Peace that Jesus Gives

Stress related illnesses are growing exponentially in societies throughout the world. New drugs are invented every year to reduce hyper-tension and blood pressure problems. While some illnesses are a normal part of life, millions are searching in vain for that elusive peace of mind to calm their nerves. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid(John 14:27)

Evangelist Billy Graham once indicated that the most effective gospel tract he wrote was entitled, "How to Have Peace With God." People are searching for peace in all kinds of ways, but will not find their rest until they find their peace from Jesus Christ living in their heart. Jesus calls everyone to come to Him for lasting peace. Jesus promised, "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Only those who come to Jesus and share in doing His will are given the peace that passes human understanding. As we become consistently involved in doing His will, His responsibilities transform us. Our thinking, emotions and strength take on more of His image. Jesus wants us to remember that loving service is followed with peaceful thoughts. Isaiah wrote, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." (Isaiah. 32:17)

No one can get peace if they are not willing to engage in consistent service for the Lord and His purposes. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." (John 4:34). Jesus wants us to remember that only the Lord’s blessings give peace, not anything else. Many people seek after things that can only give temporary peace of mind. David wrote, "The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace." (Psalms. 29:11). People have no problem that God cannot solve. Jesus knows the great peace is found in loving and obeying the scripture. The writer of Psalm 119 writes, "Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble." (Psalms.119:165).

Jesus wants us to remember that He is our good Shepherd. David wrote, "The Lord is my shepherd, I will lack nothing. . . Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalms. 23:1, 6) Even when you are encountering various trials, the Lord wants to develop in you a completed peace, perseverance and perspective that come through the adversities of life’s experiences. Let the Lord develop in you a character of maturity that exhibits peace in all situations. You cannot know His peace unless you are willing to pass through the dark valley experiences with the faith to trust Him to work all things together for good. (Romans. 8:28, 29).

Conditional Freedom or Absolute Freedom[1]

Numbers 22:20-21

G. Paulraj

Introduction

We often undermine the word of God and try to use it as putty to defend or to justify our shortcoming because it has no direct answers to some of our willful sins. There are many in this world who say that I smoke because nowhere in the Bible mentioned it is sin and. Some of us strongly argue and defend that consuming alcohol is not sin because there is no direct word in the Bible against consuming alcohol. I could give you innumerable examples like this. However we should know the fact that the Word of God was not given to know our curiosity but to know the will of God in our lives.[2]

Yes there are no direct condemnations or warnings in the Bible against smoking, drinking, watching pornography and so on. However it doesn't mean that Bible gives us freedom to do all those things that is repulsive to our Holy God. Bible remains silence because God doesn't give us freedom from His word but within His word. We can’t find anywhere in the Bible the detailed list of sins that we can and cannot do. Freedom in our Christian life can be found only within the Word of God not from the Word of God. Let me explain you the difference between the freedom from the Word of God and freedom within the Word of God. The first talks about unconditional freedom and the later talks about conditional freedom. Let us study about Balaam how he turned God’s conditional freedom into absolute freedom.

Conditional freedom or Absolute freedom

Here in our text God gave Balaam conditional permission to do something but Balaam considered it to be an absolute permission. Thus he has failed to do what God had said to him "If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do." But Balaam went along with the intention to curse the Israelites that he might get abundant gold and silver from Balak.

Like Balaam we too consider God’s silence or His conditional permission as an absolute permission to fulfill our desires. Today many of us think that "There is no 'Thus says the Lord' about this" - though there may be dozens of verses that say that one should not do it because of this, that, or something else. Or, there may be a whole story about someone who does something, illustrating a principle of a way we should not go. Nevertheless, because Scripture does not specifically say, "You shall not do this," then many people think it is okay to do it.

Consider smoking no place in the Bible says that a person shall not smoke cigarettes. It does not say anywhere that one should not breathe in the smoke of any kind of flammable substance. However, there are huge principles - love toward God, neighbor, and self; not defiling the temple of God's Spirit; slow suicide - that people totally ignore. This is similar to what Balaam did.

His thinking process may have gone something like this: "God didn't say that I could not go. He gave me a condition, but I'm sure it will be all right this time if I go. If He was willing to give me permission in this case, it must be okay." So, he went.  God gave Balaam conditional permission. He made him free to do a certain thing, which was to go with the men, but He put a condition on it: "If they come to you." Well, Balaam used his freedom, his liberty, as a cloak for vice. Balaam's vice was money; he wanted riches. He was going to get his riches by cursing Israel - another vice! Cursing people is not a good thing - certainly, it does not show love for them.

As Christians, we have been given grace, freedom, and God-given gifts to do good. He warns us, "Do not use this freedom to do evil. I have given you, not freedom from the law, but freedom within the law - to do good and not evil." Yet, how many have used the liberty given to us by Christ as license to sin? "God will forgive us! That's what God does best! So, if we do it just this once, it will be okay!" That is what Balaam did. He received permission from God in one small area, under a certain circumstance, and Balaam interpreted it as freedom to do generally as he pleased.

This kind of thinking motivates today’s Christians to give overriding emphasis on grace. Truly, grace is a wonderful thing. God has given us so many freedoms, but there are also law, responsibility, and submission to the will of God, things Balaam totally left out of the picture. He ignored the conditions God placed on his liberty. All he wanted was the freedom. And his taking license came back to bite him severely in the end.

Christian freedom is not a license to sin but the humble submission to God who saved us from our sins. However our submission to God is not another kind of slavery but eternal security. Furthermore St. Augustine the great church father taught that true freedom is not choice or lack of constraint, but being what you are meant to be. Humans were created in the image of God. True freedom, then, is not found in moving away from that image but only in living it out. The closer we conform to the true image of God, Jesus Christ, the freer we become. The farther we drift from it, the more our freedom shrinks.

Martin Luther in his 1520 treatise On Christian Liberty explains the meaning of Christian freedom in a nutshell: "A Christian man is the freest lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone." In other words, according to Luther, because of what Christ has done for us and because of our faith in Christ, the Christian is absolutely free from the bondage of the law. We don't have to do anything. On the other hand, out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us and in us, the Christian is bound in servitude to God and other people. We get to serve humanity freely and joyfully. A Christian who doesn't "get" the "get to" part simply doesn't know the joy of salvation.

Conclusion

Dear friends too often we put our own desires over the desire of Jesus for His children to be influencers in this increasingly evil world. We need Light to penetrate the darkness. But too often we have allowed darkness to influence the Light of Jesus in us. It happened to God's Children (Israelites) in the wilderness, and it is happening again in the day we live. When we are more concerned about my rights, freedom's and liberty's than we are for letting Jesus be seen in our words, decisions, and actions, then we have become selfish and living for ourselves and not Christ! As Paul said, “all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others."

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[1] Some part of this article was directly copied from “The Berean” daily verse and comment.

[2] Genesis 3:15 reveals the will of God on human beings. Genesis 3:15 is a capsule summary of the history of humans from God’s perspective and it reveals the abstract of God’s rescue plan which the rest of scripture unfolds.

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With Regards
G. Paulraj