Joy and The Peace of God
We all aspire to joy and the peace of God. When we develop a lifestyle of making the Lord our refuge, we begin to live in the peace of God ( Psalm 46:1; 62:8 ). Psalm 91:1 holds the secret to living in the peace of God: “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Learn more at Got questions.com)
According to the Bible, the peace of God, “which transcends all understanding,” is the harmony and calmness of body, mind, and spirit that supersedes earthly circumstances. Nearly all of the letters of Paul start with the phrase “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Throughout scripture, we find that peace is defined as a blessing and a gift from God. It is His character, deeply part of Who He is.
Philippians 4:7 ––And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 –May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace of God can be described as a tranquil state of appreciation and faith when we submit to and trust the commandments of God and Christ. It requires a mixture of humility and courage to experience God’s peace, seeking beyond the mere abilities of our own understanding. (Source: Christianity.com)
In my own Christian walk, experiencing the peace of God comes in degrees as we grow nearer to Him through the journey of prayer, repentance, faith, and obedience to His laws. We need to cultivate a heart that is able to listen to Him first, to be willing to let go of worldly idols and sacrifice as The Holy Spirit examines our hearts. As the apostle, Paul prayed, “may there be less of me and more of Him.” The emptier we become of pride, control, false needs, and the lies from within our own hearts- the freer we are to listen and receive the bounty of God’s mercy and peace. Our perspective or frame is freed. The windows of our hearts are softened and opened and the winds of the Holy Spirit grant a restoration that renews. We see Jesus as He really is. His beauty, grace, and mercy astound. His Heart draws us in and called by His Love, we bask in Abiding. He is Joy, Power, Peace, and Eternal Life. -L.Willows
Quotes on Joy and The Peace of God
If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone.” C. S. Lewis
“The very nature of Joy makes nonsense of our common distinction between having and wanting.” C.S. Lewis
“Bear your sorrows bravely, for they are appointed of your Heavenly Father in supreme wisdom. Bear them joyfully, for they will bring forth to you the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” –Charles H. Spurgeon
“No stars gleam as brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky. No water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand. And no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity. Tested faith brings experience. You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God’s strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through.” —Charles H. Spurgeon
“Christian, how did you enjoy comfort before? Was the creature anything to you but a conduit, a pipe, that conveyed God’s goodness to you? ‘The pipe is cut off,’ says God, ‘come to me, the fountain, and drink immediately.’ Though the beams are taken away, yet the sun remains the same in the firmament as ever it was.”
― Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment
“Oh, remember this, the sweetness of religion is incomparably more than all the pleasures of sense.”
― William Bates
” As we pour out our bitterness, God pours in his peace.”– F.B. Meyer
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.”-– Charles Spurgeon
“I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize the Lord is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult, His grace is sufficient.” –Hudson Taylor
Peace: Overcoming Anxiety- Timothy Keller Sermon
Excerpt: This is a classic sermon by Tim Keller on Peace and Anxiety that I recommend listening to ~ including the CS Lewis quote, “Expectations are everything”. We learn that our expectations are the filter through which we view the peace and joy in our lives. We become sad that we are sad! We forget that the Christian life is filled with challenges. He recalls that we are born at enmity with God. When we make Peace with God, instantly all of God’s enemies make war with us. Proper expectations are important. Don’t underestimate the enemy and be equipped. Further, nothing can pluck you out of the hand of Christ. The is only the desire to pluck you out of joy and peace. It is a sobering sermon- Joy and Peace is a spiritual buoyancy that comes when you are rejoicing in God. It means that we are unsinkable! It comes from the unchangeable principles of living in God. You can be joyful even when you are sad. Happiness comes from the comfort of having what you want. Joy is a deep mirth of saying and knowing that you have the only thing that really matters!
The counterfeit of joy is happiness; it rests in the blessings, not in the Blesser!
The BELOVED 