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Grace takes you from where you are to where God wants you to be in life. His desire is that you may experience and abide in His peace, as you walk in the light of His countenance, which is the glory of the knowledge of Christ in you that dispels darkness and chaos, to bring divine order and peace within you.
Pursuing peace :
Whoever would love life and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn from evil and do good, he must seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11] Peace is wholeness in Christ, with nothing lacking or broken, but having instead all that is necessary to fulfill God’s purposes in your life. And, it is not about chasing after it, to find and experience it, but becoming aware of the truth that the God of peace is with you. [Romans 15:33]
How peace becomes your experience :
For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. [1 Corinthians 14:33] It is another dimension of the nature of the peace of God. He is A God of order; it is how He establishes peace in you. He is not a God who orchestrates chaos or confusion within you, rather it is by removing disorder and bringing order, both at the individual level and in the world as a whole, that His peace comes and abides in you. And today when you find so much of disorder in all spheres of life, at the government and political level, in the field of education, in relationships within the family, and even in the body of Christ, it becomes very practically relevant.
The context of the verse above is the practical application of the spiritual gifts in the church, when gathered together in an assembly of saints in worship. And, in such situations everything must be done in an orderly fashion, is what Paul teaches.It is something that needs to be observed and followed even today. And, it is why when there is a congregation gathered in worship, there is in general, an order of service, and sometimes the order is dictated by the occasion, if it is a marriage, an engagement, funeral etc. Otherwise there could be a lot of confusion and a lack of peace. Everyone driving on a road at a given time thinks that he or she is an expert driver; it is why there are traffic rules and signals, so that there can be at least a semblance of order.
But, it is also very true that when a group of people gather together, there is invariably some kind of disorder in the group taken as a whole, and it also can be there at an individual level, within a person. And, contrary to what the world assumes the cause of it to be, as it lays all the blame on the hand of God, He is not the author of confusion, but of peace. And, this is the truth that needs to be understood by you, step by step, precept upon precept, in order to be applied by you in your circumstances, and within your inner being in order to see every disorder leave, to be replaced by order that brings peace and harmony, both internally and externally.
It all becomes possible, because God is a God of dignity, who does things in order. He is also courteous and considerate in His dealings with man, knowing well his frailty. He desires that everything is done in a fitting, proper and decent manner, honor given to those whom honor is due, and that all may be treated in a courteous and considerate manner. He is a dignified God, who keeps you in dignity. It can be seen in the life of King David, who was confronted of his sin, not in the public assembly, but in privacy, through the prophet in gentle courteousness, who began by narrating to him a story !.
And ultimately, God was so considerate of your sins and mine, and the sins of the whole world, it saw the chastisement for your peace and well being laid upon His only Begotten Son, who laid down His life in love, on the Cross of Calvary. You have a dignified God; and the Holy Spirit will never make you do anything in an undignified manner. You are never vulnerable therefore, as you worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, in the anointing of the Spirit, in a Spirit filled church. And, when you speak courteously with a person, you will receive more than you expected in response. But, if you are in a position where you were courteous, but still found it all ending in confusion, then you can find your rest in the truth that when you suffer for doing what is right, you are a blessed person !.
These are all practical keys that you need to know and apply, in your dealings with other people, in order to see peace in your life, displacing all confusion. Even in His dealings with you, God has no confusion, for He has made all things beautiful in its time. [Ecclesiastes 3:11] Therefore, as you come to worship in church, you may have questions, and confusion, but He will give you clarity that brings peace in you. And, the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the new creation in you by God, both display how in the process of bringing order, He brings peace and wholeness, in you and in your circumstance.
In the beginning God created :
He created the heavens and the earth. And, it was a process that began with darkness and chaos being dealt with step by step to bring order that resulted in peace and harmony, Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. [Genesis 1:2] And God began to create, till on the sixth day, God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. [Genesis 1:31] There was no common denominator between the second and thirty first verses of the chapter, for God who does it all in an orderly, fitting and considerate manner, did something wonderful in between to bring peace, wholeness and harmony. And it is what He longs to do in your life even today. He is not a God of disorder, or the author of confusion, but a God of peace !.
There were three things that God dealt with in creation in order to bring about, what was in His eyes, something very good. They were formlessness, emptiness, and darkness. And,this can be the picture of the inner being of a single individual who has not experienced salvation too, where formlessness would be his inability, emptiness being his lack, and darkness would be his ignorance of what is truly life and truth. This results in a loss of peace in him that needs to be rectified; and it is also very true, that a person can have it all, and still not experience peace because they are not present in the right order. Three problems lie at the root of it all, both in creation and in new creation. And studying them, together with the solution to them, would bring about in you an enlightening change, to experience the peace that is from God.
1 ) The world system :
The world has a system upon which it operates, even as your smart phone operates upon a particular system, android, apple etc. And, the world system has characteristics that are uniquely its own. It is self centered and devil dominated, and so there is an internal war, and an external enemy, who is the devil. The book of James describes it well ; What causes fights and quarrels among you ? Don’t they come from desires that battle within you ? You want something and you do not get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. [James 4:1,2] When you are hooked up to the world system, ‘you’ become the center of your life, not God, and then the devil becomes your willing assistant. And, the person living by the system will not be thinking about others, but would be solely concerned with what he or she can get out of it, concerning all things and in all places.
But, this is not God’s system, where the King is the center of it all. It is His Name that you hallow, and you work towards seeing His Kingdom come in every situation. And therefore, when you are connected to God’s system, Samuel’s prayer becomes yours; one that says, ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening’, and Mary’s surrender becomes yours as you give yourself into the Lord’s hands saying. ‘I am your servant, Lord; be it unto me according to your word’. And therefore, you may live in the world, but you do not go along with the world system. You live differently, and in line with the word of God, to wage war with godly principles and divine weapons.
2 ) Fleshly nature :
It is the second problem; one that every person grapples within himself. It is the carnal mind that tries to operate and take control some times, even after one becomes a child of God, for you still live in a fallen world, that is under the sway of the evil one. The word ‘carnivores’ is derived from the word ‘carnal’; and it gives the picture of what a person operating in his carnal mind and fleshly nature would be capable of. It would be to be ruled by purely animal instincts that demand instant gratification. And, he would by hook or crook, try to satisfy his purely selfish desires, not caring whom he tramples on the way in order to get it.
Even when you are a child of God, and living by the Spirit, you can suddenly find yourself regressing into this kind of behavior. Never underestimate what God has done in your life; but never underestimate man’s fallen nature also. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans narrates the struggle within him, to do what he knows to be right, for the external enemy has an internal friend, the sin principle that is at work to pull a person down. And, prior to your salvation, you had no option but to succumb to the dictates of the flesh, but now , as Paul goes on to victoriously proclaim, you have the power to overcome it ;for the law of the spirit of Life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
3 ) The evil one :
The third problem is the devil himself, who comes only to steal, kill and destroy. [John 10:10] And, the danger lies when bad things come to you in good packages, in seemingly acceptable forms, that cannot be seen for what they truly are. The devil is a deceiver; and it is why, in order to see through his deceptions, you need to ask of God to receive the gift of discernment, and be sensitive to the voice of the Spirit in you. Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons and daughters of God.
The three problems were dealt with by God in the process of creation as in the place of formlessness, emptiness and darkness, He brought order and hence peace and harmony. And, translated into a personal level, in your spirit, soul and body, the inability, lack and ignorance, within you is dealt with by God in the new creation that He creates in your spirit, that goes on to renew your soul and discipline your body. And, the manner in which He deals with the problems in creation and new creation to bring order and peace in the world and within you is the same. It is by the revelation light of the word of God.
‘Let there be light’ :
God began to deal with the earth that was formless, empty and in darkness by saying,‘Let there be light’, and there was light. [Genesis 1:3] The fundamental principle, for anything from God to happen, is that there must be a combining of the Spirit, and the word of God. It can be compared on a very basic level, with the lock and the key that is commonly used by one and all. It is when they are used in combination that you can keep out certain things, and keep in certain things. Taken singly, neither the lock nor the key can be effective.
It was when you heard the word of God, and received understanding of the word, by the Spirit, to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, that you were saved. And, it was all the work of God’s grace in your heart. The Ethiopian official on his chariot was reading the word of God, when Philip led by the Spirit, ran up to him to give him understanding of what he was reading concerning the Messiah. And, it was then that the eyes of the Ethiopian were opened to know and receive salvation. It was the Lord who opened the mind of Lydia to hear and understand the good news of salvation that was spoken to her. And, the God who did His work of grace in your heart and mine will do the same in your children too, to open their minds to receive understanding of the truth. His promises can never fail; and therefore, all your children will be taught of the Lord, and therefore their peace shall be great.
The Spirit hovering over the waters :
Darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering or brooding over the waters, when God began His work of creation. Brooding over the waters would be very much like the mother hen brooding over the eggs that it has laid, as it in quietness sits over them, covering and enveloping them with its wings, and the warmth of its body. Bringing it down to your own situation, it is when the proclamation of God, His promise, is spoken in faith in the presence of the Spirit that a massive change in your status quo happens, to bring about a transformation that is powerful and also impossible to attain in your own self effort.
And, for peace to become your experience in the midst of it, He speaks to you His promise, and it is the understanding of it that comes to you by the Spirit, and your proclamation of it, that brings about the change that you desire. If financial lack is the area where you need a change to happen in your life, God is not going to pour currency notes from the sky into your hands !. He is going to give you a promise in His word, and that in itself has the power to bring the promise to pass in your life.
God spoke light, to see darkness flee ! :
He did not address the darkness. He spoke light, and darkness disappeared. In fact, what is darkness, but the absence of light ? And the entrance of the word brings light. Even in an individual person, within him there may be chaos and emptiness, which is nothing but the darkness, the ignorance of the knowledge of Christ. And, it is when Christ, the light of His word, comes into the person’s life, that things begin to change within him, one step at a time, as God begins to bring about a transformation in him that makes him full and complete in Christ.
The revelation light :
The sun, moon and stars that give physical light, were created by God only on the fourth day, in the order of creation. What then was the light that He spoke into existence on the very first day, in the very beginning of creation ? It was the revelation light of God, the truth of which connects with the word of God in the book of revelation, that in the New Jerusalem, there will no longer be the sun to give light, for Christ Himself will be the light !. Today, to bring peace within you, primarily you need this revelation light of God’s word to flood your heart.
The true light that enlightens any man :
The first chapter of the book of Genesis is about the creation of the earth by God, as He spoke light into the darkness, to bring a divine order that led to peace and harmony. And God saw that it was very good. And the first chapter of the gospel of John describes the new creation that takes place within a man, through the Word that became flesh, Lord Jesus Christ, the true Light. John, presents the gospel in a very different dimension, when compared to the other writers of it, who were Mathew, Mark, and Luke; And some would say it would be very difficult for a lay person who is unacquainted with the Bible to receive the gospel of Christ by reading it.
But it is not true, for the One who wrote it, will give clarity that brings understanding. And therefore, it is not about proceeding till John 3:16, to know the truth of the gospel, the good news. For, the very first verse of the book of John itself can bring about a revelation of the truth in a person !. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [John 1:1] And the Word, John goes on to say, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. [vs 4] John proceeds to describe the light as ,The true light that enlightens any man was coming into the world. [vs 9] The true light enlightens any man. He could be in the remotest jungle or in the chaos of the urban jungle as they say, but there is still hope for every man and woman.
You and I can never write off anyone, as being beyond the grace and mercy of God that has given you and I the gift of salvation. It is why sharing the gospel is a very great privilege that has been given to us. VFor the revelation light needs to flood a person’s heart to bring order in chaos, and to experience peace and wholeness in Christ, the Savior of all mankind. Preachers of the word of God, wherever they may be, are called to be preachers who are dealers of hope !. And, inviting a person to come and worship with you in the house of God, is an everlasting gift that you can give to them, for you have a wonderful story of hope and peace.
Peace within :
Peace does not become your experience, by any external change like a change of house, change of scenery, change of job etc. There needs to be peace within; not chaos or confusion, but order. ‘Happy bachelors make happy husbands’, may sound like a frivolous cliché, but it is very true. And, how does chaos leave, to be replaced by order and peace within you ? The first and foremost thing that happened in the creation of the heavens and the earth by God was not the creation of the animals or birds, mountains, or even man. It was the revelation light that God spoke and called into existence as He said, ‘Let there be light’. It was the primary source, from which everything else progressed, ultimately leading to peace and harmony that was very good in the eyes of the Lord.
It is the same with your new creation too, when peace comes within you, as the unfolding of His word brings light; the light that is a lamp unto your feet, and a light for your path. For redemption and peace within you, the revelation light of the word of God must shine in your heart. It is then that the darkness of ignorance is driven out, and peace comes to reign in you.
Teach your children :
It is why it is your vital responsibility as a parent, that you teach your children the Spirit filled word of God. Academic education is certainly important and necessary, but over and above it all is the need for studying and understanding God’s word which is the light that enlightens them with the understanding of His purposes and His ways, and brings peace within them. And knowledge will come easy to those who have an understanding of God. Paul commends Timothy for having been taught the scriptures from a very early age. [2 Timothy 3:15]
When you desire peace in your life, or in the lives of your children, it is the word of God that you need; for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. When you are seeking a suitable helper, a spouse who will be your companion in life’s journey, it is the word of God that you need; it is that which will bring the right person to walk with you through life.
The light of the knowledge of Christ :
For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made His light shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of God, in the face of Christ Jesus. [2 Corinthians 4:6] Even as darkness disappeared in the presence of light in creation, in new creation too, it is the light of the knowledge of Christ in your heart that sees darkness that is ignorance, and disorder leave, to be replaced by order and peace. And, the light that is knowledge of Christ is also the power of God in your heart. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. [2 Corinthians 6:4]
Describing the power :
There are many in the world who know what to do, but do not have the power to do it. But the knowledge of Christ in your heart gives you the power to do what is right in the eyes of God. It is the counsel of God that does not leave you helpless in any situation. You will notice that in the book of revelation, where the risen and glorified Christ gives counsel to the seven churches, whenever He feels that there is a need to point out something that was wrong, He also goes on to give the solution, to rectify the problem. [Revelation ch2, ch3] And, His word has in itself the power to accomplish what it declares.
So, as you read God’s word, pray that the Lord would open your eyes, to see wonders in His law, light to see the truth embedded in the scriptures, to receive understanding and peace within you. The light of the knowledge of Christ, enlightens and strengthens you, to see all disorder, chaos and confusion from within you leave, to be replaced by divine order and peace. And, it is brilliantly displayed in the life of Saul, who was ravaging the church, but was transformed to become Paul, the apostle !.
The light brighter than the sun :
On the road to Damascus, Paul encountered the light that was brighter than the sun. And, he fell to the ground, blinded by the brilliance,, amazed and trembling asking, ‘Who are you Lord ?’! [Acts 9:1-18] Until that day though, his talk was in the line of, ‘Do you know who I am; how powerful I am ?’. He was a rich, highly educated, influential Pharisee; a Jew, but a Roman citizen, entrusted by the government, to carry out its work. He was until then boasting about his own qualifications, power and status. But when the revelation light of the knowledge of Christ shone on him, overpowering the midday sun, he realized that he had lived until then, in spite of being a Pharisee, without knowing the Light brighter than the sun, the Sun of righteousness !.
What is righteousness ?
It is being right and doing right; and it can happen only if you are rightly related to God. It is how God sets things right to bring peace, driving away disorder. You need God in your life and the light of God’s word in your heart. Light shone upon Paul and his life turned upside down, right side up, one should say !, It led him to say in the days to come, ‘I no longer live, but Christ lives in me’, and ‘I am more than a conqueror in Christ’.
How did it all play out in his life ?
When the light of the knowledge of Christ shines in you, all confusion and chaos is driven away, and peace and rest becomes your experience.It was the declaration of David , ‘One thing I ask of the Lord, and that I will seek…’ [Psalms 27:4] And hundreds of years down the line, in the aftermath of the victorious Cross, Paul declares, ‘But one thing I do; forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’. [Philippians 3;13,14] Paul has clarity, understanding and peace, with no confusion in his mind.
For, why does a person, even a child, for that matter, have confusion ?
The child’s parents may be saying, ‘You ought to do this’, and its peers may be saying, ‘Only if you do this you can be one of us, part of our crowd’. And in the midst of it all there will be in the heart an aching emptiness. But when the light of the gospel shines, it will bring about a massive change. Paul had no confusion or disorder within him. He experienced peace and blessed assurance to be able to say, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.’ [2 Timothy 4:7] They were words that he spoke even when he was alive; it was the peace that he enjoyed. And he has supreme confidence about his future hope.
The crown of righteousness :
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that day.. [2 Timothy 4:8] They are Paul’s words, and they include you and I, and everyone who is looking forward to the coming of the Prince of Peace. It may be a chaos or disorder in your work, in your family, or in your finances, whatever it may be, a change of scenery will not bring about any lasting change. But, all confusion can be dealt with, and change will come, the moment the light from the word shines in you. Emptiness, nothingness and darkness will leave, to see new creation come filling you with peace and harmony in Christ.
From darkness to light :
David’s testimony of the light of God declares, For you will light my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. [Psalms 18:28] And, Job’s experience is , When His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light, I walked through darkness. [Job 29:3] God will light your lamp too. The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. [Proverbs 20:27] God touches the innermost part of your being to change your darkness into light. And from the light of His word, you will walk in the light that brings order which results in peace in you.
As the eyes of your heart are fixed upon Him, He is considerate, courteous and dignified as He deals with you in your situation. And when the light of His word begins to shine in your heart, it is when He begins to make all things new. He makes all things beautiful in its time !. He is the Light of the world, who stepped down into darkness, opened your eyes that you may see; that you may behold His beauty that makes your heart adore Him in the hope of a life spent with Him. As you bow down to worship Him, let His light shine in your life, your family, your nation, and in every situation that you are now going through. And, let all darkness, confusion, and disorder be removed, to see His divine order and peace reign in your life, as the blessing of the Lord remains upon you.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
