Developing A Confident Assurance

In review of John 14:27 it says, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Bottom Line:

Unlike what the world offers, He gives and leaves us with a peace that we don’t need to worry or be afraid about.

What this means to me:

Christ has left me with the gift of peace of mind and of heart. This peace isn’t something fragile like the world give. What He gives me no reason to be troubled or afraid.

Jesus had promised us (his disciples), that the Holy Spirit would help them remember what we had been taught. The disciples were actual eyewitnesses of Jesus' life and teachings, and the Holy Spirit helped them remember without taking away their individual perspectives. I can be confident that the Gospels are accurate records of what Jesus taught and did. The Holy Spirit can help me in the same way. As I study His Word, I can trust Him to plant truth into my mind, convince me of God's will, and remind me when I stray from it.

The end result of the Holy Spirit's work in my live is a deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance in any circumstance; with Christ's peace, I have no need to fear the present or the future. Sin, fear, uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are at war within me. The peace of God has moved into my heart and now lives to restrain these hostile forces and offer me comfort in place of the conflict. Jesus will give me that peace when I am willing to accept it from Him. Therefor, when I feel stressed, I should allow the Holy Spirit to fill me with Christ's peace.

In this world Satan may present himself as the angel of light, when in fact he is the prince of darkness. He presents himself as the answer, when in fact he is the source of great lies. Since time began, Satan has been telling people there is something better waiting for them that God doesn’t want them to have. He lured Adam and Eve with an apple. I need to consider what he may be dangling in front of me (better job, more stuff)?

What lies have I believed that have caused destruction in my life and robbed me of God’s peace? God’s Word tells me that God wants to give me His peace. However, I may have settled for a counterfeit kind that the world gives and the world can take away. With God’s peace, I can put my head on my pillow at night and sleep well, even when walking through the darkest of days. With this peace I can sing my triumph song from jail, as Paul and Silas did. The peace of God is all encompassing and all-consuming.

I can learn to live the life that God has designed for me, not one of my own making. When I follow Him closely, He will give me the victorious life that he intended for me to have.