Assault on Peace

John 14:27 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.

Remember from John 10:10 that Satan is a thief and this gift given to us by Christ is a precious thing that Satan wants to steal from us. He attacks our peace with worldly cares and concerns.

Matthew 10:35-37 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

The enemy will attack your peace with God using your strongest allegiances and those may well be those of your own household. When I turned to Christ my own brothers turned against me. Painful as that was I had to choose Christ over family when family could not accept the new me.

I cannot imagine what my life would have been like if I had denied Christ for the sake of my sinful brothers. I did not and His peace remained with me. As hurtful as it was, the peace of God ensured my joy remained intact and the love continued to work in my life.

Romans 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

1 Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

The new hearts barometer for peace is our new conscience.

Fruit of Peace

Psalm 85:8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.

When His resident Spirit says peace it stills our troubled hearts.

Psalm 25:16-18 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

It is sin that afflicts the heart of a Christian. The loss of peace with God is the first signs of affliction. If we will be in tune with the peace of God, we can hear Him clearly. If we lose our peace we need to stop and look around to see at what point in our walk that we lost it. It will inevitably be sin which caused the loss. The loss of flow of peace is never caused by the Vine, the blockage will always be in the branches.

John 15:3-5 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

The first sign of a problem with the flow through the branches is loss of peace. Repentance and forgiveness restores the flow, but we have to search within ourselves for whatever sin has beset us.

The enemy will do his best to assault you on every level to steal your peace.