Practicing God's Peace (Part E.)

And finally after navigating the P.E.A.C. of the word peace we reach the final letter-- E.  I like to think of E as representing the word excellence.  At first it seems kind of a strange to equate excellence with peace right?  Excellence is one of those really ambiguous words that means so many different things to so many different people.  After all, your definition of excellence is not necessarily my definition of excellence.  It's a rather subjective assessment.

What I do know about excellence is this--it's really difficult to be consistent in it because of two main reasons: laziness and distraction.  Many people enjoy bursts and spurts of excellence in their life only to settle for apathy and stagnation after a short-lived surge of inspiration.  I like to think of peace as being the groundwork necessary to experience on-going excellence.  Notice I didn't say that peace is the only factor in this equation.  Obviously, there are many different aspects of excellence: accountability, vision, inspiration, confidence, creativity etc..  All of these are important.  Yet, without peace in our hearts and minds it is virtually Impossible with a capital "I" to experience excellence.

Peace keeps us focused on who we are called to be, what we are called to do, and the methodology/vision necessary for making it a reality.  Take away someone's sense of peace and they soon get massively distracted trying to create a false sense of well-being and tranquility in their life.  I know it sounds strange but when do you do your best work? When you are under massive stress or when you are free to be creative and resourceful?  Obviously, a small amount of stress can actually facilitate creativity. My contention would be though that it is possible to navigate small amounts of stress while being at peace.  What makes stress so stressful is the very fact that peace has long since disappeared.

Many great leaders have fallen at this very point- they make decisions based on pressures, stresses, and external situations beyond their control that have affected their inner judgement resulting in a departure from the excellence they have demonstrated consistently.  I have seen it happen often.  The point I'm making is that peace is like a foundation for walking in excellence.  Peace keeps us in the place of vision, it anchors us to the place of confidence, it releases us into the place of creativity, etc..   Without peace people languish;  with peace people thrive.  

The Bible says that Daniel had a spirit of excellence about him.  So much so that he was quickly promoted to be the top official in the entire empire.  There are many factors that contributed to his excellence.  One of these was peace.  Just a few verses after mentioning his excellence in Daniel 6, the Word tells us that Daniel is thrown into the lions den.  Of great interest to me is that he fell asleep! I have spent many a night in the wild places of East Africa with lions nearby.  I remember one night when a male was about 3 miles away.  He roared every half hour or so.  Every hair on my body stood on end even though I was in the safety of a luxury tented camp. Needless to say: not much sleep that night.   As to how Daniel fell asleep laying next to these big kitties can only be attributed to the fact that he walked in a great amount of peace.

All of us were created to walk in excellence like Daniel. All of us will need the same underlying current of peace in our lives.  Jesus provides it freely and graciously as we learn to surrender and submit to His leadership and Lordship in our lives.   Do you want greater excellence in your life?  Go to the place of surrender, the cross, and find His peace.  It will propel you farther that you ever thought possible.  

Practicing God's Peace part C

Today we examine the C of peace.  Up to this point we have explored P-practicing God’s Presence, E-engaging in wholesome thinking, A-accepting responsibility.  Now we look at C-Christ centered living.

One of the really neat things about the peace of God is that it keeps our lives centered on the person of Christ.  Throughout the Word of God Jesus is given various titles that describe various aspects of His identity and character.  For example, He is called the “Bread of Life”, “the Word of God”, “the Great Shepherd”, “the Way”, “the Truth”, “the Life”, etc..  

One of the least discussed titles is found in Isaiah where the prophet anticipates that Jesus will be called “the Prince of Peace.”  This title is more than just an honorific title with only ceremonial value. This title describes one of Christ’s most wonderful characteristics—He is the ruler of peace.   In other words, his domain is peace.  He rules and reigns through the means of peace in our lives.   This is fundamental to the understanding of the Kingdom of God. 

Basically, the Kingdom of God is the place where God rules and reigns.  Paul says in Romans that the Kingdom of God isn’t a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.  Interestingly, one of the three aspects of the Kingdom Paul emphasizes is peace.  Another way of saying this would be: Peace is integral to walking in the Kingdom of God.   And the center of the Kingdom is the King—Jesus the Prince of Peace.

So when we choose to walk in peace we are choosing to experience the reality of Christ in our lives.  Peace produces Christ-centered living and Christ-centered thinking.  We are no longer controlled by the impulses and cravings of our flesh.  Peace keeps our hearts and souls grounded on the reality of Christ. 

When the storms of life roll in as they always do we are able to remain perfectly still and at rest.  External stresses no longer control our inner attitudes and emotions.  Why?  Christ now rules and reigns through his peace.    

I remember the night the rebels attacked the city of Bujumbura where I was living.  I was over at a friend’s house for a Bible study on the other side of town. All of the sudden…pop…pop…pop. A few bullets.  Then came the heavy machine gun fire followed by the mortar shells.  Physically I began to shake and tremble. 

My friend told me just to stay put because it would soon pass.  Three hours later the firefight had greatly intensified and it was approaching 11 PM.  It was really eerie and I was scared.   All of the sudden I had a paradigm shift: wait a minute; the rebels’ attack doesn’t control my internal sense of wellbeing. I stopped panicking and greatly relaxed.  I remembered what the Lord had dropped in my heart, “the safest place you can ever be is in the will of God.”

 I knew moving to Bujumbura had been the will of God. I had prayed and He had clearly directed me there.   Peace began to rule and reign again as I focused on what Jesus had spoken to me. I began to praise him even though the external noise intensified. 

To my friend’s disbelief I announced that I was driving home.  I jumped in my car and drove across the city at 11-something in the evening.  Soldiers were everywhere shooting into the hills.  I’m not saying it was smart.  I’m just saying I had peace in the midst of the storm. 

Peace enables us to focus on the voice of Christ in our storms.  The winds can be howling, the waves pounding, and the boat be in serious trouble, yet Jesus is sound asleep in the stern.  Why?  He knew His Father had said that they were going to cross to the other side.  He had peace.  So he wakes up, looks at the disciples in disbelief and releases the inner reality of His peace externally and soon the waves are perfectly still and winds die down.  Everyone is in shock—except Jesus.  He says, where is your faith?  In other words, don’t you believe my word?  He had told them they were going to the other side. 

And so are we.  Peace is critical to keeping Jesus and His voice central in our storms.  

Practicing God's Peace (Part A)

As we continue to look at Philippians 4:7 and some of the incredible benefits that flow from walking in God's peace, I would like to develop part A.   We have already talked about P representing God's Presence.  And E representing engage in peaceful/positive thinking.  Now letter A touches on the idea of "assuming responsibility."   To me this is one of the most critical and crucial aspects of peace.

Before I really began to be intentional about practicing God's peace in my life I was a "blame-shifter." I knew there were some issues and deficiencies in my life that I kept nice and tucked away so that no one could see them. As long as I avoided certain trigger points I was able to keep up the nice little facade.  Everything was good.  When the trigger points did activate these broken places in my life I would play the blame game.  It's really a fun game; it has no rules and just about everything and anyone can play whether they want to or not.  "It's his fault that I'm like this."  "It's because of what so and so said." "If I hadn't grown up this way I wouldn't be like this."

Do you see the pattern?  "If....then..."  The only problem with this little game is that we never change when we play it.  We are conscripted to repeat the same script over and over again--just with different people/factors at fault each time.   One day it hit me: "wait a minute...the only person responsible for me is me."  I had began to practice God's peace: I was spending time in His presence and my thinking was being transformed.  I realized that God's peace gave me the emotional and intellectual courage to begin exploring why I wanted to blame other people/factors for my issues instead of assuming responsibility for them and embarking on the healing process.

I really think the main issue is this: fear.  We are afraid to be honest with ourselves.  We fear digging up past memories and traumatic experiences.  We fear being transparent before God and other "safe people" in our lives.  And so we keep putting on the facade and act indignant when other people "push our buttons."  I love how the Amplified translates Phil 4:7.

And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 Isn't that powerful?  Fearing nothing from God.  There is a place in God's peace where we are no longer controlled by fear. This isn't just a "Boo...I'm going to scare you in the dark fear."  This is real fears that control people's lives: fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of the future, etc...  

 God's peace comes and sets us free from fear! In so doing, we are free to assume responsibility for our lives.  Why is this such great news?  Simply because it means that we don't have to be a victim of circumstance anymore.  We can determine and decide what our responses will look like. Obviously, this decision doesn't necessarily make things better over night.  We are talking about a process here.  This process though will ultimately result in wholeness for our wounded hearts. 

 P. Presence. E. Engage in wholesome thinking A. Assume responsibility.  

Practicing God's Peace (Part E)

Peace is also very powerful because of the effects it has on our thinking.  Psychologists say that one of the most important elements about a person is their self-talk.  In other words, what kinds of things they say to themselves about themselves.  Sounds kind of funny at first until we consider that we talk to ourselves far more than we talk to others in the course of a day.  Often, these thoughts are destructive, negative, and cynical which produces corresponding tendencies in our actions, attitudes, and behavior.  Talk about a lose lose situation.  In my case, it was anxiety. I was paralyzed by anxiety growing up. It controlled my outlook on life, my interaction with others, my sense of future events, and internal dialogues.

God's peace breaks this cycle.  The very next verse after our verse for the week, quickly extending longer than a week :) is Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."  Peace paves the way for positive and productive thinking. The "E" for today stands for Engage in peaceful thinking.  We talked about "P" standing for practicing His presence, a spiritual aspect of peace.  Now "E" represents the power of peace extended to our minds, an intellectual aspect of peace.  

  Without peace in our emotional condition positive thinking is impossible! All the self-help books in the world and positive confession sessions without God's peace are an exercise in futility. It's like the little character in Kung-Fu Panda chanting, "inner peace...inner peace" in an attempt to bring equilibrium to his heart.   The only problem with this so called "inner-peace" is that it can't be manufactured externally, nor can it be channeled internally. Chanting distracts us, but never dispels the inner tension.  Inner-peace is a free gift from God that bypasses humanism and eastern mysticism entirely, being released to us vertically through His Spirit.  By that I mean, that God establishes His rule and reign  in our hearts through His Son to the extent that we surrender to Him.  As we surrender He intensifies the peace-filling presence of His Spirit.

Striving in human effort will never attain the mental/emotional peace necessary that Jesus releases in one moment of genuine surrender through His Spirit. As we learn to walk in peace it becomes much easier to choose peaceful thoughts according to Philippians 4:8.

Yes, we can have peace in our hearts and minds and emotions. What great news in a day and age when people are turning to all kinds of peace substitutes to manufacture something that our hearts know isn't really genuine.

He concludes the verse by saying, "And the God of peace will be with you."  So now we have come full circle.  The peace of God enables us to walk with the God of Peace.  This in turn produces more peace in our lives.  I call this the peace quotient.  I'm convinced that peace isn't a static variable in our lives.  I believe peace is multi-faceted and multi-layered allowing people to grow in their experience of peace.   In other words, I can honestly say that I walk in far more peace now at 33 than I did 10 years ago.  Why?  I've learned to implement this cycle in my life.

1) Prayer with gratitude and specific petition
2) Receiving the peace of God
3) Practicing His presence
4) Choosing productive thinking
5) Increasing experience in walking with the God of peace
6) A fresh encounter with God's peace
7) Repeat steps 1-6 above.

Can I mention one quick aspect of Engaging in productive thinking?  It takes work.  I don't mean empty human striving; I'm referring to active participation and cooperation with God's peace. Our minds have been trained to think a certain way.  It's time to reprogram them.  It's time to fill them with new thoughts.  Peaceful thoughts.  Where do we get this "mental peace app" that helps reprogram our thinking?  The Word.  I know I sound like a broken-record, but I've learned that you really can't have too much of the Word of God in your life.

For me, I had to start memorizing verses that contained specific promises to my situation.  When the negative thinking tried to return I would bust out the verse.  "Actually, Stephen... That's not a healthy thought. Here is the proper perspective..." Then, came the verse.  Followed, by the decision to believe the verse and ask Jesus to reframe my thinking.  It took time, but it always produced peace.

Engage in peaceful thinking today by experiencing God's peace found in His Presence. 

Practicing God's Peace part P

The first idea that connects the peace of God for me is Presence.  Having lived in so many nations in my life—as of this writing it is 7, people often ask me: Where is home?  Or where is your favorite place to be?

My standard answer used to be very simple—Kenya.  It’s where I grew up and its where I felt most comfortable.  That soon changed though.  Tanzania is also an amazing country that I dearly love as is Madagascar, and even the United States.  Anyone who has spent any time in Colorado would have to concur—it’s beautiful!

When pushed into a corner to only choose one place I often feel stumped.  It is Kenya?  Well…maybe.  Is it Tanzania?  Umm…probably.   What about Madagascar?  Yes…so beautiful.  

Then one day it hit me.  My favorite place to be in the world is in His Presence!  Psalms 16 says it this way, “In your presence there is fullness of joy and at your right hand treasures for evermore.”  I have learned that His presence is the key to joy, not a geographical location or a situational context.   In fact, there are moments when I’ve been on the beaches of Tanzania, or the rainforests of Madagascar, or the plains of East Africa and still felt intense loneliness, anxiety, and fear despite the overwhelming beauty around me. 

Enter the peace of God. I believe it is absolutely essential to maintaining an awareness of the presence of God.  The two go hand in hand.  No peace no presence.  Peace equals presence.  I know there are other factors to consider in this discussion, but I’m speaking very simply for the sake of brevity.   The peace of God keeps our hearts and minds from wandering in the path of dangerous and toxic emotions that would pull us far from His presence.  

Before going any further let’s make this practical.  How do we cooperate with His peace?  Here’s just a few ideas.

1)    Learn the art of being still—too much stress, pressure, worry, etc… will fill your heart with all sorts of unhealthy emotions.  Life is busy.  Let’s be honest. It’s full of stress and pressure.  I’ve found that I must have a quiet time everyday, not so much to accomplish some kind of check-off on my spiritual to do list, but rather because I need to still my soul and know that God is bigger than what is going on in my world. 

2)    Let the Word wash over you—there is a big difference between reading the Word and allowing the Word to wash over you heart.  One is a verbal/mental exercise. The other is a spiritual emotional experience.  I don’t want to sound too mystical here for I am also a very intellectual person who likes to interact with the Word on a more rationale level.  Having said that, there is something so powerful about the Word of God. When my heart is still and I’m able to read the Word I feel like the Holy Spirit gets out a cloth and begins to gently wipe my heart.  The unhealthy emotions, the worry, the stress, soon fade as I hear what He wants to talk to me about.  I believe this is why Jesus compared the Word to being washed. 

3)    Sing—I know it sounds pretty childish. After all this is the 21^st century and who really sings anymore?  I believe the main reason we don’t sing anymore outside of a Sunday morning worship context is because our hearts are so full of heaviness and stress from the world around us. In my English Lit classes in university we had to read several of G.K. Chesterton’s works. In one of them he talks about the loss of the song in modernity.  How only kids sing anymore and interestingly, they seem to be the only ones happy.  I have found that if I can get a good worship song in my mind and then began to sing and hum it out loud I soon find peace covering me. 

4)    Pray- The context for Philippians 4:7 is prayer, and not just any prayer, but specific prayer laced with gratitude.  It’s amazing that Paul instructs us to present your requests to God with thanksgiving.  For me, this looks like bringing very precise and specific needs in my life that often weigh me down with heaviness to the Lord.  I tell Him the need and then I thank Him that he has heard my request according to I John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”  I then leave the request for Him to carry and deal with. In other words, I don’t pick it back up.  This is the essential for restoring peace to practice his presence.  

Practicing God’s Peace

One of the most important factors in a person’s life is peace.  The lack of it or the presence of it determines everything. The longer I live the more I’m convinced of the importance of learning to practice God’s peace. I consider God’s peace absolutely essential to living an overcoming lifestyle. 

I once thought very differently.  Peace wouldn’t have figured so prominently in my assessment of a victorious believer.  Truth be told, it probably wouldn’t have even made the top ten.  I would have mentioned things like spiritual power, authenticity, conviction, and passion.  While I still highly value all of these qualities, one stands out above the others—peace. 

I know what it is to operate in a measure of spiritual power, to live with authenticity, to speak with conviction, and to be passionate, and yet be lacking in this one vital area.  What caused the shift in me?  One primary reason:  Peace is foundational to our capacity for experiencing God’s Presence daily.  So often I have been moved in a conference, touched by a sermon, and encouraged at church only to walk out of the doors back into my world of chaos, perplexity, and confusion.  Poof! No matter how great the spiritual high, it almost evaporated in the pressure of real life. 

This is tragic.  God’s work via the Spirit and the Word in our hearts must never be squandered.  It needs to be cultivated, nurtured, and cherished.  Yet, the onslaught of the world around us is so intense.   How can we cooperate with God, instead of counteracting what He is doing in our lives?   

I believe the answer is found in one simple verse in Philippians 4:7.  This verse has become a source of life to my soul over the past 7 years.  “And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.  

So simple, yet so complex.  A peace so powerful that it protects our emotions and guards our thoughts.  This week I want to look at the importance of peace in the life of a believer.  

The Dream From Africa: Nook & Kindle

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