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Chapter 3 |
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Chapter 1 |
Quest for Peace By Roxy J Nolin Chapter 4 The Enemies of Peace |
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"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7. The word anxious can be translated to mean simply worry. Worry is one of those personal habits that are difficult to rid. It is an attitude; a mental habit formed within our mind and it is sin! And is also one of the greatest enemies of peace. Why is worry such a great enemy? Because it is all around us. As a matter of fact, it is a contagious disease. Everything in our surroundings encourages us to worry-T.V., newspapers, and the economy. Simply, the spirit of the world is all around us and freely expresses itself through whatever medium it can use to instill fear of impending disaster or help dig us into life's worries. Yes, the world has every reason to worry. It faces many problems without any real solution. However, this is not the fate of the believer in Christ. Why? Because we are not of this world. We have been called to a life of trust in Him. Yet, I must confess those many within the church worry. It is a well-accepted sin, that is, if you can measure good or bad concerning sin. Sadly it is unconsciously accepted as being on the bottom of the sin scale, yet it is just as much a sin as any other sin. To God sin is sin no matter how we color it. Friend, worry has no benefit. All it does is deplete our energy, preventing us from serving God with all our heart. It steals the quickness of the Spirit to act in times of need. It takes us off the course of God's perfect plan. And its by-product is sickness and destruction to the child of God. Worry Is Fear Worry is fear, which is simply doubt and unbelief. Fear is the opposite of faith. Faith and fear see those things that are not as they are, but fear sees from the nature of darkness. In other words, fear is false evidence that appears real-assumption, which in turn causes stress and gives us a troubled heart. Worry gets our eyes off of God and onto circumstances. Remember that Jesus was a master over His circumstances, not because He was God but because He had the peace of God ruling in His heart. When we loose our peace through the power of worry, we tend to get certain symptoms, like stopping prayer or spending time with God. Another symptom is we keep ourselves busy doing anything else but being around Christian activities. When trouble keeps coming, we get into the flesh and try to fight the problem in our own strength. When our mind is full of cares-worry we will be in duress, thinking about and consumed with other thoughts. As this state of duress prolongs, God Himself can no longer get through because we are incapable of hearing His voice, incapable of allowing God to take care of our problems. Worry Causes Change in Our Witness Worry causes us to change. When peace is ruling in our heart we are unchangeable. Our countenance is constant with a look of thanksgiving. Why? Because we are always looking to Jesus. But if our hearts are troubled, our countenance changes. Friend, this is where the devil really works at us. Why? Because worry can steal our witness. Our friends and neighbors see that we are happy and smiling when things are working right. But when the storms of life come, we show a whole different picture and one that is not too pretty. The devil's whole plan is to show the world that Christianity really doesn't work and he will use worry as that obstacle. That is why it is critical to find and understand God's peace in order to be a proper witness. If we can show the world there is a life without any worry or that there is no real reason to worry, I believe the world would embrace this message of hope. Why? Because every person wants to be without worry, wants to walk in peace! However, if we have not found the solution to worrying, we will only be moved by our emotions and present to the world that God's true peace is only a fake image. Trust; the Enemy of Worry What is the key to getting out of worry and establishing God's peace? I believe it is through trust! We must trust God to the point that we can take everything out of our hands and put it into His. This means total dependence on Him and Him alone! It is a trust that firmly chooses to rest in the knowledge that God's Word is His will and purpose for our lives. Psalm 9:10 says, "Lord, you have never forsaken those who seek you." Trust is being settled in the knowledge that God has our future in His hands. No matter how bad the circumstances are, trust gives us the confidence that God will intervene supernaturally on our behalf in His timing, by His will, by His ways. Friend, trust is all or nothing. You either trust God or you don't. Doubt is not a gray area or an in between. Doubt is simply not trusting! Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Jesus is our greatest example of trusting in God. He was totally and completely confident in His Father and leaned not to His own understanding. This is brought out in Mark 4:37-40, "And a great windstorm arose, and waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why were you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" The thing we first realize in these Scriptures is that as the storm was raging, Jesus slept-seeming unaware. He was not worried or moved by the waves beating against the boat. Why? Because He Himself was full of peace! This peace came from His confidence, trust and total dependence on God. He knew peace, He knew its working and He knew no harm could befall Him. Jesus had perfect peace because His mind was stayed on God. His heart was satisfied to lean on His Father. He knew the affairs of His life were in the complete hand of God. He had no need to worry. On the other hand the disciples were engulfed in worry. Their hearts were troubled and disturbed-could only see disaster. They were moved more by their situation than their trust toward God, so they were open to worry. They saw that Jesus was undisturbed, yet because of their fears and self-centeredness they assumed that Jesus didn't care. "Teacher, they said, do you not care?" This is a common assumption by many in the church, because of one that is not moved by their surroundings or does not worry; they can be accused of being passive or uncaring. The disciples were doing the same by asking Jesus to worry! Jesus quickly perceived their hearts, and knowing they had no trust, spoke to nature, "Peace, be still." At that moment the elements of nature ceased and there was a great calm. Trust Speaks Peace Friend, understand the 'thing' created knew the voice of faith. Nature understood the command spoken in trust. They heard the "I Am" speak with peace and like obedient servants the elements became still, calm and peaceful. Today through the finished work of the cross and the shedding of His blood, peace has come to all of us. In this He is our peace as stated in Ephesians 2:14. If this were true, then nothing is impossible to him who believes. Jesus said in John 14:27, "My peace I give to you." This peace is given to us! We have it! This means no matter what storms we are in, we have peace. No matter what the situation circumstance or elements, we have peace to make us calm. So don't worry. Child of God, it is the greater one who lives in us and He is our peace. That means peace through hard places, through hard times, through opposition, through relationship, through trials, through tribulations. There is nothing impossible for Christ in us the hope of glory. He is our peace. We have no need to worry! Strife an Enemy of Peace Another great enemy of peace is strife. James 3:16 says, "For wherever there is jealously (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices." 1 Corinthians 14:33a say, "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace." Strife is an effective tool in Satan's arsenal. It causes offense, bitterness and hatred. Notice its whole purpose is to steal peace from our heart. When strife is in our heart, there is no place for God's ever-comforting peace. When we are in strife, everyone around us will have his or her peace disrupted. We must do everything in our power to make peace as the Body of Christ with each other. We must never allow the peace within the church to be stolen because of our differences. But must love at all cost. Child of God, we are the body of Christ fitly joined together. When one of us hurts, we all hurt. When one of us is honored, we are all honored. One of the greatest tools of peace is to walk in unity. I am not talking unity as uniformity because unity must come from within the child of God. Uniformity is the pressures of the world to control. But God's peace is a catalyst to bring unity to God's children. If we are at peace, we will not be in strife. Friend, peace is not something we can manufacture. It is something we already have in Christ. Our job is to protect our heart and maintain its presence at all cost if it's within our power to do so. Rest In Peace Strife divides! Peace brings rest. If there is anything that God asks us to labor in, it is rest-allowing peace to have rule in our heart. This peace must come from above, which in turn settles within and then can shine out to a world that needs to see hope. Friend, you have a commodity of great value. If there ever was a time we need the wondrous working of peace, it is now. It there ever is a time that humanity needs to know peace has been made through Christ, it is now. If you are a believer, then you are a possessor of this great gift. Go share it with others! Go and proclaim the gospel of Peace! |
Copyright Roxy J Nolin 2002 |
About the Author Roxy J Nolin has been a Pastor-Teacher since 1985. He has a gift to minister God's Word with vibrant and uncompromising effects. He has ministered across US, Canada and Asia. As well as pastoral and pioneering several churches, he was Director and overseer of a Denomination in Canada. He has a Business Management and Marketing background, a Degree in Biblical Studies and has authored several books. He and his wife Jan have four children, one grandson and reside in the City of Calgary Alberta Canada. |
The Book Quest for Peace |
Word of Grace Media Ministries |
