Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. (John 14:27)
The greatest battle in this lifetime that we need to win is the battle of the mind. This is a battle that will be raging until we go to heaven with Jesus. The mind is where the enemy first launches his attack. If he can conquer the mind, he can conquer the body. The key to overcoming this battle is to put on the mind of Christ. To think as He thinks. This is a process of learning His mind, not a one time event that just happens. We learn how to think like Jesus by knowing His word.
Many people see God as a magician that He should wave His hand like a wand and make things happen for us, when the truth is that Jesus made all of what God has for us available but we still need to do our part. For example a Christian who is battling obesity can pray and ask God to miraculously remove all the weight when in truth, God will help us in dieting through His indwelling Spirit causing us to use self control.
A relationship with God is a partnership, not a one sided adventure. One of the benefits of this beautiful covenant partnership is peace of mind. One aspect we must understand about this peace is that peace is not found by us, it is received by us from Jesus Himself. Jesus never said My peace is somewhere to find, He said My peace I give you. This peace that He gives is not something we can force ourself to imagine or create, it is a gift from Him and gifts are offered. Our part in this offering is receiving it. The enemy will always combat our receiving this peace because the peace of God brings joy and His joy brings strength. The enemy does not want God’s people strong, so he will go out of his way to try and interrupt our peace.
At this very moment as you are reading this you may be battling for peace in your mind. Speak out loud by faith that you receive the peace of God and choose to walk in that peace no matter what your circumstance may dictate. God is for you and His desire is that you rest in the peace of His arms through this walk that is life.
Pastor Michael Cannatello
TMMC-The Ministry of Michael Cannatello
