Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Peace or a Troubled Heart


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 NKJV)


I was reading John chapter 14 when I came to verse 27 and I noticed something which hit me. Jesus said “Peace I give you…Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” What caught my attention was while He gives peace, we let our heart be troubled and afraid. Jesus was telling His disciples this because He had just informed them He is going to depart and go to heaven. I would like to put ourselves in the disciple’s shoes for a moment. They had walked with God in human flesh who loved them unlike anyone else was capable. They saw Him walk on water, calm the storms, raise the dead, give sight to the blind and heal the lepers. No one had ever spoken with the wisdom or authority Jesus had. The disciples were on an adventure which parallels none. Now the adventure most likely appears to be coming to an end and Jesus is going to die and go to heaven! That must have been overwhelming and very troubling. Look at ourselves when we either suffer loss or know we are fixing to. It can be devastating, yet consider the loss being the Son of God! Of course we know Jesus was going to give them the Holy Spirit and He would never leave or forsake them. But Jesus would be in heaven and they would not see Him in the flesh anymore. The point I want to get to here is, Jesus told them "let not your hearts be troubled or afraid." That means, even in this, they let their heart be troubled. This applies to us also. Jesus gives us peace; we let our hearts be troubled and afraid. Most likely our situation is not greater than that of the disciples. Do not take me wrong, I do not want to minimize our situation because it is real. But His peace is available to each and everyone who is a child of God, no matter what our situation is.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Tim 1:7 NKJV)

Photo credit: Free Digital Photos.net

23 comments:

  1. " My peace I give to you; "
    Meditating on this. Thank you and blessings to you, Ken.

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  2. Ken, thank you for sharing this post. Peace is certainly what I am desiring more in my life. Blessings.

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  3. I never looked at it that way, that we LET our hearts be troubled! I know I am guilty! I don't know why I sometimes find the worry, fretting and anxiety to be more of a familiar friend than the tranquil peace that Jesus has GIVEN me. But now I am going to remind myself that peace is a gift, given freely, it's mine for the taking...all I have to do is ask. I love the Scripture you chose!! Power, love, and a SOUND mind! Amen!

    Thank you as always for sharing.

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  4. Dear Ken, I love the way you have carefully thought this through. What stands out to me is that Jesus said "MY PEACE". He gives us peace like not other, a special peace that can only come from Him. If we keep our focus on Him at all times, not forgetting that Jesus is in control of all circumstances in our lives, we can feel His peace that rids us of our fears. A wonderful blog Ken. Blessings, Kerrie

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  5. This is a great comfort: Peace that the world cannot give. Bless you.

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  6. Hi Ken. This is just a very meaningful post. Thank you.

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  7. Awesome post Ken! Your a blessing to many, a light upon a hill that all may see. Blessings!

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  8. I never thought of it that way. We LET our hearts be troubled. It is a choice and we let it happen. But God continues to give us peace. Great thoughts!

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  9. Hi Ken,
    Thanks for sharing what God is showing you!
    We have the power within to worry or not. Jesus tells us to not be troubled so really we should not. But man it is hard when we cannot see the outcome! Sometimes it is like being blind and trusting someone to lead us. Jesus is leading and we need to say lead on Master for I cannot see.

    God Bless Ken, I really loved this one!
    <><

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  10. Thank you for sharing this magnificent post!!!

    Blessings to you,

    Lon

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  11. Peace to you my friend. May God bless you.

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  12. Thank you everyone for your comments. I appreciate them very much.

    @Vilisi- It is awesome He gives us His peace.

    @JBR- I too am desiring more peace in my life as I also think many other are too.

    @Kimberly- I too struggle with worry, etc... I think that is why this scripture really stood out to me.

    @Kerrie- What a wonderful thing, not just peace, but His peace!

    @Karen- Yes it is a great comfort.

    @Clint- I am thankful you found my post meaningful.

    @John Savage- I appreciate your encouragement. I desire to be a light for the Lord so He can draw others to Himself.

    @Jenifer- Yes it is a choice. I just love that He continues to give us peace.

    Child of God- O you are so right, it can be very hard when we do not see the outcome. I am glad He does know and see the outcome.

    @Lon- I am glad you thought of this as a magnificent post.

    @JT- Peace back to you also my friend.

    I pray the Lord bless each and everyone of you with His peace.
    Blessings to all,
    Ken

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  13. Ken~ This got me thinking...."Peace" it sounds simple enough or not? I looked up the meaning up and according to the Webster's dictionary.
    1 : a state of tranquility or quiet: as
    a : freedom from civil disturbance
    b : a state of security or order within a community provided
    for by law or custom “a breach of the peace”
    2 : freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or
    emotions
    3 : harmony in personal relations

    # 2 stood out for me. Our thinking is powerful, it can control us, it can destroy us or it can give us "peace". We have to LET Him. According to, 2 Cor. 10:5 "We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ." We can realize and CHOOSE to turn away and not allow unhealthy thoughts to take us captive (ie, worrying, our emotions, etc.). Peace IS a gift, Jesus wants us to experience. It's not that He wants us to hurt or worry but to practice looking to the Father. The Word will deliver us from then torment of OUR minds by asking God to redirect our thoughts. Jesus says that He will give us peace if we accept it from Him & allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us with Christ's peace.
    God Bless :)

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  14. @Impact with prayer- Very well said! We have to choose to look to Him and receive His gift of peace. I appreciate your comment very much and may God bless you,
    Ken

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  15. This is a timely post for me, Ken. What you pointed out is so helpful. Do not LET your hearts be troubled. Ido want to focus on that today. I will not Let my heart be troubled, I will rest in His love and in His peace!

    Blessings,
    Lidj

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  16. Very well said, Ken.

    I've never really thought of things in this way. I guess if we choose to let our hearts be troubled, in a way we're kinda turning away the Lord's gift of peace.

    Yes, it's hard in the midst of troubles - I know, I'm having some real tough ones right now - but I'm also trying to hold on to the sure fact that the Lord cares.

    His peace is not the same as the world's - it isn't making everything better all the time. Sometimes it's giving us the ability to have hope that He will work through all circumstances for a good purpose.

    GOD BLESS!

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  17. Thank you Lidj for stopping by and leaving your comment. I am glad my post was halpful for you. Yes, lets rest in His love and peace.

    God bless you,
    Ken

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  18. Thank you my beautiful Brother in Christ!!!

    Love in Christ Jesus to you my brother,

    Lon

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  19. Prayer for a Christian family.

    Pray for family with four children. The children are a gift from God in wonderful ways.
    Pray for a selfconfidence and identity for one of the children and choises that needs to be taken for the next school year.
    We don't know the way, but God knows. Pray for healing with hearingdissabilities and allergy.
    For two other children pray for healing of physical dissabilities.
    Pray for the company that God has opened the doors for and the way further.
    Also pray for a good and healthy marriage.
    Thank you for praying, It is so good to know that someone cares and we thank God who hear our prayers.

    Power of prayer is great
    and God hears our prayers.

    Thanks for the great post brother

    2 Corinthians 1 verse 2-3-4-5
    to you all from Norway


    Greetings
    Jan Samuel

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  20. @Sharon Kerby- You are right, it can be hard during our times of trouble, but it is still a choice. I never looked at it like that until the Lord caught my attention with it.

    @Lon- Thank you by brother in Christ!

    @Jan- Thank you for visiting my blog and letting me know of the prayer request. God is great.

    God bless all of you.
    Ken

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  21. Hello Ken, Yes He has given us a "Spirit of Peace" we have it, and yet we still fear. It must have been very difficult for the disciples..those were hard cruel times. They walked with the Savour and yet, they still feared man...
    I believe as he spoke those words to them a healing and calmness took place, just as if they had been given a sedative.A beautiful peace, beyong human understanding.. we are so blessed. It is so easy. All we need do is believe.. It cost nothing and yet we seem to think unless we pay a huge amount of money, we will get nothing.. oh what little faith we have.
    "Oh Lord, forgive and help my unbelief." Amen

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  22. Thank you Ken for stopping by my blog, thank you also for your prayers for myself and my kids, they are greatly appreciated.

    I love this post you have written on the Lord's peace, it is the peace I have come to find at this time, it is a beautiful peace. Thank you for sharing your words and scripture, very encouraging!

    God bless you...

    Lisa

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  23. Hi Ken -

    Thank you for this.

    That 2 Timothy 1:7 explodes in power...

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