Scriptures: Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 53:5, Psalms 29:11

Peace Comes From Believing God

The fruit of the spirit is intended to give Christians a blessed and abundant life. Our job is to cultivate and pick the fruit—including the fruit of peace.

If you want to live a life of abundant peace, you need to start where it was stolen in the first place—right at the promises of God. If you really believe—if you know—that God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” for you, there is nothing to fear, nothing to question, nothing to consider. So, if the devil wants to rob you blind of your peace, he’s going to go for the jugular—your faith in THE BLESSING.

You see, he knows every promise of God already belongs to you. His only hope is to swindle you out of them by convincing you otherwise. You might say, “I believe in the promises of God, and I want them.” But do you expect them? Do you believe, without a doubt, that you will have them, or do you sometimes wonder if they’ll ever come to pass? It’s in that tiny area where belief and unbelief intersect that Satan lies in wait to ambush your faith.

Let’s set the record straight. Every promise of God is for you. To have peace is to trust God—completely. Jesus took the chastisement of our peace upon Himself, so we can enjoy the kind of peace that passes understanding every day—in every area of our lives.

That’s where peace comes from. Enjoying every good thing. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, which means “nothing missing, nothing broken,” or “to be whole.” That kind of peace has always been God’s plan for His covenant-keeping people. No promise missing, no part of it broken.

Psalm 29:11 says He “blesses his people with peace” (NIV). He did that through the blood of Jesus—the Prince of Peace. The Bible tells us Jesus bore the chastisement of our peace the same way He bore our sins, sicknesses, and diseases He is our Peace.

Peace isn’t just the absence of trouble; it includes everything that makes for man’s highest good. That’s what God wants for your life. He wants your peace and prosperity to be like an abundant, flowing river. That’s a fruit worth picking.

Scriptures: John 14:27, Isaiah 26:3, Jeremiah 29:11

The Triple Threat to Peace

“I just want some peace of mind.”

Have you ever heard or said that?

Having peace of mind is considered a blessing and a pleasant way to live. But where does it come from? 

There are three powerful gifts of the spirit that bring abundance, joy, blessing, and—peace. What are they? Faith, hope, and love. Together, they are unstoppable, uncontainable, and immovable. They can move mountains and overcome any attack of the devil. You could call them the triple threat in obtaining victory—a triple threat to the devil.

Well, Satan is a counterfeit and an opposing enemy. So, he has come up with his own triple threat in an attempt to dismantle your victory and steal your peace. Just like faith, hope and love, they work together—only to achieve the opposite of peace. What’s worse, the world not only justifies them but often encourages us to engage in them. You may even think they’re a normal part of life. 

What is Satan’s triple threat? Doubt, worry, and fear.

God never intended for doubt, worry, or fear to be part of our lives. Along with the torment they bring emotionally, they affect us physically as well. In fact, according to science, worry affects your concentration during the day and your sleep at night, and can even make you ill. That’s not God’s plan!

That’s why God says He will keep those who trust in Him in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). When we trust in His plans for us, which are to give us a future and hope, we won’t entertain worry, doubt, or fear. We won’t even consider it!

Don’t ever permit yourself to dwell on thoughts of doubt, worry, or fear. Throw them out like you would the thought of robbing a bank. If you’re up in the night worrying and becoming fearful, take those thoughts captive. Say, “I refuse to doubt God’s promises. I refuse to worry. I refuse to fear. I take a stand against them right now in the Name of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Then turn over and go back to sleep.

Scriptures: Romans 8:6, Romans 8:16, Colossians 3:15, Proverbs 16:3

Check Your Inward Witness

When it comes to cultivating the fruit of peace, it’s important to know how to guard our peace.

Sometimes the devil tries to steal our peace, and sometimes people do—but often, we are to blame! Making poor choices and failing to hear or heed God’s instructions can rob Christians of the peace we’re meant to enjoy every day.

How can we avoid this? By listening to the inner witness. 

An inner witness is not a feeling or your own thoughts. It is the ability to eliminate the voices in the world and only hear God, either through His written Word or the inward witness. These are two different things, but they never contradict each other. They’re both vital parts of our walk with God.

Tuning in to the Spirit of God as He talks to you will save you a whole lot of trouble in this life. If you don’t heed His voice, you may take a wrong turn, which could lead to unnecessary trouble. The inward witness will help you know what to do and what to avoid.

Being led by the inner witness is a function of peace. If you don’t have peace about something, don’t do it. If you have to wait, then wait until you do have peace.

So, let your peace be your umpire. Commit and trust everything in your life to God, and then your plans will succeed. And you will have peace.

Tune in to that inward witness—to that quiet knowing—that urging, prompting, and leading arising within you. Then the peace of God that passes understanding will guard your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7, NKJV).

Scriptures: Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love Is Peace

Nothing can steal your peace like an argument, a fight, or any relationship problem. Sitting and stewing about what others have said and done is not even close to peaceful. That’s why love is so closely tied to your peace. So, it’s a good thing love is a decision, or we’d all be in trouble!

If you’ve been making great strides in your faith—spending time in God’s Word, standing on His promises, and confessing His truth over your life, Satan will take notice. He’s going to try and take that from you; after all, he comes to steal, kill and destroy. 

How? He’ll use circumstances, and he will also use people. He knows people have a way of really throwing a wrench in our day, our peace, and our joy. If he can send someone to ruffle your feathers and throw you off course—he will. Your job is to not take the bait.

Strife is the enemy of peace. Unforgiveness is venom to a contented life. The antidote? 

Walking in love.

Here’s the challenging part: How can you love others—even when they don’t deserve it?

First Corinthians 13 (see today’s reading) is a great place to start. Try working through each characteristic mentioned in these verses one at a time. Start with “Love is patient” (verse 4). Ask God to help you be patient with those around you. Spend the week meditating and focusing on patience. It’s all right if you mess up along the way—you can ask for supernatural help! 

When you focus on loving others through patience, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you begin to change. Then, move to “love is kind” the next week. One by one, move through each one until you’ve renewed your mind to walking in love. While others will enjoy the new you, you’ll benefit the most!

This will be well worth the effort because you are not going to have peace in your life without that foundation of love. Peace is built upon love and joy. Galatians 5:22-23 says that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When you were born again, these fruits were put inside you, but you have to make the decision to grow them and let them out.

Walking in love is a decision. It’s a decision that will bring you great peace. You decide.

Scripture: Philippians 4:8-9

Starve Your Fears

If you’ve ever been to the zoo, you’ve likely seen a sign that says something like, “Don’t feed the crocodiles.” Why? Because when you feed them, they become dangerous. The same is true of fear. Fear is only dangerous if you feed it. It’s a peace robber. 

But when you starve fear, it becomes smaller and smaller until it doesn’t even exist in your life. 

To starve your fears and feed faith, try the following: 

• Put God’s Word in your eyes and in your ears on a continual basis.  
• Throughout the day, pay attention to what you’re thinking about. Is it true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise? If it is, “the God of peace will be with you” (see today’s reading).  
• Refuse to feed fear. Fear food includes secular media, news, and people who speak fear and negativity. Remove these things from your life, and go on a fear-free diet!  
• Guard your words. If you are believing for something, don’t say anything contrary to the promises God has given you concerning it. 

When you starve your fears and feed your faith, you can live in perfect peace—no matter what is going on around you!

Scriptures: Matthew 12:43-45, James 4:7, Philippians 4:6-7

Defeat the Spirit of Worry

Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy the fruit in your life, including—and especially—your peace. You can guard your peace when you recognize that worry is a spirit, not a feeling. Every time a troubling situation comes your way, you need to see it for what it is, the devil sending a spirit of worry to knock on your door. You can do one of two things: Invite it in for tea or tell it to hit the road.

James 4:7 makes this so simple. Resist the devil and he will flee. It doesn’t get much easier than that. So next time he comes to try to steal your peace, say out loud, “Worry, I resist you. Leave in the Name of Jesus!” If it comes back two seconds later, say it again, and keep saying it until it leaves for good.

Once you’ve rebuked the spirit of worry, you always want to replace it—bind the bad but be sure to always loose the good too (see today’s reading). To do this, you need to have an arsenal of scripture. You can loose a spirit of peace, joy, and love; and you can also speak scripture back to your situation.

For example, if financial worry tries to come on you, once you’ve rebuked the spirit of worry, then you can declare “My God provides all my needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus!” Whatever you do, don’t leave worry unanswered. Always talk back.

Most people think peace is what’s happening around them, but peace is a decision. That’s why Paul said, “Be anxious for nothing.”

Peace comes from making a decision to not worry or be anxious, but to cast your cares over on the Lord and trust in Him, living in continual faith in what He has already done and will continue to do in your life. You can’t be a flip-flopper and live in peace. If you’re up one day and down the next, you’re being tossed like the wind and the fruit of peace will start to shrivel.

When you make a decision to resist worry, you’ll be able to sleep soundly in a rocking boat in a wild storm, just like Jesus did.

Scripture: Psalms 20:6-9

Who Is Your Source?

If your peace is easily shaken, it’s time to ask yourself a serious question:

Who is your source?

Do you find your peace in the state of the economy? The DOW? The state of politics? Your supply of toilet paper?

There are only two directions you can look for what you need and desire—to God or to man (including yourself).

Most Christians are shaken to the core and lose their peace when things change because they’ve been relying on man. But that is misplacing faith—taking it from God and giving it to man. This is dangerous (see today’s reading).

No matter who people are or how wonderful they are—they’re not God. You can’t substitute anyone or anything for God. That place in your heart is exclusively reserved for God ALONE.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t have confidence in other people, but God alone should have that major place in your heart. Faith in people is optional. Faith in God is not.

And just look at the life of someone who has learned to make God their ONLY Source of peace:

“Blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

That’s the key to enjoying perfect peace and receiving the desires of your heart.

When God is your everything, you can have anything—including a life filled with peace.