Blessed are the Peacemakers

James 3:17-18
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Blessed are the Peacemakers

Romans 14:7 says, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Peacemakers are a kingdom people who sow after the spirit and not after the flesh. Their intent is to reap a spiritual harvest of righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. There are not a lot of peacemakers out here in the body of Christ. Most of us have our own agendas, our own opinions, doctrines of men and will to see things go our way. Therefore our agenda isn’t peace; it is warfare, perhaps not physically, but often verbally and psychologically. We want to manipulate things our way, because that is the way we think they should be. But when you think one way and I think another and when we both think that we are right, are we going to have peace? No, we are both going to strive to establish our own opinion as right.
A peacemaker works out of the wisdom that comes from above. He or she grasps a concept that life isn’t just about the here and now, but what perpetuates into eternity. Their concept isn’t about their way; it is about God’s way. Strife, envy, division and disunity cannot accomplish the purposes of God. That is why the enemy tries to sow them in our midst. We so often speak, move and find our expression out of the emotions of our flesh rather than out of the peace and spirit of the Lord. We need only to look to the Holy Spirit to see the example of the peacemaker. The Holy Spirit is with us to help us, comfort us, teach us, empower us and guide us into peace and righteousness. The Holy Spirit is often referred to as the perfect gentleman. He doesn’t override our will. He doesn’t force us to learn of Him. He won’t force comfort on you if you don’t want it. The Holy Spirit, as awesome and Holy as He is, is not forward in His dealing with us. He will work with us when we are yielded to allow Him to have control, but He doesn’t force His control upon us. Hopefully we are wise enough to realize that we are far better with Him than we are without Him. Yet how many of us keep the Holy Spirit locked in the closet while we continue to do things our way and for our own end? If we are peacemakers we are going to operate like the Holy Spirit. We can’t force peace on those who are bent upon war. Often they must go their own way until they come to the end of themselves, but the mature ones will always be there ready to help, assist, comfort, counsel and move in God on your behalf, but their nature is considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit. They are not judgmental or prejudice in their dealings, but are impartial and sincere. The end and the fruit of what they do is righteousness. They are not in this walk for themselves; they are in it for you and me. If we are one of them, then that is where our heart must be also. One of the definitions of a peacemaker from the Lexicon is this, “of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.” Are we at peace with God and man? Are we at peace with ourselves and with what God has given us? If we are not at peace how can we be a peacemaker? Find your rest in God, the Holy One. When you are at peace with Him and in your relationship with Him, then you are in a position to communicate that peace through your life, words and actions. You will stand in the gap to reconcile men to God and to one another. The body of Christ is in great need of a lot more peacemakers who walk in the Spirit and the love of the Lord. If you want to win your argument and your way by being louder, more aggressive and insistent or through the use of manipulation and subversives, you may win the battle but you will lose the war. In order to get your way you may end up proving yourself to be the enemy of God rather than His friend.
Matthew 5:9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” If sonship is what you long for, then learn to be a peacemaker.

Blessings,
#kent

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Finding Your Purpose

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Finding Your Purpose

God has a calling and purpose for each life that He creates. If we live in a perversion of our purpose then we will miss our destiny and our highest calling in Christ. God’s desire is to see you fulfill your destiny in concert with Him, but the enemy’s goal is to thwart and pervert the purpose God has for you. When we simply live according to our flesh then we have missed the greater calling and purpose we have been created for. We have settled for the husk when we could have had the corn.
What is your destiny, your calling and your purpose? Some people just know what it is that they are here for and to many others it may be unclear. Often our destiny is our discovery through our relationship with Christ and a living out of our lives in Him to find what it is He has for our life and what part we play in the grand view of things. Often it is tied to the passion God has put in our heart.
Never despise or berate what God has created you to be. We may not see much in ourselves, but we are just looking at the outline and the skeleton of God’s potential to work in and through us. In our weakness He is made strong. When Hebrews 11:33-34 recounts the men of faith is says, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” Never insult the Lord by underestimating your potential in Him. Often we are “nothing” that He might be the “more”. He honors His lesser members whose faith and trust are in their God. You and I are important to God’s kingdom purpose. We may not see how or why, but it is important that we press into Him until we discover who we are in Christ and the function that we have. Then do it with all of the passion of your heart in the fear and trust of God. Allow the Spirit to direct and use you in your purpose. You may already be living in your purpose and not even realize it. Our purpose is not to bring us glory, but to glorify the One who created us for it. If we can do that, then we are honoring the Lord by walking in our destiny.
You are important in the economy and kingdom of God. You have a purpose, find it and live fervently in it to the glory and praise of the Lord.

Blessings,
#kent