Peace Is A Place, Have You Found It?

Peace is a place, a secret place! Have you found it yet? A place of rest, harmony, freedom from hostility, the lack of quarrels, or of war. The word peace means to be at rest, to have an undivided heart, to know freedom from strife, a state of tranquility or quiet ~ solitude of soul!

Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."

John 14:27 says, "Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Romans 5:1 says,
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we gain access by faith into this grace which we now stand."

God's intention has always been for us to know peace, to have peace with Him and in Him! But there is a problem!

Isaiah 59:2 says,
"But your sins have separated you from God; your sins have hidden His face from you."

Romans 8:7 says,
"The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

 James 4:4 says,
"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

Colossians 1:21-22 says, "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach."

The problem is sinful man is hostile toward God and even though we may feel we are at peace with God, He is at war with us ~ until we are reconciled and find peace with Him by faith through Jesus Christ, His Son. The best news in all the world is to KNOW that our alienation to God has ended and that He is no longer against us, but for us! It is because He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin, to be sin in our place, that we might be claimed righteous. We have to come to God on His terms to find and know true peace!

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between a holy God and sinful man that we might have peace with God.

The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:5,
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ."

And in 1 Peter 3:18: "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."

Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There's no one without sin, we all are separated from God by our sin; but God has made a way for us to have peace with a holy God ~ to be reconciled to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ, to be the sacrifice for your sins?

Romans 5:8 says,
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Each person must make a choice ~ to live in hostility toward God or to reconciled to Him and to rest in His peace. You may desire to be at peace with God and want no trouble, but is God at war with you? You are either for Him or against Him, there is no inbetween!

John 14:6 says,
"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except by Me."

Once we've made Jesus Christ Lord of our life and have been bought with a price ~ we are no longer our own. We've entered into the kingdom of God and made Him our Lord and our Savior. He is no longer hostile toward us, there's no condemnation in Christ Jesus.

As believer's our preparation for God's eternal purpose is as rigorous, spiritually, as an Olympic athlete in training is physically, even more so, because the outcome of our training has eternal ramifications. Trials build spiritual endurance! God's preparation in our lives is part of His eternal design and only He knows what that purpose will be.

James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete lacking in anything."

God uses the trials of life to purify us, to mature us, they are our training ground, to prepare us for eternity, but also to use us for His plans and purposes, in the lives of others. Without the trials, the training, we would have no great victories!

James 1 :12 says, "Blessed (happy) is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."(Now that's victory!)

Who loves Him? John 14:15 says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

We continue to know joy and peace when we continue to remain in Him and His Word. His truths bring us light to see every good and right path. They counsel and instruct us in the way we should go; they are a "instruction manuel" that shows us what He designed us for and how we are to live. Remaining within the boundaries of His truths we find peace and rest in Him!

When we are anxious, worried or fearful, lacking peace we tend to look to ourselves, others, for the answers and if we can't quiet our hearts, many of us turn to food, alcohol and drugs ~ to bury the stress, the anxiety and the fear. God created us to have peace in Him, that's where true peace is found.

Psalm 34:14 says, "Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

Psalm 119:165 says, "Great peace have those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Psalms 34:19 says, "The righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all."

Psalm 34:22 says, "The Lord redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him."

Psalm 91:14-16 says,
" Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

1 Samuel 2:30b says,

"Those who honor me, I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained."

Are you at peace with God or is He at war with you? If you have settled the hostility of God toward you through faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross ~ are you continuing to abiding in His peace and in His love? Peace is a place, a secret place ~ it's found in Christ alone! I know it's a process, I haven't attained it either! Keep remaining and keep abiding! Let's run to Him, alone, for our peace! Training is hard work, hang in there, I'm praying for you, my friend!