LIVING AT PEACE

   In my 2nd article, I wrote "your definition of peace shouldn't necessarily be that no trials or harm would come your way, but having an assurance that no matter what comes your way, God will always be there to see you through. I know that at this point in time, living a life filled with peace is not that easy due to the economic crisis, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, increase in  all sorts of crime and other things like that. But as true believers that shouldn't bother us, because God said in Psalm 91, summarizing, that "we will live a long and peaceful life"  so it's up to us to believe it. Living a peaceful life isn't something that's gonna happen automatically when we get born-again, we have to pray for it daily, without ceasing because the evil, being the ruler of this world, constantly has his eyes on true believers because they are a threat to his kingdom. And because the devil knows that...

 1John 4:4  ...greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world... ... he tries to sneak into the lives of new born-again Christians, trying to scare them before they realize their full potential in & with Christ..

   We've all done things in the past that we're not very proud of and the devil is always trying to dig them up to bring us down. Someone said "whenever the devil tries to remind you about your dirty pasts, you just tell him about his future...in the bottomless pit" or like another said "whenever the devil knocks on your door, just ask Jesus to please get that door for you" Shikena! Some people might want to repent and start a new life with Christ, but something keeps telling them in their mind "I don't think Jesus will accept you back after all the horrible things you've done". Well, guess what? Jesus doesn't really care about all that, he doesn't care if you were a killer, rapist an addict,you just name it, all He cares about is your future. When the thief on the cross asked for forgiveness did Jesus question him about his past? No He didn't, instead He said" Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."(Luke 23:40-43). As long as you're willing to do away with your pasts, He's willing to accept you back. (Matt 18:14) 

 2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
 Taking into consideration Asa's life (one of the great kings of Judah), you'll see that the amount of peace one experiences in His life depends on how devoted one is and how much one depends on God and not on how much wealth or security one has. You'll also see that Asa and the reign of peace in the land ended when he depended on man instead of on God (who had always helped him).

  2 Chron 16:7-9  "And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.  (8)  Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubims a huge host, with very many chariots and horsemen? yet, because thou didst rely on the LORD, he delivered them into thine hand.  (9)  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars."  

  This peace from God also depends on how well we treat our fellow men. It might look impossible to live at peace with everyone around you especially with the unbelievers, but that shouldn't bother you 'cos no matter how nice you are to people they'll still find something to hate dislike you for. So you just keep making that effort to live at peace with them, God appreciates it, and the bible says., "when a man's ways are pleasing to God, He makes even his enemies live ay peace with him.

   There are 3 keys to entering this 'peace-zone'

1.)  PRAYER:

   Matt 21:22  And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

  Like I wrote earlier, we must pray for peace to reign in our lives and around us daily. Prayer is one of the weapons of our spiritual warfare, but sadly a lot of us neglect this weapon. When we stop praying, we will still experience peace for 2 reasons. (i) Because those in authority/pastors are praying for us, but we shouldn't rely on this so much. (ii) When the devil sees that you've stopped praying, he retreats, this makes us think we're still experiencing 'true' peace, when it's actually an illusion. And while we're experiencing this 'illusion of peace', we gradually stop praying seeing that "all is well". When our level of praying reaches a certain low-level and we've let our guards down, BAM!!! the devil strikes knocking us down. (Proverbs 6:10-11)  Don't worry, 'cos you can still pray yourself out of this messy situation. Whenever you pray,don't forget to do so " In Jesus's name". (Philippians 2:10)

Philippians 4:6-7  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  (7)  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

2.)  WORSHIP:

 Acts 16:25-26  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.  (26)  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

   Here we see that Paul and Silas prayed and worshiped God  even though they were in a very difficult situation unlike most of us who'd  have grumbled and complained, even I. "They focused on God's truth concerning the circumstance instead of the truth of the circumstance they were facing "(someone's quote)... Knowing that God wouldn't have left them nor forsaken them they had no reason to worry and every reason to worship Him, taking them from an atmosphere of distress to an atmosphere of peace; And you know the bible says "God inhabits the praise of His people". When you worship God make sure it's from the  heart, 'cos when we do so, His presence isn't felt in our lives alone but also in the lives of those around you. A good example is:  

 1 Samuel 16:23  And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
 Every time we praise and worship God, our faith gets empowered,

 3.)  BELIEVING IN GOD AND HIS WORD/ FAITH:

     Romans 5:1-2  "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  (2)  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
   From the scripture above, you read that through faith in Jesus, we have peace. In the OT, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a burning furnace (heated 7 times) because they refused to bow to the gold image King Nebuchadnezer made. (Daniel 3)

  Daniel 3:17-18  If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  (18)  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

   The 3 Hebrew boys didn't know if they would have survived in the furnace or not, but they knew with a certainty that 'that God was in control over the whole situation' and so they kept their faith in God. My pastor said "If you make yourself important to God, He will see to it that you're divinely protected". Holding on to their faith, they had no reason to worry, bringing them to an atmosphere of peace, though they were in a life threatening situation( like Paul and Silas' case).

  In God's word are written a lot of promises to His children, among which is:

 Psalms 29:11  The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.
   Now that it's written in His word, it's up to us to believe it and work towards it. God is not a man that He should lie neither is He a son of man that He should repent. If you are not experiencing peace in your life to a tangible extent, check yourself out; God isn't at fault, you are.

   To round off, the fact that your mind is at peace/ you are in a peaceful environment doesn't mean you are excused to stop praying. Instead, when you are at peace keep praying 'cos you can focus more on what God wants FROM YOU (or His will)  and less on what you want FROM GOD.

PRAYER

 Dear Heavenly Father, I come before you to ask that you help me  to live a life of peace both within me and with those around me, and that you give me the strength to face whatever the devil throws at me ad to overcome him. Help me lord, for I know I can't do this alone and without you I can't live a peaceful life. Thank you Lord for I know you'll do this for me as you promised, In Jesus' name. Amen!