Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
Psalm 37:37(emphasis added)

More than anything, this verse is a call for the rejection of strife and the embrace of trust. Those are two aspects that mark peace. You cannot be peaceful if you are in strife. Strife kills peace. It also kills the atmosphere, poisoning it so that the Spirit of God will not move — God does not dwell in strife. Trust IS peace. It is assured reliance and dependence on the Lord. That level of trust will give you peace because you will know beyond a doubt that the Lord is in charge. Another key aspect to peace is patience. The ability to stand in spite of circumstances. Job is often referred to alongside patience. In the book of James, the believer is called to be patient but also he refers to Job as steadfast. The word for Job’s patience or steadfastness translates from the Greek as passive endurance. The patience the believer is called to translates from the Greek as active perseverance. The man of peace doesn’t just sit as things happen, but actively stands against strife despite difficulties and opposition. Peace is trust, peace is active, and peace divorces strife.

“So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:19-21). This is a map to being a man of peace. Always open to hearing from others. Their opinions and their ideas, yes. But more than that. To let them feel heard. To not discount them or shove them aside. To actively listen to what they have to say and to think of the reasons behind it. To see them as more than tools. To see them as people full of their own story that has as much worth as your own. Whether you agree with them or not isn’t important. Whether they are in line with the Lord or whether they are off on their own isn’t important. Because no matter where they find themselves, at this moment you are a person who can listen to them. To hear them. To validate that they are — in fact — a person who has worth in and of themselves.

Sometimes when people talk at us, it is the hardest thing in the world not to blurt out what we think. Because we all have opinions and words. And we want to use them. We’re created to use words and oh how we enjoy using them. Lots of them. But we use them indiscriminately. We wield them like a toddler with a toy sword. And like that toddler we have a habit of damaging anything and everything around us. Not meaning to, but whacking the crap out of it anyway. We’re called to more than that. To be better than that. To be intentful. To think. We don’t have to immediately give our opinion. We can take a moment to pray. Why prayer? “But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you” (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit can guide our tongues. Guide our words. Give us the right ones to say to plant the right seed. To soothe the interior wound we can’t see and didn’t hear about. To help the person we are talking to instead of just conversing with them. It adds a healing layer to everything we say — IF WE LET HIM. It takes intent. It takes a choice. And it takes a moment so that we are operating in the spirit and not in our flesh. To be slow to speak, so that we can speak with love.

‘They just made me so mad!’ ‘They drive me crazy’ ‘I didn’t want to, but you…’ Do these sound familiar? We say them so much. And they are such lies. Such lies. We are not called to be balls of tension ready to explode at any moment. We are not called to let our feelings determine what we do. We don’t have to get angry. We don’t have to emote what our flesh is telling us we feel. Anger doesn’t produce righteousness. “It is an honour for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarrelling” (Proverbs 20:3). Yeah, but they’re saying this or that. I have to… No. You don’t. 2 Timothy 2:23 makes that clear: “But refuse foolish and ignorant questionings, knowing that they generate strife.” Our feelings flare, this is true. We do feel it. But our flesh doesn’t need to inform our emotions. Our emotions can inform our flesh. It takes two to tango. It also takes two to fight. Either activity, when done alone, looks really, really, foolish. We don’t have to engage. We can let the Spirit lead us so that we are deescalating a situation instead of making it worse. We can have words that build up, not cut down (Proverbs 18:21). We can spread peace.

This does not always come naturally. We’ve spent our whole lives watching, reading, and observing conflict. Strife. It’s our default. It doesn’t always mean physical violence, but there is always something. A sharp word. A disparaging look. Changing that around to be peaceful, helpful, and encouraging takes some effort and some training. The best school in the world is the Word. Reading the Word. Reading to learn and reading to be informed. Reading and then applying. ““Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). This question is the one a person of peace must ask themselves every day, all day long. It isn’t enough to know what to do. It isn’t enough to read about the Lord’s will and morality if we don’t do it. If we don’t apply it. Many Christians today don’t look like Christians. You talk with someone and in conversation it comes out that they go to church and you’re surprised. That doesn’t make them bad people or bad Christians — because we all are on a journey. But the fact is that God tells us listening isn’t enough. Doing is a must.

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:17-18). This verse isn’t talking about doing good to get points. It is saying what we’ve been discussing. If you don’t DO then how much faith do you really have? Everything we do is supposed to come from our faith. Chores or church. Work or play. Everything should be grounded in the Word. In Jesus. All of it. Your belief in the Lord and the values of the Lord should trickle into every corner of your mind, emotions, and life. A person of peace should look more and more like Jesus every day. Jesus only did what the Father showed Him to do and only said what the Father told Him to say (John 5:19 & 12:49). We should be doing the same. That’s sanctification. The process of becoming more and more like Jesus. It’s a daily application. It isn’t enough to let it happen naturally. Naturally it won’t because the natural is the flesh and the flesh only knows sin. It’s a habit. The flesh looks to be informed by the soul which is informed by the spirit. If you let flesh run things, strife will be your partner. If you let the Word run things, peace will be your witness.

“He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace”” (Luke 7:50). Faith brings salvation into our lives by Grace. And Faith walks hand in hand with peace. Faith is the focus for our intentions. Faith brings what we know into practise. It is the muscle that needs to be strengthened constantly. Never let it up. Always apply it. Always stretch it. Always use it. Use it for everything. Peter trusted Jesus when Jesus called Peter out of the boat and onto the water (Matthew 14:28). Peter said if it is you say come and Jesus said come. Peter knew Jesus wouldn’t lie. So Peter got out of the boat. But Peter — within arm’s reach of Jesus — started to sink. Jesus saved him and asked why he didn’t trust (vs 31). Bibles translate that verse different ways, but they all mean the same thing. Weak faith. Lack of trust. Circumstances got bigger than Peter’s faith. Now nothing had actually changed. The wind hadn’t gotten stronger. The waves weren’t higher. The only thing that changed was Peter’s focus. Focus on faith will bring peace no matter what is around you. Focus on faith keeps our eyes on Jesus. Focus on faith will make it easy to say what God approves of and do what makes God smile.

So. We need to embrace trust in the Lord. We need to intently listen to the Lord and we need to listen to those around us so we really hear them. We need to be slow to answer, framing it from our faith and not our flesh. Building up others on purpose, not hurting by accident. We need to depend on the Lord instead of letting feelings rule us. We need to reject anger. We need to keep our focus on the Lord. Staying in tune with Him through prayer and meditation, listening to the Holy Spirit and applying what He says. Plugged into Jesus and letting Him take the lead. Bringing His spirit into ours by conscious application of His values, attitudes, words, and actions.

“Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18). “This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offence to the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11). We can recognise the things of the Lord that we should do. We can recognise the things of the Lord that we should avoid. The closer we get to God, the easier it is to recognise and identify the things we should avoid. When we not only avoid them, but replace them with the things of the Lord, peace will rule our lives. I’m not just talking about stopping watching or reading material that promotes values God doesn’t approve of. I mean instead of saying a mean comment, say a positive one. Instead of — even to yourself — speaking about a negative trait, choosing to speak a positive one. To let ourselves be filled with the fruits of righteousness.

Every single action, word, behaviour, thought, and opinion that is of the Kingdom of God should line up and come from a fruit of righteousness. We have all heard of them at some point in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the values of the Kingdom. One of them should be present in every single thing you do. What about sneezing? Says a young child. Faithfulness. We are being faithful to the natural processes of the body to do what it should do. That’s why the bible encourages us to eat healthily (Isaiah 55:2). We’re to be faithful stewards of our body. From natural processes to interactions with other people to our relationship with the Lord, everything we do should come from faith. When it does, we will be people of peace.

No, you won’t hit it every time. We’re being sanctified into Jesus, becoming more and more like Him every day. We aren’t Him. We are not perfect. But we walk ever forward. Letting Holy Spirit pick us up when we stumble. Re-focusing on the Lord. Re-focusing on the Word. Striving always to get it into us and to apply it. To understand it by study, meditation, and spirit-led teaching. No matter your denomination, there is a plethora of teaching out there that is bible-based, word-filled, and Jesus-approved. The more we abide in Jesus, the more peace becomes a part of who we are. Keep your focus on Jesus. Walk the roadmap of a person of peace. Strive to live with righteous intent so the fruit drips off your spirit. Worship the Lord in every way you can at every opportunity you can. It is harder to stumble when you’re focused on the Lord in every way.

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17).

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Deuteronomy 32:3-4

During an earthquake, one of the best places to find yourself is in a structure built on bedrock. These types of stiff soils and deep, unbroken rock formations are so secure because much less vibration is travelling through them. Because of that, much less vibration is transferred through the foundation to the structure above. The earth has four main components. There is the crust we live on, the mantle (which includes a layer of bright blue ringwoodite rock trapping or containing three times more water than in all the earth’s oceans), and then the inner and outer cores. The crust is solid. The mantle is mostly solid, but there are places which are softer, malleable, and subject to movement. This movement causes earthquakes. Spiritually, the Lord is our bedrock. But as our Rock, He has no soft, malleable pieces. He is dependable, solid, and immovable (Psalm 144). When we stand on Him, it does not matter what magnitude the quakes of the world are. Trouble can come, but we won’t feel it. We’ll see the effects, but we will be untouchable on the immovable rock of our salvation. There is a peace to trusting the Lord. There is a deep resonance of calm that descends when you see the world around you panicking, flailing, and there you are. No anxiety. No worry. Knowing that you have no issues as long as you do what the Lord says. Obedience is the key that unlocks peace. Trust is the foundation of obedience. Love is the substance of trust. How can we fear when our love for God and His love for us breeds the trust that we stand on so that we can obey without hesitation, resistance, or concern? Trust in the God of Faithfulness who does no wrong. It’s the only place to stand.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.