The next fruit of the Spirit we will be considering is peace. Not just peace, but the peace of God.
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; and here there is no conflict with Jewish laws. – Gal 5:22-23 [TLB]
There is a story in the bible that explains the concept of peace perfectly. Let me try to summarize it.
A certain man was travelling in a boat with his friends one faithful day. The journey was smooth until all of a sudden, a mighty storm arose.
The friends of this man began to tremble and fear, wondering if it would be the end of their lives.
Out of trepidation, they woke him up and asked him to come salvage the situation.
Listen to what he did;
And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled)!” And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness]. – Mark 4:39 [AMP]
Wow! A superman isn’t he? Well, it happened exactly how he said. The wind ceased and the seas stopped.
What do you do when you feel there is absence of peace? Don’t just embrace it as a norm, rebuke it, just like that man did.
May God help you to embrace the peace of God. Amen
Prayer: Pray that God will help you embrace his peace.
There is no condition you are, that does not require a level of stress. One of the greatest things one is looking for in life is rest all around.
Life is most of the time full of complications. Overwhelming work schedules, hustle and bustle of life, bills to pay, in-laws to take care of, relationship to maintain, a spouse to look after, spirituality to pursue, the standard of living to raise, health condition to battle with, and the list goes on and on.
But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. – 1Ki 5:4
Solomon had the testimony of experiencing rest all around, where the people of Israel were prosperous, where all their wars ceased, all their struggles became rest.
It is this state of rest, every man is looking for. It is this same peace or rest Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace came to bring to us
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – Joh 14:27
How can we have access to the peace of Jesus?
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
We have access by the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is the communion with the Holy Spirit that gives us rest all around.
There are troubles all around us, the peace He gives remains. We are joyful in the midst of life’s challenges and He helps us to eliminate those struggles and He gives us wisdom and strength to deal with them.
So if you are experiencing struggles and you don’t seem to be able to maintain balance in every aspect of your life, I want to introduce you to the person of the Holy Spirit.
It is developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit that puts an end to your struggles. Let your waking moments be given to God In worship. Cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Learn to spend time in the presence of God. Practice his presence and your day, week and life generally will be blessed.
You will experience the move of God the Holy Spirit in your marriage in Jesus name
God bless our marriage!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I have all-round peace in my marriage.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray that the Prince of Peace will dwell in your home
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – Joh 14:27
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Say the prayer for the day
In life and in our various situations and circumstances, there are times when our calculations fail us. We planned for certain things to work in certain ways but they end up not turning out the way we planned.
Every one of us hoped that our marriage will be ‘happily ever after’. Every bride had such beautiful dreams as they walked down the aisle. After the wedding, our eyes are opened to a rude shock.
Most of the time, we never bargained for the speed breakers, the potholes, turnings, speed limits, traffic lights, and bends in marriage. Life just happens and we learn to cope with whatever comes our way.
Being a believer is so good because we know that the promises of God are yea-and yea Amen.
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. – Rom 8:28
Even if our plans do change and things go in the opposite direction, Jesus is still Lord.
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
As couples, we must learn the unforced rhythms of Grace
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. – Mat 11:28
From this scripture, I will show us what to do.
1. Find time to worship Him
2. Spend more time in His presence studying.
3. Speak out the promises of God
4. Ask God for His peace
5. Patiently wait for wisdom that will guarantee your way out.
Always do these, any time anything overwhelms you.
God bless your marriage.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I know what to do.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Ask God for his peace
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Matthew 11:28 [ESV]Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Pray for God’s direction for your home
Experiencing peace in marriage is priceless. You don’t want to know what some other couples experience when they have no peace.
Peace is our birthright as believers in Christ. It is part of the things Jesus bequeathed us with. The peace He gave us is all-round peace. Not some peace in the workplace and crisis at home with the children and lack of peace in your health. No, He died to give us all-round peace.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. – Isa 53:5
Jesus actually paid the price for us to experience peace. If you are not experiencing peace in any area of your life, the devil is cheating you out of what belongs to you.
Jesus already paid the price for your peace. He was chastised for you to experience peace. You are not just to hear about peace but experience it in your life and marriage.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – Joh 14:27
Did you miss out on yesterday’s devotional, we’ve got you covered kindly go HERE. For KHC video Devotionals kindly go HERE
We can claim the peace of Jesus. You can experience peace with your in-laws, peace with your money, peace in your neighborhood, all-round peace.
Let no man trouble me for I bear in my bodies the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul said.
Here are five ways to experience peace
1. Know what Jesus has done for you by His shed blood on the cross.
2. Learn of these truths and begin to appropriate them. You can’t afford to be lazy about it. You have to search scriptures diligently.
3. Begin to confess that which you discovered from scriptures
4. Begin to take practical steps to enjoy peace in every area of your life.
5. Be a person of peace. Avoid being quarrelsome. Stop being overly aggressive, hot-tempered. Avoid jumping to conclusions on matters.
God help us to experience all-round peace this year in Jesus name
God bless our marriage
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I experience all round peace in my marriage.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray against everything that wants to steal your peace
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – Joh 14:27
If you have been in courtship for some time, the likelihood is that your lover/fiancé has at one point or the other probably told you, “You don’t respect me!”
You see, you need to understand that the way a man thinks and the way a woman thinks are so different and are miles apart. While the man is thinking, “She doesn’t respect me, the woman is thinking, He doesn’t love me!
One important thing you need to know about men is that they are logical and so tend to interpret most things from logic.
The logic is “I am the head of the house. The decision rests on me. The bucks stop at my table.”
A woman interprets things from a relationship point. Her thoughts are “If he really loves me, he wouldn’t do this or that, he would spend time with me and so on and so forth.
Now, if your fiancee ever looked you in the face and tell you, “You don’t love me,” you don’t need to argue at all. She is the one that is supposed to receive the love and she can’t feel it. Rather than get logical and rant about what you did last year and so on, be humble and try to understand what she is trying to say and what love means to her.
In the same way, if your fiancé tells you repeatedly that you don’t respect him, you don’t need to get hurt or moody over that and manipulate his emotions through silent treatment until he comes to apologize for saying what he feels. Rather than get hurt over that, simply try to enter his brain through loving communication to find out his concept of respect.
To one man, it could be as simple as genuflecting (bending the knee a little). He is simply “traditional” and he has seen his mum and siblings do that for his dad for thirty years. It has been tattooed into his brain and if he voices that out to you as what he wants, be smart enough to do it.
It wouldn’t reduce you, it will bring peace to your home and the surprising thing, after a while he wouldn’t demand that again because in his mindset would be the statement, “My fiancee respects me!”
To some other man, it is cooking a good meal. The important thing is to find out what your fiancé deems as respect and do it!
If you keep getting hurt over everything at your fiancé, after a while he would simply keep quiet and that would impact communication. You wouldn’t want to know the consequences of that.
Study your fiancé. Generally, men don’t talk until they are sure of what they want to do or the decision they want to take. Have you ever asked him about some pressing issues and he refuses to say a word? And you are hurt because he ignored you?
Let me tell you something, he didn’t ignore you. The reality is that he didn’t know what to say or what to do. The proper thing is to say, “Dear, give me some time to think about that.” But most times, when a man is confused, he will simply keep quiet and refuse to say a word. His ego would not allow him to own up and say something like, “Dear, on this issue, I am as confused as you!”
Here is the difference between a man and a woman
A man thinks his way into a decision
A woman talks her way into a decision.
So, there is always tension and difficulty in communication when a woman wants to talk her way into a decision that a man has not thought about!
Learn about him and there would be fewer conflicts. This is why a lot of marriages crack and most courtships dissolve.
In the same vein, study your fiancee and simply do what she wants as long as there is no scriptural contradiction. Find out the love language of your lover and speak it. Spend time with her and give her attention! And have peace of mind!
May God grant more understanding.
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY I understand my partner properly.
PRAYER FOR THE DAY Pray for wisdom to understand your lover.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Eph 1:18 (KJV)The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
ACTION PLAN FOR THE DAY Start speaking the language of your lover
