Lasting Peace, Love & Joy, Really?
We often hear these three words, especially around the holidays. The rest of the year, not so much. Have you ever wondered why? Are they just concepts that we aspire to, or are they obtainable and sustainable? What if I told you it is both? Peace, love, and joy are not only obtainable and sustainable, but available!
I can tell you aren’t quite convinced. That’s Ok, because I want to lay some foundation as to why it is true and some reasons why they seem out of reach.
But before I do, let me say thank you to everyone who has watched, listened, and read the blogs on Time With The Father. We are starting our second year of sharing God’s Word and I want to take a moment to thank those who have encouraged and supported me as I stepped out in faith. If you sense God is saying to you to do something like this to share the good news of the Gospel - Just Do It! We are stepping out in new ways this year and would love for you to be a part. There is a Buy Me A Coffee in the description below.
First, we must understand the people behind Peace, Love, and Joy. God the Father embodies Love, Jesus the Son bequeathed His Peace, and we find Joy in the Holy Ghost. These are Scriptural truths. If you think peace is fleeting, we read in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If you think God is absent and uncaring, He sent His only Son to die for our sins, showing His great Love for mankind in John 3:16. Not to leave out the Spirit of God - When He fell on the disciples in the Upper Room in Acts 2, the joy and boldness they received from the Holy Spirit changed their lives and the direction of their lives forever.
Maybe you believe this, but maybe you believe some other things as well that hinder you from walking in the lasting peace, love, and joy. Let’s take a brief look at three areas.
Religion - I am not talking about true religion, but a spirit that distracts, demands, and demeans. As Christians, we can be quick to judge others, without giving ourselves the same judgment test. Love, joy, and peace fly out the window when we fail to look in the mirror and put invalid expectations on others. Religion without relationship makes a person proud.
~But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: “God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6Witchcraft - This demonic force runs rampant on the earth, as well as in the church. What! Let’s be wise to how the world pulls people in with practices and ways that seem harmless. Here are some examples: Horoscopes, wigie boards, tara cards, TV shows, movies, and books that promote magic, sorcery.
~For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.” I Samuel 15:23~ O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 3:1-3
Idol worship/Self-love - This runs a close second in our world today with selfies, self-help groups, and humanistic teachings. The importance of knowing God’s Word rings truer today than ever.
~For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! II Timothy 3:2-5
Although we said God the Father embodies Love, Jesus the Son bequeathed His Peace, and we find Joy in the Holy Ghost, we read in Colossians 2:9 that Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead. When He walked the earth, He told His disciples that if they saw Him, they saw the Father. That means that through Jesus alone, we not only find peace, love, and joy, but He is the sustainer of them in our lives. God set this divine order in place, and you and I are invited to participate.
I invite you today to believe by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and watch Him download to you the Father’s love, His great sustaining peace, and the joy of the Spirit of God.
Leave me a comment, like, share, and subscribe and most of all spend some time with the Father this week. Until next Sunday, remember, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. ~ Dr. Michele
