to

Chapel

and our THEME:

"Living and Enjoying the Fruit of the Spirit"

Day 4

Fruit:  PEACE

Day Verse:

"I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me, ye can do nothing.  If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned"--
John 15:5, 6

Just before Christ told His disciples that He is the Vine, He promised to send them the Holy Spirit as Comforter.  Then He added, you remember, "Peace I leave with you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Who may have this comforting, soothing, inward peace, that takes away worry?  Only those who have accepted Christ as Savior, and are therefore in God's sight justified or regarded as righteous because of their faith in the Savior.  "Being justified by faith, we have PEACE with God  through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).

Peace with God--our salvation--must come before we can have fruit, the peace of God, in our hearts.

How thankful we Christians may be, that even in the midst of trials and troubles, we can peacefully trust the Lord who "doeth all things well!"  Peace is a very important part of the "much fruit" that our Lord promises to those branch-Christians who are abiding in Him, the Vine.  It is only because we are "abiding" and therefore are both rooted in the Lord and have His life flowing through us, that we can have wonderful freedom from worry--His true peace!

One of the most comforting promises in all the Bible is Isaiah 26:3--Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee."  The reason many Christians lack real peace in their hearts is because their minds are not stayed upon the Lord, and therefore their trust is feeble.  How can their minds be stayed on the Lord unless they read what He has to say to them in His Word?  How can their minds be stayed on the Lord unless they read what He has to say to them in His Word?  How can their minds be stayed on the Lord unless they depend on the Holy Spirit to carry out His ministry of teaching and making Bible truth clear?  God's Word is truly the source of "great peace" to everyone who hungers for it and learns to know the Holy Spirit as Comforter.  The Psalmist tells us, "Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them" (Psalm 119:165).

Let's count on the Holy Spirit to help make the Bible our delight and love and then it is bound to be the Source of great peace to us.  Any Christian who isn't interested in God's Word is not co-operating with the Holy Spirit and giving Him a chance to work in her life and cause her to develop a fruitful character.  Such a neglectful Christian will never bear the fully rounded fruit of peace.  She will have only shrived, dried up peace.  But if she realize her neglect and asks the Lord to forgive her, she can find real joy and peace in getting into the Bible and having its truths get into her.  Then she will know that strange and wonderful peace which comes from being in close fellowship with the Lord through His Word.

However, she won't keep this lovely, fully developed peace in her character if she doesn't co-operate, and with His help live out the truth she learns.  You know this is true, don't 
 you?  How often have you felt spiritually fit and then someone has offended you?  Suddenly--almost without warning--your peace has flown out the window.

You were angry and irritated because someone said something unkind or untrue about you, or your family, etc.  You felt like returning their anger with your own.    But it's always true that "a soft answer turneth away wrath" (Proverbs 15:1).  How much better if you and I can "stay" our minds on the Lord.  One of our Lord's commands is, "Be at peace among yourselves" (I Thessalonians 5:12, 13).  

"We love to spread our branches,
The root-life we neglect;
We love to shine in public,
And human praise expect.

While in the inner chamber,
Where creature voices cease,
We may meet God in silence,
And breathe in heaven's praise."
--Max Reich

To continue the study of the 
"Fruit of the Spirit" and to go to 
Day 5: Longsuffering (Patience)
just click NEXT below!

         

Midi Playing:

Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm;
In celestial strains it unceasingly falls
O’er my soul like an infinite calm.

Refrain

Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!

What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
Buried deep in the heart of my soul,
So secure that no power can mine it away,
While the years of eternity roll!

I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control;
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul!

And I think when I rise to that city of peace,
Where the Anchor of peace I shall see,
That one strain of the song which the ransomed will sing
In that heavenly kingdom will be:

Ah, soul! are you here without comfort and rest,
Marching down the rough pathway of time?
Make Jesus your Friend ere the shadows grow dark;
O accept of this peace so sublime!

 

To continue the theme,
"Living and Enjoying the Fruit of the Spirit"
just click on NEXT below:

 

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