A HEART AT PEACE WITH GOD

John 14:27-30

Morning Meditation 4/15/2013

"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. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe."

Jesus is preparing His disciples for His departure by way of the cross. He knew this would be a strain. Some, if not all, would not understand. In fact most of the disciples thought the end had come. This is in spite of the fact that Jesus told them over and over again what would take place.

Thomas is an example of doubting His resurrection. This is brought out in John 20:24-28, "But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."

What can be said about doubting Thomas? First of all, Jesus taught that there would come many false Christs and warned them to have nothing to do with them. This may be the reason for doubt. But once Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples with Thomas present, he fell down and worshipped Jesus saying "my Lord and my God."

Then Jesus commends those who embraced Him as Lord and Saviour. John 20:29, "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." This covers our situation today. Peter put it like this: 1 Peter 1:8, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:"

Jesus invites us to believe in Him. This is the only way a man can be saved. We must believe without seeing in this age. There are plenty of illustrations. Mark 9:23-24, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." How many times I have been exactly where that man was. "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

Mark 10:46-52, "And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."

The believer's heart is at the very seat of his being. So the kingdom is being formed out of people who will believe God and will make themselves available. It is not ability, it is availability. People need to get rid of that lame excuse, I can't. Oh, I've said it too. But it is wrong. Most of the time it is a lack of self confidence. Well, let's get rid of that one. The more confident that you are about your professed calling, the more likely you are to burn out. We are to walk in His power. If we do this, we will find that the fear is not necessarily gone. It is sitting waiting to come down on you in another area. Have you discovered that we are at war? See Eph. 5:17; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

What we need is to appropriate the peace that He has given us and go on for the glory of God. I have had many things happen in my life that the credit for what was done must go to the Lord. It is wonderful to be able to "labor together with God."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White