peace. emmanuel.

Excerpt from Bill Johnson:

For most people, peace is a time without war, or a time without conflict, or as simple as a time without noise. Take note that it’s always the absence of something. In the Kingdom of God, peace is the presence of someone. Peace is a person. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. When the prevailing influence on our hearts and minds is the presence of Jesus, we have peace that conquers. The wonderful reality of this kind of peace is that it is not defined or controlled by its surroundings. This kind of peace changes its surroundings. Jesus slept in a storm and then released peace over that storm, and the storm stopped (see Mark 4:35-41). What was in Him influenced what happened around Him.

Most every believer lives with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit lives in him or her and that He will never leave. That knowledge is a vital biblical truth. But truth is to be known by experience. Religion idolizes concepts but avoids personal experience... And so, the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit must become a felt reality... We often speak of using faith for a miracle, which is right and good. But what if we were to also use our faith to discover God with us?

Peace is the atmosphere of Heaven. I like to call peace the oxygen of Heaven. And that peace is with me constantly. But if I violate that peace through fear, anger, or other such contradictions to His nature, it is no longer a felt reality. I’m not saying the Holy Spirit left me. I’m just saying that peace no longer benefits me. It’s no longer something that I draw from and can steward well.

One of the most important principles I live by is to protect my peace at all costs. That means when I find that I’m without it, I have to find out where I left it. It’s that simple. When I feel anxious or frustrated, I try to figure out how long I have allowed inferior realities to influence my thoughts, attitudes, and behavior. If, for example, I recognize I’ve been anxious for about three hours, then I’ll look to what triggered it. Perhaps it was a phone call. This doesn’t mean the phone call was wrong. But my reaction may have been. As a result, I gave way to fear by what I thought about. All of our responses either come from love or fear. So I look back to the phone call and begin to see more clearly how I gave fear a place in my heart and mind. Perhaps I started to think of all the wrong that could happen. Remember, fear thinks apart from promise. It could have been a call about anything—a personal challenge, or something happening in the church, or even a report about a national or international crisis. The issue is, I exchanged peace for fear. And it was a bad deal. I traded something eternal for something that works its way into our lives only to steal, kill, and destroy.

When I see what has happened, I repent. I make full confession to the Lord. If it’s an ongoing issue, my repentance must be more deeply expressed. Honestly, sometimes seeing the problem is all it takes. I follow that with a simple prayer of confession: Jesus, forgive me. I allowed fear to challenge my knowledge of Your goodness. Thank You for Your forgiveness as I know You will be my strength when the next problem appears. I give You thanks and praise, for You’re always good...

But other times I can tell the problem is much more deeply rooted in me. In a moment of God’s dealings, we see that perhaps there’s a root of wrong thinking that has influenced our lives for years. In that case, it’s time to get alone with the Lord so that I am certain that my repentance is as deep as my sin. I look to the Scriptures to find what He says about me, my problem, and what His answer is for what has caused me to stumble. It’s important that I find where I was ignorant of truth, or perhaps mishandled truth through my unbelief. Regardless of how long that takes, whether it’s ten minutes or an hour, it’s worth it to not have to carry the burden of deception in thought around any longer. Wrong thinking doesn’t coexist with peace. Repentance – changing the way we think – restores our peace...

The part of the passage I want to look at again is, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds” (Phil. 4:7). It’s interesting that if I protect my peace, His peace will protect me. Perhaps it sounds like a contradiction. But it isn’t. If I protect my heart from all the things that violate my trust in Him, He will rise up to protect me from the unseen fiery darts headed in my direction. His peace protects us where we lack understanding. It’s beautiful to see that peace goes beyond comprehension, as real faith is always superior to natural reasoning. I like to put it this way: If I give up my right to understand, He will give me the peace that passes understanding.

If I’m going to have a lifestyle of peace, I have to make decisions about my approach to life. Many people live from the stresses of life, as that motivates them to be focused and get things accomplished. They are intentional in their use of negative influence. That means they live in reaction to problems instead of in response to the purposes of God. I’m not saying it doesn’t work. Stress can move people into action to get things done. But peace is too important for me to give that exterior motivator a place in my heart. I may gain productivity, but what I lose is of utmost importance to me—the felt reality of His presence. I have chosen to live in response to the Father, and not in reaction to darkness. I value felt presence more than I value accomplishing what seems to impress others the most. The wonderful reality is that living from presence enables us to accomplish that which will last.

...to constantly entertain ideas, problems, and conflicts late at night, when they could be handled better the next day, is to tempt God. I owe Him a clean heart of affection as I go to sleep. This is a heart that is not cluttered with the debris of unsettled things. Our nights are the time when the Holy Spirit ministers to us in ways that are far beyond what we can handle during the day. It’s important to enter the night of rest in a way that positions us to receive from God. Fear often repels His work.

For me a clean conscience is more than being free from the awareness of sin in my life. It is being free from the weightiness of life that entangles my heart, prohibiting me from the life of faith for which I was designed. A clean conscience is a heart at rest.

For those times when conflict is unavoidable, I have had to learn how to pray into a place where fear doesn’t dictate what and whom I trust. What I mean by that is, I pray until I have effectively placed my burden into His care. I know when I have succeeded, as I’m no longer anxious. That is the posture of rest. And thankfulness flows easily from that place.

A heart at rest is a heart of faith. I’m not just talking about sleep, as exhausted people can sleep even though they’re not in a place of trusting God. Rest is a place where we refuse to strive. Faith doesn’t come from striving. It comes from surrender. And that is the place of great peace.

...One of the important Kingdom truths is that perfect love drives out fear. Showing compassion to the one in crises is the answer. Feel their pain, and learn to mourn with those who mourn. And don’t take their problem lightly. Pray with them when the time is right. Comfort them. Encourage them. Talk only when necessary. But don’t sacrifice your peace to prove you’re with them. Faith rests. It is also true that faith fights. But it fights from the position of rest/confidence in God. In this setting, complacency becomes counterfeit peace. Faith is. And I’m no good to my friend if I’m as fearful as they are. My prayers will then become begging sessions, not prayers of authority that God has designed us for.

When peace is the agreed upon value of a community of believers who are contending for “on earth as it is in heaven,” they will not use fear to control or influence others. This is so deeply rooted in our culture that people often seem to be unaware of using this tool to manipulate others to their need or point of view... Problems exist. Seeing them from God’s perspective is the safest way to survive, thrive, and overcome in the days we live in.