So far in this series we learned to be fruit inspectors for our own safety, God’s love is our ground and also a fruit, and joy is the base of the remain fruits or offshoots. This week we’re going to take a look at the fruit of peace and learn exactly how to produce peace in our lives. It’s much easier than you think, no praying, asking, or begging required.
Let’s look at our fruit scripture and then jump right into peace.
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
What is peace exactly? English dictionaries define it as harmony in personal relations, freedom from civil disturbance, not being interrupted or annoyed by worry or problems, and other surface-worldly meanings. In the Old Testament, peace is shalom and means completeness, well-being, safety, and prosperity. Yes, money! People who know both Hebrew and English agree a good Biblical definition of peace is nothing missing, nothing broken; both physically and spiritually.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 NKJV
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.
The Lord of Peace give you peace. The Lord is all about peace. Peace is written 397 times in the New King James Bible. Peace is a very important topic. So, let’s jump right in how we get a flow of God’s peace working in our lives.
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
One of the ways we can keep His flow of peace is to keep our mind on the Lord. This is a huge topic, but whatever you’re thinking on, you’ll produce. If you keep thinking about recipes and watching people cook, you’ll end up cooking or ordering food that’s been dancing in your thoughts. If you stopped drinking alcohol, and all you think about is the drinking days… You’ll produce whatever is dancing in your head. If you keep your mind on the things of the Lord, it will produce peace.
Philippians 4:7-8 NKJV
7and the peace of God, which surpasses (exceeds or outdoes) all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Paul, once again, is expounding on the teaching of Jesus and fruit/Breath of God. He told us in Ephesians, which we read the week before last, that acting out on the love of God in you gives us understanding. People misquote this scripture and say, “peace that passes all understanding.” They leave out the word “surpasses.” The Greek word here for surpasses is huperechó and means to surpass, to excel, to be superior, to rise above.
Putting the two scriptures together, love gives you the groundwork of understanding and peace from God builds on that foundation giving you exceedingly ALL understanding. If that sounds confusing, think of the image and order of the fruits: 1. Love 2. Joy 3. Peace. That’s manifesting more of His character which is why peace exceeds the understanding that results from love. He’s saying peace is the over-the-top understanding! It’s going to guard your heart and mind from hurt and problems that come in this life. I know this can be confusing, so I will give you an example in my life:
A middle-aged woman kept coming up to me at church, and saying in an arrogant valley girl accent, “Are youuu okkaaaayy?!?” The third time she did it, the Lord spoke to me and said, “She thinks she’s more spiritual than you.” I was kind to her and said to the Lord, “Whatever, I don’t care.” I really didn’t. The Lord gave me that information to keep myself guarded from her, and because I was walking in love, He knew I would continue to love her after He told me. Shortly after some of her friends started acting strangely toward me. The Lord confirmed she was gossiping about me, but again it was to guard me. She decided I was “putting on a show” and God was leading her to minister to me, yet she never actually got past, “Are youuu okkaaaayy??” What she was witnessing was a sick person that was getting physically refreshed at church before a physical healing. I was actually physically healed 3 times and she didn’t recognize one of them. She kept at her, “Are youuu okkaaaayy??” ministry for about a year and a half Hahaha!! still not knowing I was healed. During that time the Lord shared with me why she was doing it to me. She was full of pride and out of her pride she was going to fix my problems. When she got close to me, the fruit/the presence of God, was operating on me and she kept backing down and running away. She puts on little drama shows for attention, and in her heart accused me of her own behavior. Truth be told, the Lord never sent her to “fix my problems,” because she has problems with her own kids. How do I know all this? It was revealed to me, not through gossip at all. It was the peace of God, which surpasses (exceeds or outdoes) all understanding, that guarded my heart and mind. The Lord revealed her plots to me to guard my heart and mind. He guarded me against trusting her, and told me the plot so I didn’t have to wonder anything. The Word works!!
What became of her? She stopped, because the Lord had people in the church she respects honor me in the front of the church. Her boyfriend and some of her friends are drawn to the joy of the Lord on me. In the end, she embarrassed herself. Pride will embarrass every time. I walked in love, and though I had to wait I overcame it with joy and peace all the way.
Did you ever see Christians that lost a child on the news and they start talking about forgiving the murderer and few even ask the judge to go easy on the murderer? Yes! That is the fruit of peace operating in their lives! To get that level of peace that is guarding their mind and heart, they practice love and forgiveness, joy, and peace. They have been truly practicing what the Word says! Other Christians forgive, but shout a message to the murderer, “I hope you rot in hell.” No fruit! Again, we’re allowed to fruit inspect, not judge how they should react to a situation. But the difference that we can see is peace that surpasses all understanding. Not just love in operation.
Back to Philippians 4:7-8, Paul goes on to tell us HOW to activate this peace. Meditate or think on good and blessed things only. Don’t meditate on the current state of the economy, the news, what the doctors said, gossip, evil done to you, how you don’t like someone, or anything else contrary to this scripture. Sometimes our minds act like an unruly two-year-old that we can’t spank! It’s a difficult task and a process to tell your mind what it will and won’t think on, but it’s well worth it in the end to have complete peace, shalom, in your mind.
Colossians 3:14-15NKJV
14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Put on love. Again, we already have love inside us. Then Paul tells us to “let the peace of God rule in your heart.” The Word keeps making it clear, we have to choose to use it. Like everything else, we need to choose peace in life when life is easy, so we’re ready when life gets difficult.
When I was talking to the Lord about the fruits and mediating on what He was teaching me, I asked Him, “How do I emanate peace like I emanate joy?” This thought immediately came to me, “You have to start watching your mouth!” Without missing a beat, I said, “Now, that’s a problem!!” Why? Because I grew up in a rough Italian environment and I always have something to say about everything. I have a tendency to blurt out what I’m thinking. The intentions of my heart are in the right place!! I love people and I want to help them, but people nowadays want their emotions considered above all else and I was raised as tough in the 80s! To make matters worse, I did a lot of heavy weightlifting and gym activities. The amount of peace I’m asking for is totally my choice, and the amount you want is your choice. I have peace in my mind and I’m able to quiet my mind, but I want more than that! I want to be one of those people who others just sit around and feel God’s peace. I knew two older ladies that had this type of God’s peace in their lives. Their homes were so filled with peace that I always wanted to fall asleep when I was there. When I told one of the ladies, she responded with a confounded look, “People often say that to me. You can lay down if you want.” People have told me they feel peaceful around me and in my home, but no one wants to sleep, yet!! hehe If we want to get to that place, we must make sure our words are laced with peace not just good intentions. The change in me happened really easily. I changed the desire of my heart, repented for my harshness, and asked the Lord to show me how to peacefully respond at all times. I noticed an immediate change inside my spirit, but also, I noticed people reacting to me differently. I haven’t yet found the opportunity to respond differently yet, but God has honored my heart change. Amen to that!! If you need to make a heart change, now is a good time.
One more about how we already have this peace inside of us. I don’t mean to keep pounding the same point, but we need it to be written in stone in our minds. When a bad day tries to come, if we’ve been practicing, we’ll find we made ourselves a well of peace where we can draw deep from those waters. That mountain that needs moved in your path won’t break you, because your peace will guard your heart and mind, and you’ll just be free to operate out of faith and love.
John 14:27 NKJV
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The same peace that Jesus had, He left it with us. It wasn’t just for the disciples. We see a great example of this in Paul and everything he went through. Can you imagine having peace after a poisonous snake bites you immediately after a shipwreck? Think about it. How many people would flip out at that point and scream, “I had it! I can’t take it anymore!” Right? Some people would cuss and throw things. Truthfully, we would all meltdown without peace fruit. Jesus tells us how to keep this peace that has been given to us, “LET NOT your heart be troubled…. (or) afraid.” That means refusing to be afraid or worried about problems including stress will keep your peace. You might think, that’s not easy! It is if you practice. Hitting a fast-flying curve ball with a stick isn’t easy, unless you practice. Running 3 miles isn’t considered long to those that practice running. Reading a good 800-page book is exciting to those that practice reading. Cooking new recipes for a big holiday meal is exciting for those that practice cooking. Keep practicing peace!
You might be wondering, is this really important and does the Lord really expect us to do these things? Yes, your life depends on it.
Psalm 34:11-14, we won’t read it here, but King David lets us know if we want to see long life to watch that we don’t speak evil and pursue peace. That’s a difficult saying for us living in the free world. How often do we freely speak evil of our government and other people that have done us wrong? It’s really easy for modern people to get on social media and talk about it. But David even refused to speak evil over Saul, who was trying to murder him. He set a pretty big example, as did Jesus forgiving those that did many horrible things to Him.
The post on peace sandals farther explains peace, and also why this one doesn’t have as many points. I don’t want to repeat that post.
Learning what we can change is never an exciting topic, but when you’re in a bad storm of life there is nothing like having sweet peace from Heaven with a quiet mind and being able to sleep. I’ve been through storms with and without peace. No one’s behavior against me is worth losing my peace and my sound mind.
Lord, please remind us that as we go through the coming week how to choose and cultivate the peace that’s inside us. We want to be so filled with peace, that You must expand our ability to hold peace, and we’re doing nothing but overflowing peace into other people’s lives. We love You, want to manifest Your character, and use all the peace Jesus left us. Thank You for helping us grow. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Christi
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