God gives us the choice to use our life to either serve
Him, self or Satan (John 3:16-18). We human beings search for peace
all of our life, usually exploring all the wrong places, until we find Christ.
When God's Spirit reveals the reality of Christ to us, we turn from the dark
life of separation from God to the spiritual walk of light and life (Romans
8:9).
There are two types of spiritual peace. One is peace with
God, and the other is the peace of God. Both of these transcend any earthly peace
we experience. They are true and present within us, regardless of our outer
circumstances. God's peace blesses us in every area of our life.
Peace with God comes when we surrender our life
to Christ and trust Him to save us from our sins. He leads us in His daily will
for us as we reject the influence of the world, the flesh and Satan (1
Thessalonians 1:9; John 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:10). God wraps us in His
wisdom and strength. As children of God, we receive all the benefits of
adoption into God's Kingdom through our unity with Jesus, God's Son and Heir (Acts
26:18).
The peace of God is a fruit of His Spirit, which
we receive at salvation. It manifests in us as we rely on His Spirit instead of
our human strength and accomplishments. We allow the peace of God to rule in
our heart and to affect our body, soul and spirit (Colossians
3:15). We live by the faith of God's Son, who dwells in us by His
Spirit, and we trust Him to work out everything in our life for our good (Galatians
2:20; Romans 8:28).
Prayer:
Father God, we can never receive more of You than we have
at Salvation, because You move into our spirit with all the attributes and
power of the Trinity. However, we can enjoy more intimacy with You in
correlation to how much time we spend with You each day. The more of our flesh,
which we surrender to the Cross of Christ, the more of Your fullness we
experience (Ephesians 3:19). We can never control life, but
You always work things out for our good (Romans 8:28). In the
midst of the storms of life, Your peace keeps us calm within and gives us
wisdom for every situation, which we face (John 14:27).
Thought for the Day:
As His Word dwells within us, God's peace, which defies
human comprehension, guards and rules in our soul - our mind, choices and emotions.
- Colossians 3:16; Philippians 4:7
