peace

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Meekness. Temperance. Powerful forces the Bible calls the fruit of the spirit. They’re the character traits of God Himself and when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you, He brought them with Him, so they could become your character traits too.

They’re designed to bubble up inside you, to gush forth like a powerful stream constantly protecting and cleansing you from the inside out.

How would you like to be so full of the glory of God that it's unmistakable to those around you? How would you like for people to be able to know just by looking at you that you'd been with Jesus? It's entirely possible if you are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. The same mighty power that changed you inwardly when you were saved can so revolutionize you outwardly that even strangers on the street will be able to see Jesus in you.

You know, that's what I want to be...running over with hope! I want to dare to throw my whole life and everything I have into building a dream that comes from the heart of God. I want to get out there so far that without God's help, I can't get back.

Many people don't think that way though because they're afraid to fail. Fear of failure is dangerous. If you let it dominate you, it will cause you to do the one thing that inevitably guarantees failure and that's not attempting at all.

How do you counteract the fear of failure?

A healthy body. Enough money to pay all your bills and extra to invest in the work of the gospel. A godly marriage and happy, healthy children. Peace of mind. God has prepared a banquet full of blessings for you.

But those blessings are not just going to fall in your lap. You must be willing—as well as obedient—if you’re going to eat the best from God’s table.

So, be willing!

Don’t be willing for Satan to put sickness on your body. Be willing, instead, to be well! In honor of Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary, refuse to accept anything less than divine health.

Throughout the Scriptures, God warns us about the danger of strife. Yet, it’s still one of the most common problems among believers. We let it get into our homes, our workplaces, our churches...everywhere!

Of course, we don’t purposely let it in. We don’t wake up in the morning and say, “I think I’m going to stir up some major strife today.” We just inadvertently let it slip up on us one minor irritation at a time.

When I first learned to cast my cares on the Lord, I was down in south Texas preaching a meeting that no one was coming to. I’m telling you, people were staying away from that meeting by the thousands; and after a service or two with just the preacher, one or two others and me in attendance, I was starting to sweat it. But the Lord said, Cast that care on Me, so I did.

What would you think if I told you that you could live without fear? Would you believe me if I said that despite what you saw on the news tonight, you could be perfectly at peace? Impossible? Unrealistic? No!

You see, fear isn’t just a reaction to external circumstances. It’s a spiritual force. It begins inside of you. And it is totally destructive. In fact, fear is Satan’s primary weapon. He moves in response to fear, the way God moves in response to faith. He challenges the promises of God with it.

Has the devil ever tried to put you under condemnation by telling you that it’s contrary to the principles of faith to use doctors and medicine when you need healing? If so, here are some encouraging words that I believe will help you put your heart at rest.

It is God’s will to heal you. That’s the first and most important thing for you to understand. If your faith is strong and you can believe the Word without wavering (regardless of what circumstances or symptoms come against you), then you’ll be able to receive that healing by faith alone.

One of the things that you and I as believers must learn if we want to be faithful servants in the kingdom of God is how to keep our mouths shut. Very few of us have mastered that skill.

When we get our backs up about something, we think we have to let everyone know about it. “I’m just going to give them a piece of my mind,” we say.

Don’t make that mistake. No one wants or needs a piece of your mind—and if you give it to them, you’ll only end up alienating people and bringing harm to yourself. Learn, instead, to keep quiet.

Have you ever noticed that the easiest place to remain self-centered is at home? There's an incentive to be lovely with others, but with your family you are tempted to allow yourself more selfish privileges, as if it didn't count there.

Before I was a Christian, I was more courteous and nicer to friends than to my own family. I was more demanding and less forgiving with those dearest to me than with anyone else.

But after I made Jesus Lord of my life, I realized all that had to change.

When I was a new Christian, it was almost impossible for me to live at peace with anyone! Almost every time I opened my mouth, I said something ugly. I was constantly hurting the people I was close to. In fact, I spoke more harshly to them than to anyone else.

I criticized Gloria's driving so much that she nearly refused to drive while I was with her. I criticized my children so much that they began to avoid me. I didn't want to be so insensitive, but I couldn't help it. I had a well-developed habit of speaking harshly and didn't know how to change it.

The world's order of things is unsure and indefinite. Desperate words of uncertainty are crying out daily from radio, television and newspapers. Everything around us seems to be in turmoil.

But, praise God, if you're a believer you have something you can depend on: the unchanging Word of God!

God has no double standard. He doesn't say one thing today and something else tomorrow. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Have you been praying that God will let you know whether a certain action you want to take is agreeable to His will or not? Let this peace of Christ be your guide. Let it help you settle the issue. If you start to take that action and you realize you don't have peace about it, don't do it.

God is vehemently against worry. Jesus preached against it. Paul preached against it. The whole Bible preaches against worry because it was designed by Satan to produce stress, strain and death.

Yet many of us still act as if it's an option, as if we're free to worry if we want to. But we're not! Worrying is a sin. It's one of those things the Word of God directly commands us not to do.