Beelieve - Study His Word Together: Getting To Know God More - Week 2 Part 2

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Tuesday, I started to share a few of the good things we will enjoy as our knowledge of God grows. On Tuesday, we talked about Power. Today:

Peace
Peter tells us something about people who know God. He says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2). His statement reveals that both grace and peace are enlarged in the believer’s life thorough knowledge of God.

It is peace that I want to address here—an inner tranquility, a quiet confidence, a steadiness and control in the face of difficult circumstances. It multiplies in us through the knowledge of God who controls our circumstances. How desperately we need peace in our anxious world! When we have peace, we recognize that there is no reason to worry over every new problem. The all powerful God who loves us and cares about every detail in our lives is going to see that it turns out best. The better we get to know Him, the more we rest in His wise plans for our future.

Philippians 4: 5,6,7
"Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

The peace of God which replaces anxiety in the life of the prayerful believer is impossible to experience unless one already is at peace with God through faith in Christ. The peace of God is not the absence of problems but a reflection of the presence of divine sufficiency in the midst of problems (Isa 26:4; Php 4:13, Php 4:19).

George Morrison said “Peace is the possession of adequate resources”; and those resources come from the Lord when you yield heart and mind to Him.

Every believer has come into an eternal peace with God for Paul writes that “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1). Not every believer necessarily experiences the peace of God Paul describes. This peace is a promise which is the result of the practice of thankful prayer to God. Peace with God is dependent upon faith, and peace of God is dependent upon faithful prayer. Peace with God describes the state between God and the Christian, and the peace of God describes the condition within the Christian.

Peace in the present context is a state without anxiety and worry about how and when our needs (physical or emotional) will be supplied. This peace is the result of going to Him and confidently committing everything into His trustworthy hands.

Although the context is different, the principle in Isaiah is applicable that "The steadfast of mind (the mind that has confidence in God shall not be agitated by the trials to which it shall be subject; by persecution, poverty, sickness, want, or bereavement) Thou will keep (guard, preserve) in perfect peace (Hebrew literally is ‘Peace, peace;’ repetition denoting emphasis = inward peace, outward peace, peace with God, peace of conscience, peace at all times, under all events), because he trusts in Thee." (Isa 26:3)

When we are justified by faith and reconciled to God by the blood of Christ, we are made positionally at peace with God and are "set at one again" so to speak like Adam and Eve were in Eden before sin entered the world. Paul in Phil 4:7 is describing the "peace of God" which can be a believer's experience as he or she surrenders their will to His will, submits to His authority and walks in Spirit empowered obedience to His good and acceptable and perfect will. Specifically in the present context this peace is the Spirit borne fruit of thankful prayer. It's logical isn't it? If we can truly thank Him for every circumstance, good or bad, the result is His peace, the peace He gives.

Wouldn’t you like to have peace like that? Wouldn’t you like to stand up to any trial, any problem, any danger, or any threat, and be able to say confidently, “It really doesn’t matter what happens to me. I know that God will work it together for good. I want only to do His will and glorify Him.” That degree of peace depends on an intimate knowledge of God. As we learn to know Him better and begin to sense His unlimited power coupled with His undying love, we will learn to relax in Him—just as a little child relaxes peacefully in his father’s arms while a storm rages outside.