{"id":11754,"date":"2023-09-17T14:53:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T18:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?post_type=message&p=11754"},"modified":"2023-10-03T14:55:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T18:55:27","slug":"keeping-our-peace","status":"publish","type":"message","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/message\/keeping-our-peace","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Our Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is an automated transcript of this message<\/h3>\n\n\n\nGood <\/i><\/span> morning church; it is good to see all of you here this morning! We’re continuing our series through the Beatitudes, through the eight blessings of Jesus that He gave at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. We’re in part seven from our series that we’ve entitled, \u201cFrom Brokenness to Blessing.\u201d In these eight blessings, Jesus really turns worldly wisdom upside down. It gives us a new way of looking at what it means to live a blessed life.

Today, we’ll be looking at Matthew 5:9 (ESV), which reads like this, \u201cBlessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.\u201d The word \u201cblessed,\u201d has the idea of \u201cbeing supremely happy,\u201d \u201ccompletely content\u201d or \u201cblessed to the max.\u201d It means more than just being happy; happiness is based on favorable happenings. \u201cBlessed\u201d has the idea of having this place of joy that comes from within. Jesus, in this Beatitude, tells us that the major aspect of the blessed <\/i><\/span> life is a life that’s experiencing peace with God, peace with one another and peace within ourselves. When we have this kind of peace, this kind of overwhelming peace, we become peacemakers. We become people who reconcile with others and bring peace to other people’s lives. We become like ambassadors.

Today, we are on the seventh of the eight Beatitudes. As we look back over the past few weeks, we’ve covered these other six. The first one was, \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit.\u201d When we admit our Brokenness, when we admit our spiritual poverty, and we say, “I’m helpless.\u201d \u201cI’m powerless to change.\u201d \u201cI need help.\u2019 We began this journey through the Beatitudes. You might look at them in sequential order. Once you understand this one, you move to the next one.

The next Beatitude is, \u201cBlessed for those who mourn.\u201d It seems counter intuitive that you would be completely happy because you’ve mourned, but the idea is <\/i><\/span> that you’ve grieved and moved on. You’ve grieved your past failures and your past hurts. Now, you’ve trusted Christ to help you.

The third one is, \u201cBlessed are the meek,\u201d which has the idea of surrendering control and saying, \u2018I’m putting You in control, Jesus.\u201d \u201cBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness\u201d is the fourth Beatitude. This one says, \u2018I’m now able to confess my sins to the Lord because I know He will forgive me and I can come clean. I can walk in freedom and victory.

\u201cBlessed are the merciful\u201d is the fifth Beatitude. We recognize our need for God’s continual mercy so that we’re able to receive forgiveness and give forgiveness.

Then, last week, we talked about the sixth Beatitude, \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart.\u201d Any time that we feel we’ve hurt someone, the Holy Spirit will bring it to our mind, so that we’re able to go to them and make amends. We’re able to give and receive forgiveness.

We’ve come to the place where we’re on the <\/i><\/span> seventh Beatitude. We\u2019ve talked about how we’ve received salvation. We’re learning to walk in victory. Now, we’re beginning to turn outward; now, God is calling us to be peacemakers, so that the peace that starts within now works its way out.

What is this peace that God offers through Jesus? What do we mean by this? It’s more than the absence of hostility. It’s more than just, Ok, I’m not in a fight right now. It has a deeper sense of peace. It’s what the Jews call, \u201cShalom.\u201d It has this idea of wellness, of a sense of quiet, harmony and tranquility. It is a sense of security and well being, wholeness, health and prosperity. It\u2019s the absence of anxiety and fear.

According to the National Institutes of Health, anxiety is on the increase in America, with young adults ages 18-25 showing the most notable reported increases in levels of anxiety and worry. 37%, or two-in-five, adults say they feel more anxious than they were this time last year. This rise in national anxiety corresponds with a rise in substance abuse. These young adultsshould <\/i><\/span> be the dreamers and the most excited and vivacious to face life, yet, they’re the ones reporting the highest levels of fear and anxiety.

According to healthcare specialists at a recovery clinic, \u201cAnxiety is a significant factor in many addictions. The relationship between anxiety and addiction is typically established when people turn to drugs and alcohol to relieve the symptoms of anxiety. Unfortunately, prolonged substance abuse damages the brain and body mechanisms that help relieve the symptoms of anxiety, and as a result, anxiety increases over time.\u201d

How do we overcome this national epidemic of anxiety as a result of this over self-medication that our world is struggling with in <\/i><\/span> the United States today? How do we have this peace that God promises in John’s gospel?

Jesus prepared his disciples to face His soon departure, as we’re going to be looking at John chapter 14 today. Chronologically, this is taking place the day before Jesus is crucified. In fact, John chapters 14,15 and 16 are sometimes referred to as the farewell discourse of Jesus, where He\u2019s giving them final words of peace to prepare them for what’s about to happen.

As we look today, I believe that we can receive this peace of Christ and not only receive it, but we can live it out. We can continue to keep His peace in our lives. As we look at the text today, I think we’ll see three ways we can receive and keep our peace in Christ. Let’s dig in:\n\n\nJohn 14:15-27 (ESV) 15 \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, <\/i><\/span> 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 \u201cI will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.\u201d 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, \u201cLord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?\u201d 23 Jesus answered him, \u201cIf anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me doesnot <\/i><\/span> keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 \u201cThese things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.\u201d This is God’s word.

We’re looking for three ways that we can receive and keep our peace in Christ. Here’s the first:

1. We continually depend on His life as our source of peace.

First, notice the purpose of Christ’s words. As I said before, He’s talking to the disciples here; He’s preparing them for His soon departure, that He will be crucified and that He <\/i><\/span> will be raised from the grave and ascend to Heaven. He’s preparing them for life without Him, no longer being physically present with them. What He wants to do is, He wants to give them a peace that endures. He wants to remind them that He is the source of peace. In fact, His life is the source.

As we were closing our reading today, He said, \u201cLet not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.\u201d He knows this is coming; their hearts are going to be troubled. They’re going to be afraid as He soon is crucified and they are witnesses of it and so, He’s preparing them for the possibility and the gift that they could walk in peace, even when their life is filled with storms. He’s preparing them for this; that is His purpose.

Then, notice that He says it is possible to walk in this peace. We’ll just start with the first few verses. He says, first <\/i><\/span> of all, \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments.\u201d We’re called to be in a relationship with Jesus because He’s the source of our peace. He’s letting them know that He is sending one, just like Him, to be with us, so that, even though He’s physically departed from us, He’s always present with us through the Spirit.

In fact, you could say that chapters 14, 15 and 16 of the book of John might be the strongest three chapters in the entire bible about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. He’s really teaching us a lot about the Holy Spirit here and He’s talking about the life that we can have and that His life is the source.

As you look down at verse 19, Jesus says, \u201cBecause I live, you also will live.\u201d He’s talking about His resurrection. He’s going to be crucified, but He’s going to be risen <\/i><\/span> from the grave. His life now will be experienced in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I want you to notice this in verse 16, He says, \u201cAnd I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,\u201d We see a clear revelation here of the Trinity. We see Jesus speaking. We see Him referring to the Father, talking to the Father. He’s talking about the Spirit here. He calls Him the helper. In fact, he calls Him, \u201canother helper.\u201d

The word, \u201canother,\u201d in the Greek here has the idea of \u201canother of the same kind.\u201d The beautiful thing about the Greek New Testament (the original New Testament was written in Greek) is its precision of language.

There\u2019s another word that has the idea of \u201canother of a different kind.\u201d You might say, OK, so I’d like another piece of fruit and they could give you an apple or an orange, but here, he’s saying, \u2018Another apple <\/i><\/span>. I want an apple. I want another apple, \u201canother of the same kind.\u201d

Why is that significant? It\u2019s because He’s letting us know that the Spirit is, by nature, the same as Christ, that He is equal to God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit is one God, yet three personalities. This is a revelation here about the Holy Spirit; Jesus gives another helper because He was referring to himself as the helper that had been with them, but He is going to ask the Father to send them another one.

The word, \u201chelper,\u201d is very interesting in Greek. It is \u201cparakl\u0113tos;\u201d \u201cone who’s called alongside.\u201d literally. That’s what the word means. It could be translated as \u201chelper,\u201d \u201ccomforter\u201d and \u201cadvocate.\u201d Jesus tells them that He is going to send them another who’s going to be with them forever.

In another place in scripture, He says that it’s better for them that He goes so that He can send them the Spirit because the Spirit will be with them everywhere they go. Jesus goes on to <\/i><\/span> describe the Holy Spirit in verse 17. He says, \u201ceven the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.\u201d

He is saying that this paraclete, this helper, this comforter is the spirit of truth; he will reveal truth to you. He’s gonna be the one that will be the source of your life and the source of truth for you.

John 16:13 (ESV) \u201cWhen the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.\u201d We have available to us now, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit to come and live in us and dwell with us.

In verse 17, He takes note that the world neither sees the Spirit of truth or knows him but you know him, speaking to the disciples, for he dwells with you. See, <\/i><\/span>, that’s the nature of how the Holy Spirit was with those believers, from the Old Testament all the way up until the time of Jesus, the Holy Spirit did not live in them, but he dwelled with them in a conditional sense. As long as they were obedient to the Spirit, he dwelled with them.

Jesus told them that there’s a future day coming when the Spirit will be with them and in them. That day was the day of Pentecost; it was the day that the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples Ever since then, believers have had the wonderful promise of having the Holy Spirit live in us unconditionally. After believing in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us.

Jesus says in verse 18, \u201cI will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.\u201d I think that He’s probably talking about His resurrection <\/i><\/span> at this point.

He may, also, be implying His future return. He says, in verse 19, \u201cYet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.\u201d When He was raised from the grave, He never appeared to unbelievers. All of His appearances were to believers. \n \nHe says, in verses 19 and 20, 19, \u201cBecause I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.\u201d \u2018You’re going to know it because you’re going to see Me raised from the dead. You’re going to be completely convinced.\u2019

Here’s what we see about this peace that Jesus is offering \u2013 it’s resting in His resurrected life. If you want this peace, this peace that the world can’t give, it’s only found in the person of Jesus Christ and He gives it to us through His Holy Spirit.

It says in Ephesians 2:13-14 (NKJV) , <\/i><\/span>\u201cBut now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace\u2026\u201d If you want peace in your life, get Jesus. He’s the source of peace.

There’s a story in the book of Mark, in chapter four, where Jesus told His disciples that He wanted to go out for a boat ride. I kind of like that about Jesus; I love boats, too. I love getting out on the water. I can’t ski like I used to. I’m not quite the man I used to be; I’m getting a little older, but I still like getting out on a boat, going fast and cruising around. Jesus liked boats and He liked the water. Jesus needed to take a break. He had been doing a lot of ministry.

Mark 4:35-41 (NKJV) 35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, \u201cLet us cross over to the other side.\u201d 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, \u201cTeacher, do You not care that we are perishing?\u201d 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, \u201cPeace, be still!\u201d And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, \u201cWhy are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?\u201d 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, \u201cWho can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!

Can you picture Jesus and His twelve disciples out on a fishing <\/i><\/span> boat on the Sea of Galilee? The Sea of Galilee is about eight miles wide from east to west and about sixteen miles long from north to south. As soon as they push out in the water, Jesus goes to sleep in the bow of the boat. I don’t know if He grabs some fishing nets and made a pillow. I don’t know what He did, but He’s asleep in the boat. The disciples are talking and suddenly the storm comes up and the way it reads in the Greek, it has this implication that this was an unusual storm, perhaps with demonic influence. This storm came with the intent of killing them. Here you have these professional sailors, these professional fishermen and they’re scared to death. Mark reports that this was some kind of storm. The disciples are freaking out; they look in the bow of the boat and Jesus is still asleep. The scripture says that the waves were beating into the boat and <\/i><\/span>the boat was filling up; they were going to sink. They woke Jesus, asking Him if He cares that they are about to drown.

Have you ever prayed like that to God? \u2018God, can’t You see the storm I’m in today? Don’t you care that I’m about to die here. Where are you God?\u2019 Do you sometimes feel like He’s asleep?

Here’s Jesus; He’s asleep and they wake Him up. The scripture says that He arose and rebuked the wind. He talked to the sea and the winds and He said, \u201cPeace, be still.\u201d Immediately there was a calm and the water became like glass. The wind stopped blowing and the blue sky appeared. Can you imagine what this looked like ? If you see it depicted in movies sometimes, they, very theatrically, have Jesus stand up in the boat and proclaim, \u201cPeace, be still!\u201d I have a tendency, in my own way of looking about this, that He probably just lifted his head up on, rested on one elbow and said <\/i><\/span>, \u201cPeace, be still.\u201d \u201cShalom,\u201d be still, because the Creator of the universe spoke and the winds and the waves obeyed Him. The men that were in the boat, who were afraid of the storm on the outside of the boat, say to themselves now, \u201cWho is this man that even the winds and the waves obey him?\u201d They were very afraid of the person inside the boat. Their fear shifted. They were more respectful of Him than they were of the storm.

You see, that’s what it means to draw life from Jesus and to recognize that He, through the Holy Spirit, is in your boat. He’s in your life. When you can’t find peace in the externals, you can’t find peace in a storm, maybe the storm has a name. Maybe, you’ve gone to the doctor and you’ve received a bad report. You are fearful and you’re anxious. Maybe it’s a relational storm; it\u2019s in your marriage or it’s in a relationship with someone <\/i><\/span> you used to be close to. Things aren’t right and it’s causing you anxiety and worry. Maybe it’s a financial storm; you don’t know how you’re going to pay your car payment or your mortgage. You don’t know how you’re going to put food on the table.

In this world, there will be storms. There will be trouble, but Jesus says, \u201cBecause I live, you live. I’m giving you this helper, this spirit of truth. He’s the source of your peace.\u201d You can have this peace.

How do we work this out? How do we draw on this life? We have to do what the disciples in the boat did. We have to ask the Rabbi, the Teacher, to help us and to draw on the peace of Christ.

In 1 Thessalonians, chapter five, it says, \u201cPray without ceasing <\/i><\/span>.\u201d It might be the idea of \u201cdialing Him up and leaving Him on the line all day long;\u201d Talking to Him all day long, with whatever you’re going through.

Do you ever get in the middle of the day, believer and you think, What else can go wrong? What in the world? Then, it’ll occur to you. You know what? I don’t think I’ve talked to my Lord all day today. I just got up and took off running. I jumped out of the bed, took a shower, grabbed something to eat on the way to work, barely even digested it and now the day has got ahead of me. Do you ever let the day get ahead of you? You can pause and \u201cdial Him up.\u201d He speaks your language. Does He speak <\/i><\/span> Black Creek? He speaks Black Creek. Does he speak Elm City? He speaks Elm City. We have so many people that have moved down here from the north. He speaks your language.Just talk to Him. You don’t have to pray in \u201cthees\u201d and \u201cthats.\u201d Pray the way you’re used to praying. Talk to Him and say, \u2018Lord, I’m in a storm.\u2019 Then, draw on His peace. Let Him say, \u201cPeace, be still\u201d to the storm in your life. Name it to Him. This is the first way that we can receive and keep the peace of Christ.

Here’s the second way:

2. We continually keep His Word as our light for peace.

We can continually keep his word as our light for peace. I <\/i><\/span> want you to notice the word, \u201ckeep,\u201d in this passage that I’ve read today. It’s in this passage four times. It opens up with it in verse 15 and then we see it again in verse 21, 23 and 24. It’s a keyword in this passage. \u201cKeep\u201d my commandments. \u201cKeep\u201d my word. He says it over and over again. The written word is something he calls us to \u201ckeep.\u201d

Now, when He uses the word, \u201ckeep,\u201d we could translate it \u201cto guard\u201d His word. We could translate it \u201cto be focused on. To \u201ckeep it\u201d means \u201cto keep your focus on it. We could translate it, \u201cto cling to it,\u201d \u201cto hang on to it.\u201d This idea of \u201ckeeping it\u2013\u201d how can you keep something you don’t know? So, to \u201ckeep it\u201d implies knowing it. More than that, it implies to keep His word as our light for peace <\/i><\/span>.

The word of God is like a map or like a GPS; it tells you how to live a life of peace. In John, chapter 1, the chapter begins by talking about the living word, the word incarnate, which is Jesus. The bible is the written word and He’s the living word. It begins in John, chapter one, verses 1-4, \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.\u201d

Then, in John 1, verse 14, it says, \u201cThe Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.\u201d Jesus is the living Word. We need to keep, guard and stay focused on Him, but we also need to stay focused on His work.

\u2019Now <\/i><\/span> Gary, where do you see this?\u2019 Look at verse 15, \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments. Then, go down to verse 21, \u201cWhoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.\u201d

Then, we get down to verse 23, \u201cIf anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.\u201d That’s the third time we see the word, \u201ckeep,\u201d and every single time it’s connected to love and His Word

He gives us the opposite, so that we can recognize the negative side, in verse 24, \u201cWhoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.\u201d

Here’s what Jesus is saying\u2013keeping His Word is intrinsically connected to loving Him. \u201cIf you love Me, you’ll keep My Word.\u201d To keep His Word means to stay in it, guard it,observe it, hold <\/i><\/span> fast to it and attend to it carefully. This is what He’s saying\u2013 \u2018Keep My word. If you want to keep My peace, keep My word.\u2019

We talked about how sometimes the day will get ahead of you and if you pray, you can call on the peace of Christ. Prayer life for the believer is very important to stay in your peace. To stay at peace with the Lord, but so is the word of God.

He says, \u2018If you keep in My word, I’ll manifest Myself to you.\u2019 We saw that in verse 21. He said, \u201cAnd he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.\u201d To \u201cmanifest\u201d has the idea of \u201cto bring to light.\u201d

Have you ever said something like this or, maybe, you’ve heard somebody say this? I just wish Jesus could just be sitting here next to me right now, so I could ask <\/i><\/span>Him some questions. I wish I could ask Him about this right now. I wish he was sitting right here.

Here is what He says to us- \u2018If you love me and keep My word, I will manifest Myself to you and I will come to live in your life.\u2019 He will speak to you. You can know a relationship with Jesus, an ongoing relationship, where you can hear from Him. You can talk to Him and hear back from Him, through His word, in very specific ways.

I could tell you stories, from my own personal life, where I was not at peace. I was anxious, I was worried or I was afraid and I would go to the Lord with very specific requests. I’m not saying that He answered immediately, but He has always answered when it was appropriate. Usually I have to pursue Him for a little while. He wants to see that I’m really listening to Him, not just listening to <\/i><\/span> everybody around me, but really listening to Him. He says to us, that if we will keep His word, He will manifest Himself to us.

Notice, in verse 22, that John’s making sure that we don’t get this Judas confused with Judas Iscariot. Judas, in this passage, was sensitive about this. Verse 22 reads, “Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, \u201cLord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?\u201d Perhaps Judas is referring to what Jesus said earlier, in verse 19, \u201cYet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will seeme <\/i><\/span>. Because I live, you also will live.\u201d Judas was wondering how we were going to see Him and the world is not going to see Him. How is Jesus going to do that?\nJudas is trying to figure that out. Part of this is because, when Jesus was raised from the grave, He never appeared again to the world. He only appeared to believers. All of his appearances, post-resurrection, were to believers. That’s part of, what I think, Jesus is referring to. The other thing, I think, Jesus is referring to is that He is going to show Himself real in our life through His word and through His spirit, so that He is made manifest. He is made real to us so that we really have a relationship with Him.

Jesus spends the next couple of chapters answering Judas’ question and <\/i><\/span> at first you’re thinking, Did He really answer this question? But, if you keep with Him, He does. Verse 23 says this, Jesus answered him, \u201cIf anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.\u201d Make our home with Him? Who is He talking about? Jesus is speaking of the Father, Himself and the Holy Spirit. The whole Trinity is going to come and live at your house. We are going to come and live in your life. The God of the universe is going to come live and come abide, which is then the topic that He goes more deeply into in John chapter 15. He’s still answering Judas (not Iscariot.)

Judas’s question was, \u2018How are You going to do this?\u2019 Jesus gives him a picture\u2013 \u2018I’m the vine, you’re the branches and my Father’s the gardener. As long as you abide in me <\/i><\/span> and I abide in you, you can bear much fruit, but if you don’t abide in Me and I don\u2019t abide in you, then you can’t do anything. You have to draw on Me. You have to keep connected to Me and my word.\u2019 Jesus is still answering the question about how He is going to be made manifest, so that we bear the fruit of the Spirit, all the way into John 15 and 16. Jesus is going to make a home in you so that you’re the receptacle, you’re the clay pot filled with the precious peace of Christ through the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Loving and keeping God’s word brings us lasting peace.

It says in Psalm 119:165 (GW) \u201cThere is lasting peace for those who love your teachings. Nothing can make those people stumble.\u201d You want to stay in peace, so that even when storms are happening around, with relationship, finances and your health, wherever it is, let it be stayed, drawing on the source of life through Jesus <\/i><\/span> and keeping His word so that you’re claiming His promises.

It says in Psalm 119:105 (ESV) \u201cYour word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.\u201d You can’t keep God’s word without knowing it. People will sometimes ask me, \u2018How do I get started studying God’s Word and memorizing God’s word? I’m not good at memorization.\u2019 I hear people say that all the time but at the same time, you can just start a little \u201cdiddy\u201d and you can complete it, which proves we can remember stuff.

Now, my problem is, all the stuff I know only the older people know. I don’t know the new commercials. If I say, \u201cKool-aid, Kool-aid tastes great,\u201d somebody here can finish the little jingle. Who has it? Nobody? Not even the gray hairs in the room can finish this jingle? At the first service, it was like a chorus. What is this? \u201cWish we had some. Can’t wait.\u201d \u201dTwo <\/i><\/span> all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.\u201d We can memorize stuff; we just have to hear it enough to memorize it. Some of us have to put it to a tune, but we can memorize stuff.

So, how do you start this habit of Bible study? I’ll hear very, very specific questions, such as, \u2018Where should I start reading?\u2019 Iif you’re a new believer or you’ve never really been a serious Bible student, don’t start in Genesis. You’ll get to Leviticus and quit; you’ll get freaked out. Start with John, the book we’re studying this morning. Just read the gospel of John, learn about Jesus and ask questions of the text, but before you read, before you even start to read, bow your head and <\/i><\/span> say, \u201cDear Lord, when I read Your word today,help me understand it and help me to apply it. Lord, speak to me through Your word.\u201d People will ask me, \u2018How long should I read? Should I read a chapter or two chapters?\u2019 If you’re praying like I’m telling you to, pray, \u201cGod speak,\u201d pray and read until He does speak. If you read one verse and He’s speaking to you, you can stop and meditate on that one verse. Maybe you have to read a chapter; read until God speaks. Ask Him to speak to you.

If I read the book of John, what should I read next? The book of John gets you squared away. You know who Jesus is. You’re depending on Him. I’d go to the book <\/i><\/span> of James, so you’re ready to fight the devil. You’re ready to deal with practical problems. Read the book of James\u2019 five chapters and you’ll think, Somebody read my diary. He will address the things you’re dealing with.

Start with those books. In fact, one of the best instructions I could give someone that’s starting to read the Bible, is to read it from the back to the front first. Read the New Testament first and then read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament because it’ll help you understand the Old Testament. Read the whole thing through the lens of Jesus because He is the author; He’s the subject of the whole book. Start in the New Testament and then go to the Old Testament. Then read the whole book and become a student of God’s word because that’s where we find our peace. It’s like our \u201cGPS\u201d for peace. It’s like you want <\/i><\/span> to find peace right here it is.

Here\u2019s the third way:

3. We continually rely on His promise to live in His peace.

What does He promise? We’re in these final few verses, verses 25 to 27. What has He promised? He’s promised the Spirit. Here, He gives us more detail about who the Holy Spirit is.

In verse 25 and 26, it says,\u201cThese things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper\u2026\u201d He talked about the Helper earlier back in verse 16; the Holy Spirit. The first time He called him the spirit of truth. Here,He calls him the Holy Spirit. He’s teaching us more. \n26\u201d…the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.\u201d He is going to help you remember what you’ve studied <\/i><\/span>. He’s going to help you remember it right when you need it, but you need to \u201cput it in\u201d first. If you don’t \u201cput it in,\u201d you can’t remember it. You can’t remember something you never knew.

Remember what Jesus said, that if you’re ever in a situation where you’re brought before people and they ask you to speak, don’t worry about it because He will give you the words to say. At that very moment, He’ll tell you what to say, but it has the requirement that you’ve been a student of God’s word and that you’ve been \u201cputting it in.\u2019 You’ve been attending church, you’ve been hearing good preaching from God’s Word. You’ve been in a small group where you’re \u201cunpacking\u201d it. You’ve got a daily method of getting up in the morning or before you go to bed at night by reading a little bit and praying. You’re cultivating the peace of Christ <\/i><\/span> in your life. You’re drawing on it, so that, whenever you need it, when a storm comes,you have the peace that Jesus gives you. Whenever a storm comes, speak to the storm. You can speak to it; the Holy Spirit will bring it to your remembrance. You will remember. \u201cPeace be still, get behind me, Satan.\u201d You can speak to the storm and you can, you can find your peace in Christ <\/i><\/span>.

Jesus says, in verse 27, \u201cPeace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.\u201d Jesus is getting ready to not be here bodily anymore. He’s going to leave His peace. He’s going to leave His peace through the person of the Holy Spirit. He says, \u201cMy peace I give to you.\u201d You see, it’s the \u201cJesus\u201d brand of peace, which is better.

We try to find peace in a bottle, in a medication or in a distraction. Maybe, we try to find peace in some hobby or some entertainment, but what we’re really doing is we’re trying to keep our mind busy, so that we don’t think about it, what we’re worried about or what we’re anxious about. We distract ourselves. It’s not true peace. It’s not as the old saint would say in Jesus, \u201c All things are well a and all things will <\/i><\/span> be well.\u201d The sense of an over abundant, abiding peace in spite of any storm. No, we try to distract ourselves or we try to medicate ourselves.

Jesus says, \u2018I’m going to give you My brand of peace. It’s not like the world’s peace. Jesus says in verse 27, \u201c… Not as the world gives, do I give to you.\u201d This is not like worldly peace. It’s not just a wish; it’s a real impart to us through Christ.

Jesus says, \u201cShalom\u201d to us. This is not just saying \u201chello\u201d or \u201cgoodbye.\u201d Jesus says, \u2018Here comes My peace; My kind of peace coming your way.

During the time that Jesus lived, in the first century, it was during the Roman Empire. Indeed, it was during the Pax Romana, the Roman peace and Augustus had won the peace by the sword. It was that kind of peace, a peace that had been sought and won through violence and through war. We’ll often think of peace that way <\/i><\/span>.It’s a little calm period, where it’s between wars, but soon another war comes again.

Jesus says that it’s not that kind of peace. It’s not worldly peace, nor is it the kind of peace that’s temporary. This is a new kind of peace, this new kind of \u201cShalom,\u201d which is a blessing. Don’t let your hearts be troubled or agitated, when there’s a storm and you’re all worked up. Don’t worry about that. Don’t be afraid.

That’s how we began in John, chapter 14. Remember how we began chapter 14? John 14:1-3 (NKJV) 1 \u201cLet not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father\u2019s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.\u201d Now, He’s back to it. \u2018Don’t be afraid.\u2019 \u2018Don’t be troubled.\u2019 I am giving you My peace.\u2019 How <\/i><\/span> cand we access this?He’s given it to us. How do we draw on it and apply it? We have said through prayer, through Bible study and through putting God’s word into our hearts.

How do we ask the Holy Spirit to impart this peace to the storms in our souls and in our lives? You know, I was reading about what anxiety does to the body, the \u201cfear response,\u201d the \u201cfight or flight response.\u201d It can be helpful if you’re in a fight or need to run, but it’s not helpful if you stay in that state because it begins to harm the body and the mind to stay in an anxious state. One of the marks that often happens to us when we’re anxious is we have trouble breathing. Have you almost hyperventilated? You couldn\u2019t breathe? You have shortness of breath. You feel like you can’t catch your breath and there\u2019s<\/i><\/span Medical professionals will tell you this is where uh it's good to focus on your breathing. They call it \u201cmindfulness;\u201d just put your mind on what's happening, put your mind on your breath and then tell your breath to slow down. That's a good practical medical tip\u2013if you're feeling anxiety and shortness of breath, have mindfulness. Slow down and take longer breaths. If you're hyperventilating, breathing in a bag forces you to slow down. It forces you to slow down.

Can I give you a spiritual tip, in addition to that medical tip? The Holy Spirit\u2019s name for spirit can also be translated, \u201cbreath.\u201d It could also be translated as \u201cwind,\u201d \u201cbreath,\u201d or \u201cair.\u201d that? Whenever you feel anxious, breathe out the \u201dstorm\u201d <\/i><\/span>; breathe out the problem to the Lord in prayer and breathe in spiritually. I’m speaking about the Holy Spirit. \u2018Fill me afresh. I surrender every area of my life to You. I surrender the storm that I don’t know how to get through to You. Then, exhale the worry and inhale the peace. Exhale the fear and inhale the tranquility. You see, that’s a spiritual habit; this is spiritual breathing, depending on the Holy Spirit. Put aside your former habits of how you’ve managed anxiety in the past. It really doesn’t work. It’s just a cover up. You want real peace. Draw on the source, the life of Jesus. Keep his word and then learn to talk to Him and give Him your storms and your worries.

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV) 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which<\/i><\/span>surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This is the Jesus kind of peace, which surpasses all understanding. Guard or hang on to your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Turn your worries into prayers.

Do you know what worry is? It’s anxious self-talk. Do you know what prayer is? It’s faithful, God talk. It takes the same amount of energy to talk to yourself as it does to talk to God. Stop talking to yourself and start talking to the Lord. Turn your worries into prayers.

As we close, I would repeat to you the words of Jesus, in verse 27, \u201cPeace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.\u201d Receive His peace and live it out today. One <\/i><\/span> of the ways that we feel and we’ve been talking about for these past seven weeks is to have a ministry like Celebrate Recovery, that’s where this ministry comes in. It helps us stay in peace with the Lord. We learn to have this sustained peace so that we’re not triggered to fall back into our \n\u201churts, habits and hang ups.\u201d

We’ve been talking about how the word, \u201cR.E.C.O.V.E.R.Y\u201d is like an acronym based on the eight principles from the Beatitudes. We’ve said, Realize I’m not God and that I need the Lord. I need help. I’m helpless. Earnestly believe that God exists and I want to turn my life over to Him. He’s the answer. Consciously choose to commit. I’m giving my life to Jesus. Openly examine and confess my faults. I’m ready to confess my sin, my shame and my guilt to the Lord. Voluntarily submit to make changes by God’s power. I’m asking the Holy Spirit to transform my life. All of these are based <\/i><\/span> on the Beatitudes. Evaluate my relationships. I’m ready to reconcile with other people. I’m ready to be a peacemaker. If I’ve offended someone, I want to make amends and be right with them. If they’ve offended me, I want to give them forgiveness.

This week is Reserve a daily time with God so that we become peacemakers. I set aside a time every day with God for self-examination, bible reading and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and gain power to do it. This is the maintenance step of keeping our peace in Christ. That’s what you can do for yourself today.

First of all, do you know Christ? He is our peace. He Himself is our peace. Do you know Him? If you know Him, will you, today, decide to grow by being part of what God’s doing in this church. I wanna be in a community group , <\/i><\/span> so I’m learning to apply his word. I want to be in Celebrate Recovery, so I learn how to apply it. The Celebrate Recovery ministry meets on Thursday nights. That’s what you can do for yourself today.

As I’ve mentioned, anxiety is a growing problem in our nation today and so is over medication and self medication. It’s the way that we’re trying to handle the stress. If it’s not some drug or some drink, it’s 1000 other things. Maybe it’s food, social media or entertainment. Whatever we can do to distract ourselves.

How can we learn to draw on true peace and receive it from the Lord? Do you believe our church needs a ministry like Celebrate Recovery, to help people today in this growing anxiety? I think so. So, even if you don’t feel personally that you need <\/i><\/span> to be an attender of Celebrate Recovery, perhaps you recognize, I need to help \u201cstand this ministry up.\u201d We’re asking you to drop by the booth in the lobby when you leave today and, and sign up to serve, to help us \u201cstand this ministry up\u201d on Thursday evenings. Maybe you’d like to be on the greeter team, the coffee service team, child care check-in team or other areas so that we have people that are working to make this ministry available. If we see it’s important, God’s also calling on us to provide it. Please just stop by and ask your questions at the Celebrate Recovery table as you leave today.

We have one more Beatitude that we’ll be covering next week. During this whole series, we have been asking God to make real change in all of our lives and in our community.

Let’s pray and let’s ask the Lord of peace to be with us, Lord Jesus. I pray. first of all, for that person that needs peace with <\/i><\/span> God. Is that you, my friend? You’ve never given your life to Jesus? You’ve never made peace with the Father? You can do it right now, through Jesus, who is the first peacemaker. He is the one Who is our peace. You can receive Him, now, as your Lord and Savior, right where you are, whether you’re watching at home, in the next room or in this room. Just pray with me,\n\u201cDear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner and I need a Savior. I believe that You died on the cross for my sin, that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. I invite You, now, to come into my life. Forgive me of my sins and be my Lord and Savior.\u201d If you’re praying that prayer of faith, believing, He will save you. Others are here today and you know Him as Lord and Savior, but you’re struggling with a \u201cstorm\u201d right now, as I just <\/i><\/span> was preaching. Looking around at your faces, I could see many of you are facing a storm right now. Would you give that to the Lord? \u201cDo not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition.\u201d Would you name it to Him? \n\u201cLord, I’m going through a storm. I’m going through a relational storm. I’m going through a financial storm. I’m going through a health storm, a physical storm right now. Lord, I’m going to leave this at the cross and I desire to have peace in my heart and my soul from You, right now, in this very place. Lord, we give it to You. In Jesus\u2019 name. Amen.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is this peace that God offers through Jesus? It is more than the absence of hostility. It speaks of a deeper peace, or as the Jews call it, \u201cshalom.\u201d This peace that God offers means a sense of quiet, of harmony with others, a sense of security and well-being, wholeness, prosperity, a tranquil state of the soul without anxiety or fear.<\/p>\n

How do we overcome our anxiety, our worries and fears, to receive and thrive in God\u2019s peace? In John\u2019s gospel, Jesus prepared His disciples to face His soon departure by giving them His peace and teaching them to how to continually keep themselves thriving in His peace. We can receive the peace of Christ and continually to keep it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11755,"template":"","tags":[2933],"series":[2932],"scripture-book":[1310],"scripture-chapter":[1347],"speaker":[2007],"class_list":["post-11754","message","type-message","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-recovery","series-from-brokenness-to-blessing","scripture-book-john","scripture-chapter-1347","speaker-gary-combs"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/11754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/message"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/11754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11754"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=11754"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=11754"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=11754"},{"taxonomy":"speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker?post=11754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}