Shalom

[toad]

“The beauty of the sunbeam lies partly in the fact that God does not keep it; He gives it away to us all.” (David Swing)

I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27 NLT)

I am noticing a direct link between joy and peace. After all they are listed side by side in the fruit of the Spirit. Love first, then joy and next peace (Galatians 5:22). Jesus said that He was leaving us a gift, which means that it is free and you don’t really have to work for it. You do have to believe that you can receive it though. When Jesus told the disciples that they would receive peace of mind and heart, they were not very peaceful. He had just told them that He was going to die. They were going to lose their best friend, and couldn’t do anything about it. When reading the Scriptures I some times close my eyes and in my mind place myself at that time and place in history. At this place in the ministry of Jesus and the disciples I find no laughter. The only thing I can compare it to would be sitting by the bedside of a loved one who was dying. You pray that they don’t die, but sometimes the end comes, and we have been expecting it. I am not saying this to promote doubt in my prayers or anyone else’s; it’s just that this does happen. I still continue to pray for healing. I am sure also that the disciples who were taught how to pray, prayed that the death of Jesus would not happen, but it did. Jesus said the He would give us a peace that was not like the peace that the world gives. Exactly what kind of peace does the world give? When we say we have peace, it is when we are not at war. The peace the world gives is absence of conflict. Therefore the peace that Jesus gives must be different. It is a peace that we can experience even when there is conflict around us. I remember when I was a brand new Christian of around two years, how my mother went into the hospital for surgery. Her body was weak and she did not recover the surgery. She lived for seven days after the operation. That whole time there was a remarkable peace that was surrounding my life. I did not understand it, and at the time I referred to it as the presence of the Lord. Which it was, but the presence brought peace. I asked the minister at the hospital why I felt such a strong presence of the Lord, and he said it was because the Lord was needed. Today I understand that peace is a spiritual force just as joy is a spiritual force. Joy is not happiness and can be experienced when there is no happiness. Spiritual peace is not absence of conflict and can be experienced even in conflict. Joy and peace are spiritual strengths and have nothing to do with what the world gives to us. Today I am so grateful that Jesus left us these gifts. May I understand that as gifts I must receive them, to have them. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………………JRE

“The idea of endlessness is to the kingdom of God what carbon is to the kingdom of nature. As carbon is present almost everywhere, as it is an essential element in all living matter and supplies all life with energy, so the concept of everlastingness is necessary to give meaning to any Christian doctrine. Indeed I know of no tenet of the Christian creed that could retain its significance if the idea of eternity were extracted from it.”
A.W. TOZER………………. The Knowledge of the Holy

[cmc]

Therefore the peace that Jesus gives must be different. It is a peace that we can experience even when there is conflict around us.

Toad,
Thanks.... I can recall a few times myself when I was experiencing this peace and joy as well during some very trying times. One night I was coming home from spending a few days with my father who was dying. It was about a 3 hr drive home and I left at sunset during a bad thunderstorm. Crying and grieving for him, plus all the stress of having to leave my 3 little ones home, missing alot of time from work etc. had become too much for me. As I prayed and thanked the Lord in my trial, my emotion or perhaps my spirit was changed to something best described as elation. I was dumbfounded but knew this was His promise fulfilled! I am thankful today to know that when things are at their worst... He is able to be present with us whether or not we may 'feel' or sense His presence!!

[best]

I am sure also that the disciples who were taught how to pray, prayed that the death of Jesus would not happen,

and Peter stepped out with his boldness and said...It will not happen. I won't let it happen. And Jesus told him to back off because it must happen for mankind to be saved. It is God's plan.

I remember a time back when I first became a Christian and I was going through a rough emotional battle. I was in the most emotional pain I have ever been in but when I called out to the Lord, I felt such a peace. A peace that transends all understanding. Without the turmoil and pain, I would never know such a wonderful peace. I don't ever want such pain in my life again but I would like feeling such a peace at full measure. Can't have one without the other.
What I do know... if ever such pain comes into my life, the peace will be there as well. I can handle all things through Christ that strengthens me (and fills me with peace)

When I first read of Stephen's stoning and how at peace he was as they were stoning him to death... I asked how could he be at peace? After being filled with such peace when I was in my own emotional pain, a pain that was so deep it became a physical pain... the peace that filled me gave me understanding of how Stephen could be at peace in such a time... The Lord brings the increase as the need increases.
My Grace is sufficient

[cwohio]

thank you toad!