Peace Is Our Referee Wisdom Calls The Plays

For many a year I have taught that “peace was our referee” meaning that there is a peace that God has provided for through The Holy Spirit. I predicate that thought and statement on multiple scriptures throughout the Old and New Testaments.

 

• Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]; because he trusteth in thee.
• Philippians 4:7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

That thought has not changed, but it is clear to me that many have forgotten that we must couple that peace in my statement, with the attributes of God which would include grace (1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God —and righteousness and sanctification and redemption–) and wisdom. Somehow we want to separate the attributes or the parts of God into compartments. (We did it with the “names of Jehovah.”) All of God is seen in the nature of who he is, love. (1 John 4:8 b)

While peace, even the peace that passes all understanding is available and can be found in God, that peace is perhaps more like the atmosphere resulting of His presence,  whereas wisdom can be seen more as the thermostat that releases or adjusts the atmosphere.

I can be in the midst of a traffic jam and still have perfect peace. I can leave that traffic jam, allow my mind to wander and witness the evaporation of my peace. It is not a natural place, but a spiritual one.  We actually see the book of Job that where there is peace that opens the opportunity for wisdom. But the idea that peace is absence of activity or “calmness” is a natural or sensory operated thought process. Peace is the provision, providing clarity for the appearance of wisdom to manifest. This does not happen naturally by the absence of activity or the removal of stressors. This occurs when one sees himself from the proper perspective. There are two parts to that perspective. One is an understanding of the truth that we are seated in heavenly places and the second is that we do not understand things through our natural mind but can comprehend spiritual principles only through our spiritual or renewed mind.

If you seek peace that is simply absence of activity you can end up in the place of isolation operating outside the community of grace. This can become a dangerous place for an immature believer who has not tested their understanding of how God speaks or what he is saying.  Isolation does not connote peace. Certainly much of what God says can be found and verified in the scriptures but again without a renewed mind one will try to operate from a natural sensory perspective and not necessarily come up with a response other than perhaps a “set of rules.” (There will be more to come on our natural senses and the reception of God.)

I find that where a person has been in a place of woundedness, pain or stressful circumstances their natural response is to want to avoid the pain of the circumstance or situation. (I am not talking about situations of abuse or physical injury.) But when we tried to circumvent the process of God by operating in our carnal or unrenewed mind we are likely to make choices that simply lead to similar situations.

My recommendation is simple. Keep your eyes on Jesus. It tells us in the book of Proverbs that it is the fear or the awesomeness of God that leads us to wisdom. The more you focus on God and what He is doing the less likely you are to be caught up in earthly scenarios, making earthly decisions.

I shared the other day about a man who had written about the educational system of the last 50 to 60 years in America. And what he had found was that there had been a shift in the approach to education process. This shift has moved people from a problem-solving mindset to a problem finding the thought process. (The first critical thinking process resulted in finding and developing an answer. The second critical thinking was the action of thinking hard or critical thoughts, finding all that was wrong with no answers.)  We in the body of Christ ought not to be problem finders because our nature through Christ Jesus is to have the provision of answers.

• Ephesians 1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly [places] in Christ:
• 2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

God has made provision for you and I to live a supernatural, godly life. Because he has made provision for this you and I do not have to work to determine what attribute is necessary to apply. He has blessed us with ALL blessings and promises through Jesus Christ.

This is why Paul prayed as he wrote to the church of Ephesus, Ephesians 1:17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; and he also wrote to the church of Colossus, (Colossians 1:9) for this cause also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

Paul’s desire certainly was that they would understand and have peace but more importantly they would have wisdom in the knowledge of Him that they might know who they are, what they were created for and what they could accomplish

I do not believe it is any different today. God wants his children to know who they are, what they can accomplish and where they are seated. With this revelation and this understanding, each and every attribute that is tied to God becomes personal and enables you to operate in it.

Today God desires that you not only walking peace, but that you have an understanding of Him who his grace and a knowledge of the depths of His love for you.