THE PEACE WITHIN US

Whatever the Lord taught the disciples, is still very useful for us too, no matter what age we live in. Jesus did not give the same instructions to the disciples, every time He sent them to minister, because the factors involved, differed from situation to situation. In Luke 9, we read about Jesus sending out of the twelve disciples to preach about the kingdom of God and to heal the sick, after they received “power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases" (v.1). At the beginning of chapter 10, we read that after a while, “the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them out ahead of Him, two by two, into every city and place where He was about to go” (v.1). At this time, the Lord reconfirmed to them that He would take care of their needs and then He continued with another important teaching that was beneficial for them, and it is still beneficial for us today.

• Luke 10:5-6 (AMP) “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God] to this house.’ And if anyone of peace is there [someone who is sweet-spirited and hospitable], your [blessing of] peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.”

Because the Holy Spirit lives in us, as born-again believers, we have the real peace of the Lord, which is, “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.” This peace is not just a feeling of peace or a greeting. According to the “Thayer’s Greek Lexicon”, the original word for “peace,” from Luke 10:5 means “security, safety, prosperity, felicity (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous).” So, the greeting actually means: “Let peace and blessedness, come to this household.” But only those who are “of peace,” who have a good heart can receive and enjoy this spiritual peace. That is why the Lord said that His peace will remain where we enter, if there is “anyone of peace,” who is sweet-spirited and hospitable. We all know that God is omnipresent, meaning that He is present everywhere, but this form of His presence, only manifests where His children are.

It is wonderful to know that our presence, as temples of the Holy Spirit can change the spiritual atmosphere when we go places. You may ask why this statement is not always true. Whenever we have a pure heart and we desire for the Holy Spirit to manifest His presence in and through us, those around us will notice, even if they do not understand what is different about us.

We are called to bear the presence of the Lord and the fruit, that the Holy Spirit produces in us, wherever we go. The more we are aware of this truth, the greater our impact will be on the lives of those around us. Also, our lives can be so much easier and peaceful, if we realize that because of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, we can change the spiritual atmosphere wherever we go. I think we can all say that there are places where we go happily, where we feel good and things go smoothly; and also the opposite, there are other places which we prefer to avoid, because we feel pressure, sadness and where nothing there seems to go right. From the following verse, we learn the cause of darkness and oppression in certain places:

• Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

That is why it is so important to keep our hearts pure (to ask for forgiveness as soon as we sin) and to equip ourselves with God's armor (Ephesians 6:13-17) to win the spiritual battles, as bearers of the peace, love and joy of the Holy Spirit.

Then Jesus said something else very important:

• Luke 10:10-11 ”But whatever city you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you [breaking all ties]; yet understand this, that the kingdom of God has come near [and you rejected it].”

No matter how spiritually mature we are, if we continue to enjoy close relationships and spend a lot of time in dark places with those who are not God's children, it may cost us dearly. There might be times when we have no other choice, but to be in such places, but if we trust God and pray for a way out, the Lord will help us. Jesus has said that we should cut off all ties with those who continue to reject Him, so that we will not be drawn back into darkness. It seems a drastic measure, but it is necessary. We cannot afford to flirt with sin, if we want to have the peace of Jesus. The more we love Jesus, the less we like the things that we used to like and do with the worldly friends we used to have. If we continue to long after the sinful way of living, we have a problem and we need to come before the Lord and ask Him to show us what we have not given up to and what we need to change. The Lord is faithful and will help us, because His desire for us is to succeed and be His forever. Thank You Lord!

Let us not forget that the peace of the Lord is in us wherever we go and we can enjoy its presence as we let the Holy Spirit to lead us and ignore the thoughts and emotions of our carnal nature.

Carmen Pușcaș