Do you feel anxious, stressed, afraid, or angry? Do you long for peace? Then this post is for you.
This week, I share a guest post from a dear friend of mine, Andrew Hopkins from Breaker Ministries.
Andrew is one of my personal favorite worship leaders and one of the most gifted preachers I have met. His teachings carry new revelation and insights into the heart of God each time I hear them.
What I love about Andrew is he doesn’t just teach the gospel, he lives it. I have personally evangelized with him on the frontlines of nations and he walks in the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit like few I have ever met.
I pray this post will impact you as profoundly as it impacted me.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5
Stress and anxiety are overrated. And sometimes it feels like peace is undervalued. Or maybe just taken for granted…?
…Or maybe it’s just that we haven’t deeply experienced the peace of God so we just don’t know how powerful it is.
It’s more than a hippie term with tye-dye t-shirts and chill vibes!
I don’t know about you, but, I’m usually prone to celebrate the more wild and electric type of experiences with God. The radical miracles, the crazy manifestations, and the exuberant praise. While I still get super excited about those encounters, I can’t apathetically walk past the peace of God. It’s what Jesus bought for us at the cross.
In fact, I believe that the more peace you have in your life, the more supernatural power will flow out of your life. Restfulness is a huge key in accessing the power of the Spirit.
I love how Isaiah said – “The chastisement for our peace was upon Him.”
It belongs to us. It’s OURS.
Check out the way these other translations translated that part of the verse:
“…the punishment that brought us peace was on him…” (NIV)
“…He endured the punishment that made us completely whole…” (TPT)
“…He endured the breaking that made us whole…” (VOICE)
Jesus was beaten to give us PEACE.
In other words, Jesus believed that peace was important enough for us to have that He gave His life for it.
And let’s be real…it’s a way better option than anxiety or stress.
1. PEACE IS A FIERCE PROTECTOR
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Phil. 4:6-7 NIV
Scripture tells us that when we pray like this – we make an exchange. Our anxiety for God’s peace. That’s a good deal.
The Greek word for “guard” means to “…protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.” (from Blue Letter Bible…which is an amazing resource for deeper study).
The peace of God is like having a military guard over the doors of your heart and mind! It prevents hostile invasions of fear, stress, anxiety and the like.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t imagine a wimpy or passive dude when I hear that. After all, its God’s peace! He’s not intimidated by anything. He’s fierce and brave.
So while peace may bring rest and tranquility, don’t be mistaken – peace isn’t passive.
Peace is fiercely protecting your heart and mind.
In fact, Jesus is called the “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah 9:6. The Hebrew word “sar” translated as “prince” means “a warring prince”.
Let peace do its job and you just surrender (Col. 3:15).
2. PEACE IS UNSHAKEABLE
I was meditating in prayer one day on the sea of glass like crystal found before the throne of God (Rev. 4:6). To me it’s reminiscent of the still waters that David rested by (Ps. 23:2). It represents peace.
What struck me though was that there is lightning and thundering proceeding out of the throne.
I’d imagine that any type of sea would be shaken up with that kind of power and rumbling so close to it!
Yet that’s exactly it – His peace is unshakeable.
It’s a prophetic parable displaying the unshakeable nature of His peace.
We know the rumbling from the throne is good. It’s coming from His throne! But in regards to any type of shaking going on in our lives, His peace remains unshakeable.
You have a peace that is stronger than the shaking.
3. PEACE IS VICTORIOUS
As many of you may know, the Hebrew word for peace is shalom.
Encompassed in the word shalom is basically everything you’ve ever deeply wanted in life: tranquility, rest, health, prosperity, total well being, completeness, and so much more.
I’ve heard it summarized as: nothing missing and nothing broken.
That’s just real good.
Let me show you something that a Rabbi friend of mine showed me. Each letter of the Hebrew language has a picture meaning. The pictures collectively tell a story to uncover more meaning to the word.
Look through the following photos:
(You should also know that Hebrew reads from right to left)
Hidden within the word shalom is the victory that Jesus won at the cross!
At the cross, Jesus destroyed the authority that binds you to chaos!
And because He did that, peace is made widely available to us.
No wonder when Jesus resurrected and appeared to His disciples He showed his scars and declared peace to them (John 20:19).
Jesus said “ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me..” (Matt. 28:18).
So if Jesus has ALL authority then that means the devil has none.
The only way he gets entryway into our lives is if we allow him.
How do we allow him?
We agree with his lies.
It’s time for us stand firm on the truth that peace is ours. Don’t give in to anxiety. Don’t start down the pathway to fear. Don’t trust doubt.
Peace will do it’s work if we do ours.
I believe our biggest job is to surrender.
Jesus, You are the Prince of Peace. Come and fall on every person reading this blog and let them experience Your peace.
Question:
Where’s your peace level at?
Is there anything standing in the way of you receiving peace?
About the Author
Andrew Hopkins has been leading worship and preaching for over 18 years. With a passion for revival and the Gospel, he currently heads up his own itinerate ministry, Breaker Ministries, and works as an associate with Elisha Revolution. He and his beautiful wife Rochelle have two boys, Hunter and Everett and live in San Diego, CA.
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