20 December 2008

"I came not to send peace but a sword." Matthew 10:37

"Jesus came to send a sword through every peace, that is not based on a personal relationship with Him." Oswald Chambers

I feel my peace in various aspects in my life have been greatly disturbed. I find most of my peace was found in my own self-confidence and abilities instead of in my Beloved. We set our peace based on the abilities of others, health, our job, or money. If they are are in place then we have peace, but these securities do not rest in Jesus but in the world. If they would fall, or even one fall, peace would be disturbed and rest would be a story once experienced in the past.

Our trust in what the world offers is rooted in things that are seen. Faith is putting our trust in the things that are unseen, the deep love of Jesus Christ. We almost do not realize this relationship we have with the world until something in it is shaken, because we then are shaken too and realize our trust and security must lie in our relationship with Him.

God is sending out many swords to disturb the worldly peace in Christians. This disruption is necessary to establish His bride to her fullness before Jesus returns. God is shaking and sending these swords to those who love Him before they are sent to the rest of the earth. These swords are sent out to prepare us for the hard times to come, for our peace will then rest in Jesus alone. When all the world is shaking and all humanity suffers the effects, those who have found their peace in Christ will be unshakable. They will become a refuge to the lost and shaken.

Take hold and trust the Lord in the work He is doing in you today. It is a work that will ground and establish you. One of the greatest fruits that will be established in the hearts of believers in these times to come is peace.

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27