Forever For the kingdom of God is, “…righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). When you are born again when you have made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life and you have entered the kingdom of God – then the fruit of that relationship will be righteousness (which comes as a result of salvation), peace, and joy. You can expect peace and joy to become a part of your daily life when you are a Christian – but just like all the other benefits of the kingdom of God, these attributes come at a price. Things of great value, both natural and spiritual, come at a great price. Our walk with the Lord is hard. “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). We can’t look back. We must press on in this walk with Christ we must learn to hear His voice and obey His – commands. Only then will we experience His joy and peace and only then will we be the effective – ministers of reconciliation that He wants us to be, and that the world needs us to be.

Being led forth in peace without great trials, we would have no great victories. The Lord reveals Himself in the difficulties of life as our Deliverer, our Sufficiency, and our Lord. The psalmist tells us, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). If you are really serious about walking with God, He will teach you, and guide you, and comfort you, and yes, you will know His peace in your life. In fact, as you mature in your walk with the Lord, peace and joy will be multiplied to you. It is an interesting paradox that our heavenly Father orchestrates in our lives. On the one hand, our trials increase as we grow stronger in the Lord. On the other hand, the fruit of the Spirit – including peace and joy – develop to the point that we are given grace to weather the trials, and the rest of our lives are filled with harmonious fellowship with God. We should expect to experience God’s peace in our lives. If you are not walking in peace, it may be as a result of several different scenarios. It may be that you are in the midst of a particular test or trial sent from God. Or you may be under attack from the devil. Or you may have an area of your life that you have not yet surrendered completely to God. The Lord intends for you to have peace. If you are not experiencing God’s peace on an ongoing basis, you may need to ask the Holy Spirit to show you: (i) if you are experiencing a test that should be submitted to; (ii) if you are under an attack that you should resist; or (iii) if there is an area of continual sin, unforgiveness, anger, or some other hindrance that should be renounced and repented of..

Most men of God will teach that when you are seeking to find God’s will, you can identify the leading of the Holy Spirit when you sense God’s peace about a matter. I agree, and I believe that is absolutely true. The peace of God is one of the key indicators of God’s guidance. Colossians 3:15 tells us to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts”. Peace is the umpire of our heart, telling us if we are “safe” in God’s will, or “out,” following our own path or the deception of the devil. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace” (Isaiah 55:12). God’s best for our lives is that we will be led forth in peace and joy. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m not going to allow these circumstances to rob my joy?” In making this declaration they are being absolutely Biblical – peace and joy are our possessions when we are born again. The only way that you will walk in unrest as a mature believer is if you allow circumstances or the devil to rob you of your joy. You may say, “The devil robbed my joy.” The truth of the statement is that the devil attempted to rob you of your joy but he only succeeded if you allowed him to. The life of the Christian is one of peace and joy.

> That is why Paul and Silas could sing praises to God in the Philippian jail (Acts 16:25). > That is why the apostles praised the Lord after being beaten by the teachers of the law, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame in Christ’s name (Acts 5:40-41). > That is why Stephen could praise the God of heaven as he was being stoned for his bold witness (Acts 7:55-60).

> That is why the apostle Peter wrote, But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:13).

> That is why the apostle Paul, at the eve of his martyrdom, could write, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).

You’ll notice that the promise of peace carries with it a condition to trust in God. Once again we come back to the necessity of living a lifestyle of faith. Paul wrote to the Romans, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). A carnally minded person is one who is self-interested, self-indulgent, and self-sufficient. There is no peace in the selfish life. The spiritually-minded person puts God in the centre of their life. They are interested in doing the will of Christ. They are motivated by the Lord to minister to others. They recognize that they are nothing outside of Christ He is their sufficiency. It is from this attitude of surrender to the lordship and headship of Jesus Christ that peace comes into our lives. There are times, when we are seeking the will of God and we reach the point of decision that we experience supernatural peace. This is an important aspect of discerning between good and evil, and it comes by reason of use (Hebrews 5:14). The peace of God is like a compass for our souls, leading us in the direction that the Holy Spirit intends for our lives. We can take great comfort in knowing that the sovereign God is so involved in our lives that He would supply us with this internal compass as we seek to do His will.

At the same time, the mature Christian will recognize that there is another way that God uses the fruit of peace to direct our steps. As we surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives, He brings us to a place where we experience His blessed peace on an ongoing basis.  Instead of anxiety, anger, or depression, the peace of God becomes the normal state of mind for the Christian. So as maturing believers, when we are seeking after God’s plan for our life, we must also be sensitive to a lack of peace in a particular direction. This absence of God’s peace in the form of anxiety, stress, anger, or confusion, is also a strong indicator warning us that we are stepping out of the will of God. Just as the Lord will grant special peace to the believer when he or she discovers His plan, He will also remove His peace when a Christian strays away from His course for their lives.

I have a friend, who replies “It is well with my soul” when I ask him how he’s doing. If I am in Christ, it truly is well with my soul. I am at peace with God, and I should be walking in peace in this world. That’s not to say that each one of us won’t have our share of problems and sometimes we will have even more difficulties because of the spiritual warfare that swirls about us – but because we are God’s children, and His Spirit comforts us and guides us, we can be at peace in spite of the circumstances. Enjoy the peace of God for the rest of your live. Shalom.