THE LIFE OF FAITH AND THE GLORIOUS
CHURCH
MAY 10th
THE
PEACE OF GOD - WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING - COMES FROM THE INDWELLING
HOLY SPIRIT
...."Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee:
because he trusteth in Thee"....
Isaiah 26:3 K.J.V.
The peace of
God - that surpasses all understanding - comes from the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit within us, and is manifested to the greatest degree in the heart that
has been "wholly" given to Him. Many believers search for and seek to
experience that wondrous peace that rises up in the heart - regardless of any
circumstance or situation - yet they have no intention of giving up those
things that are a "direct hindrance" to their relationship with the
Holy Spirit. Consequently, often they will grieve the Holy Spirit in their
daily walk. One day they may walk in obedience, but the hardness of their heart
due to "fellowship" with the world precludes them from maintaining a
moment to moment relationship with the Spirit of God - and, thus, the next day
will find them following after the leading of their "own
understanding" [the mind of the flesh].
THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF YOUR FAITH
In
Romans 15:13 Amplified Translation it is written:
...."May the
God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing, through the
experience of your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound
and be overflowing [bubbling over] with hope"....
In this passage the apostle Paul is exhorting the Church at Rome, and praying
that they might be filled with all joy and peace in believing, and then states:
"through the experience of your faith". It is as the believer
continually exercises their faith in the Word of God by readily acting on that
which is revealed to them by the Holy Spirit that they will be filled with joy
and peace continually. The Holy Spirit seeks to make His home in the heart that
desires to walk in "all" of the will of God. It is then that He is
able to exalt the Name of Jesus powerfully in the earth in all that is said and
done through that holy vessel. As the child of God continually fills their
heart with the Word of God [thus "allowing" the Holy Spirit to enter
in His fullness] the love of God, which surpasses all knowledge, the peace
which passes all understanding, the joy of the Lord and, indeed, the entire
spiritual realm will all become more real to that believer than the things they
see and perceive with their five physical senses.
EVERY
BELIEVER MUST COME TO THE FULL REALIZATION THAT THEIR STRENGTH MUST ONLY BE
SOUGHT AFTER IN THE WORD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Nehemiah
8:10 states that:
...."the joy of the Lord is your strength"....
One can see
this direct connection between the joy of the Lord being our strength and the
Holy Spirit [Who dwells within us, and Who is the author of that joy] being our
strength. Every believer must come to the "full realization" that
their strength must only be sought after in the Word and the Holy Spirit - with
no reliance whatsoever on their "own strength". It is as the believer
develops this habit of "emptying themselves" in order to lean wholly
upon the Spirit of God for every detail of their life for the empowerment to do
all of God's work which they have been entrusted with that they will bear much
fruit and glorify God in ALL that they say and do. There is no limit to what
the Heavenly Father is able to accomplish through those of His children who
cast down their own selfish ambition [self-desire] to do ALL for the
establishment of the true Church and the Kingdom. The child of God must always
seek to interpret every aspect of the will of God by the power and light of the
Holy Spirit. Once having received the revealed knowledge of that will they must
then proceed on the course set out for them, firm in their convictions -
"knowing" that their path will be established, and that any
difficulties that arise will simply become occasions for their greatest
victories! It is certain that the deepness of the peace and joy found in the
obedient heart will rise FAR ABOVE any of the persecutions and suffering [for
righteousness' sake] that they are called to in this earth.
THE
JOY OF THE LORD IS WHOLLY INDEPENDENT OF SURROUNDING CIRCUMSTANCES, AND IN THE
HEART OF ONE WHO IS WHOLLY GIVEN TO HIM IT IS A FLOWING FOUNTAIN OF STRENGTH
In
Hebrews 12:2 the Word of God states:
...."Fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter [developer] of
faith, Who, for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God"....
When the
child of God keeps their eyes "fixed" firmly on Jesus they will not
be conscious of - or susceptible to - any fear of humiliation [Isaiah 50:7;
Isaiah 54:4] or "apparent defeat", but rather they will always be
lifted above their "consciousness" of the present circumstances by
the "supernatural" joy [revelation] of the Lord - which is always the
spontaneous result of the exercising of a pure and absolute faith [trust]. The
joy of the Lord is wholly independent of surrounding circumstances and, in the
heart of one who is wholly given to Him, it is a flowing fountain of strength.
Satan's only offence against the child of God is to attempt to plant seeds of
unworthiness, discouragement, doubt and fear in them, but this vile attempt
will only meet with abject failure in the faithful one unless that believer
"allows" a transfer of their trust and confidence from the Word of
God and Holy Spirit [the Spirit of wisdom and revelation] to the darkened
understanding of the "world" [the lies of the Evil One].
EVERY
VICTORY WHICH IS WON BY THE BELIEVER IN THE SPIRITUAL REALM WILL BE WON BY
THEIR STEADFAST PERSEVERANCE IN FAITH
Every victory that is won by the believer in the spiritual realm will be won by
their steadfast perseverance in faith. Perseverance in the Word of God will
always bring forth great joy in the heart of the believer - and a resounding
and total defeat of Satan will be the result. As the child of God diligently
sets their hand to the task that the Father has revealed to them by the Holy
Spirit, there will be times - as they persevere in faith - when all of their
circumstances will seem to indicate the "impossibility" of that which
they have been given to do or believe for. A man of God once said:
"When God desires to perform a small miracle He places us in difficult
circumstances; when He desires to perform a mighty miracle with far-reaching
effects, the circumstances in which He places us are impossible."
Related
Scriptures: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Proverbs 3:5-6; 2 Timothy 3:12; 2
Corinthians 3:17; Jeremiah 1:5a;
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