Lesson for February 4, 2024
The Excellence of Peace
Peace with God is a result of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. The peace of God is a result of living your spiritual life. Peace with others is achieved by means of spiritual growth resulting in understanding and having the same attitude toward others that Jesus had while on earth. Jesus said in Matthew 5:9, “Blessed [spiritually calm] are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they will [express His character and] be called the sons of God.”
It is the responsibility of every believer to be a peacemaker. Always taking the “high road” is a great way to “keep the peace.” We cannot control the actions of others, but we can control our own. When confronted with the option of engaging in a dispute or keeping silent and refusing to enter a dispute, you are taking the “high road.” As spiritually maturing believers, it is our responsibility to keep the peace, if possible. We all know that there are some people who will not let others live in peace with them. In those cases, it is better to simply avoid them.
Romans 12:18-19, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath (discipline or punishment) of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”
Peace with yourself is the result of understanding who you are as a believer in Jesus Christ and how valuable you are to God, which we call spiritual self-esteem. Spiritual self-esteem is defined as respect for self, satisfaction with oneself, a good opinion of oneself, confidence in what you know, and how to put it into operation from a spiritual perspective, resulting in peace with yourself. Spiritual self-esteem is confidence in God, and confidence in the Word of God.
As an advancing believer, your importance to the plan of God for the human race and the resolution of the Angelic Conflict should cause you to be at peace with yourself. Peace with yourself manifests itself in your life as a relaxed mental attitude toward the world around you.
Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].”
Being anxious is worrying and takes believers out of fellowship with God and makes them unstable spiritually. Prayer is the grace system of communication with God for believers. The purpose of prayer is to communicate with our Heavenly Father. God expects all believers to pray on a consistent basis. Praying without ceasing is a command from God, which means to have a consistent prayer life.
And the peace of God, which transcends all comprehension, stands guard over guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God is a reference to God’s grace provision for those believers advancing toward spiritual maturity. The peace of God is having a relaxed mental attitude toward God, toward self, toward others, and toward circumstances. It is this relaxed mental attitude based on the Bible doctrine in your soul that guards your heart and mind and is impossible to fully comprehend because it is based on God’s essence and character. And God’s peace will protect you from becoming worried about the details of life and from being distracted from living your spiritual life.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”
There is tremendous power in prayer. It is the privilege of every believer to have a part of another person’s life or ministry through prayer. We all need the prayer of others. Therefore, it is important that we all develop a consistent prayer life. In James 5:16 it tells us that the effective, continuous prayer of a righteous person has great results.
With thanksgiving means with gratitude. As we grow up spiritually, our gratitude will also grow. If we understand that our lives are in God’s hands and that He will direct our paths if we choose to allow Him to, we can have gratitude in any circumstance of life.
Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in [unity with] Him [reflecting His character in the things you do and say], having been deeply rooted [in Him] and now being continually built up in Him and [becoming increasingly more] established in your faith (doctrine), just as you were taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude.”
We must also learn to be grateful for life’s many tests. Quite often these situations are used by God to teach us valuable lessons. They can also reveal areas of weakness with which we need to deal. How we handle these hardships can be a springboard to advance us in the Christian Way of Life by increasing our faith in God and our dependence upon God.
Having gratitude is being content with what God has already provided you. His promise to all believers is that He will never leave us nor forsake us. God knows even before it happens what each of us will face in life, and He has made every provision for us. Our responsibility is to exercise our faith by always giving thanks regardless of circumstances, knowing that God is working things out to benefit us.
Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances. I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance, or being in need. I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him Who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]”
Our attitude lets us know whether we are trusting God in every situation. Life is not always easy, but trusting God should be. When we complain, we are voicing dissatisfaction and discontentment with our situation to God. Therefore, we are complaining about what we think God is or is not doing, instead of trusting Him and using the Faith-Rest Technique. We cannot be trusting God and complaining and worrying at the same time. Remember many situations that we face are of our own doing, not God’s. God however will often use those situations to teach us valuable lessons.
An attitude of faith brings victory and peace in every trial or test we face. If we pass the test with a good attitude, we have benefited ourselves. God never tests us beyond what we can handle, but we don’t know what we can handle until He tests us. And just because we can handle our situation doesn’t mean that we will handle it correctly. Proper application of Bible doctrine is the key to victory and the peace of God in any test.
Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need [coming just at the right moment].”
As believer-priests, we can go directly to God and make our requests to Him and find the help we need to handle the problems of life. We need never fear when we approach God knowing that He always has our best interest at heart. As the verse says, we are to approach God with full confidence that needs are going to be met. He already knows what our prayer requests will be, but He still wants to hear those requests directly from us.
The excellence of peace is the peace of God that Jesus left with His disciples and gives to us when we tap into His way of thinking (divine viewpoint). John 14:27, “Peace I (Jesus) leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.]”