Satan} …has no claim on Me. {He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.} (emphasis mine)

Following the progression in the above Scriptures, we are encouraged and instructed through this good Word to receive and constantly evidence deep abiding peace – always. No matter what the day’s circumstances bring, peace is to be a defining characteristic in the life of a Spirit-filled believer. Through the Holy Spirit God lives in us. Jesus lives in us. There is nothing that we will encounter that diminishes that Truth. We see here the overcoming force of the believer obeying and working with the Lord – through His Spirit Who lives in us. Synergy – two working together.

Each believer must own the Truth of these verses. When we, without reservation, without the diminishing power of unbelief, fully accept God’s Word as true, when His Word is more dear and defining to our lives than any other idea or circumstance or attention-grabbing issue, then peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) is the inevitable result.

First, in Verse 27, we understand that Jesus has given His peace to us. When the enemy, the world’s attitudes and troubles, and the concerns and ailments and longings of the flesh try to hinder your faith walk (that’s what the world offers us), Jesus tells us that He has already given us, bequeathed to us, His peace. Knowing that, believing and receiving that, agitation, disturbedness, fear, intimidation, unsettledness have no place to live in us. Our Lord’s instructions to us that help us maintain this peace are very clear. “Stop allowing!” We have a role to play here. The role is to believe that our Lord speaks Truth. His peace is ours, and everything else that falls short of that Truth may not stand in our lives. We need to recognize when our heart peace is being challenged and stolen.

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule {act as umpire continually} in your hearts {deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state} to which as {members of Christ’s} one body you were also called {to live}. And be thankful (appreciative), {giving praise to God always}. (Colossians 3:15)

In verse 20, the extraordinary, awesome way in which our Creator determined to interact with His children is revealed. Knowing our frame, our weaknesses, He enables us to realize all of His benefits by living in us. The Holy Spirit of God dwells in each believer to teach and guide and come alongside and counsel and strengthen us (John 14:16). The divine interaction of Jesus in God, and us in Jesus and God in us reveals the heart and the love of God for His creation – you! And with this holy impartation, there must be peace. How do we “stop allowing” anything at all that would try to diminish that peace? Faith in the Truth and reliability of God’s Word. True faith in our Father’s character and in His Word exhibits peace.

Finally, in verse 30, the Master speaks of his complete separateness and immunity to the devices of the enemy. “He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.” Because He lives in us, the same is true of us. The life of God, the Holy Spirit, fills us. There is no place in our lives for the machinations of a defeated foe (Colossians 2:15), the “dictates of the flesh” (Romans 8:1), or the errant philosophies of the world (Romans 12:2). Never-ending, unshakable peace is the heritage of God’s Spirit- filled sons and daughters.

Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (Philippians 4:7 – Message Bible)

Faith-Filled Words

In John 10:17-18 Jesus speaks in advance of His death and resurrection:

… I lay down My {own} life – to take it back again… I am authorized and have power to lay it down (to resign it) and I am authorized and have power to take it back again…

With His spoken word He established – He spoke prophecy to – future events. He made His future outcome – death and resurrection – inevitable.

From Genesis 1 through Revelation 22 we are instructed about spoken word power. God raised up prophets throughout the time period of the Old Testament to speak forth that which would inevitably be. His spoken word (“And God said…) created all that we see (Genesis 1; John 1:3), and His Word is “upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe” (Hebrews 1:3). He established His plans and purposes for the nation of Israel, the surrounding nations, and individual lives through the words He gave to His prophets to speak. And those words of prophecy, uttered in obedience, with the sure conviction that they were God-ordained, became reality.

Those prophetic words spoke of the judgments that would come in response to Israel’s rebellion, and, in the manner prophesied, they did come as indicated. They spoke of the coming of the Messiah (with specific arrival time – Daniel 9:25), the virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior (Isaiah 53), The outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29), end times events, and the ultimate establishment of His kingdom. From “And God said…(Genesis 1:3) through the admonition to honor “…the predictions and the consolations and admonitions pertaining to them) in this book…” (Revelation 22:18) our Creator is teaching us about the character and effective operating procedures of our world. The spoken word establishes reality (for good or for evil – Proverbs 18:21; Matthew 12 :37).

Jesus, the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14), is our Lord and Savior. It is in Christ, in the Word of God, that we have our identity, our salvation, our authority, our example in all things. The eternal God, the Creator of all that we see, established this Truth: faith-filled words, His Word proclaimed – coming forth from the hearts and mouths of His redeemed people – establish His purposes on the earth and our future days (Hebrews 11:3).

John 12:49-50 – …I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders {concerning} what to say and what to tell… whatever I speak, I am saying {exactly} what My Father has told Me to say and in accordance with His instructions.

In a timely manner, while writing this entry, I received a partner letter from Kenneth Copeland Ministries with the title “Faith-Filled Words Created All Matter”. In it he writes:

“We live in a word-created, word-upheld, word-dominated environment…You, me, and everyone else are living today in the environment we created yesterday with our words. The only thing that will change it is to change what we are saying.” (emphasis mine)

Determine today that what always comes forth out of your mouth is the positive, powerful Word of God. Honor Him by speaking our His Word in faith (Isaiah 62:6). With your Father’s Word, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit you create your tomorrows.