June 22, 2025 -- Isaiah 26:1-4 -- The Fruit of the Spirit: Peace

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In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
    he sets up salvation
    as walls and bulwarks.
2 Open the gates,
    that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in.
3 You keep him in perfect peace
    whose mind is stayed on you,
    because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Isaiah 26:1-4 ESV

Peace means that God’s just, measured, and appropriate wrath against your sin has been ended in Christ. Peace means there is now a ruler Who governs your life. He does not rule like the devil did, with death-decrees. All the ways of the devil leads to death. Always. Certainly. Completely. While drawing others in. The peace of Christ resists the devil’s guerilla warfare and his repeated attempts to storm the gates again. 

The peace of Christ is happiness. Let me explain. When a believer struggles with an addiction, like alcoholism, there is always a sense of doom that accompanies every short period of sobriety. Even while he is sober, he is asking himself, “What if this time isn’t my last? What if tomorrow, or the day after, alcoholism will once again rule the day?” By contrast, the peace of Christ is a strong city within a man. Demonic forces will never again rule the city and break down its walls. Will a former alcoholic stumble? Yes. But he will not fall beyond the grip of God’s grace. He will no longer cooperate with the devil as in his former days.

The peace of Christ is a rampart on strong walls. When a woman is determined to sin, she will not care about the consequences. She will be short-sighted and not see the maneuvers of the enemy. However, the peace of Christ mounts the ramparts of your life. The strong walls of Christ’s salvation include walkways on the top of the wall so that by His salvific peace believers can see what the enemy is up to. Walking upon the ramparts, on the strong walls of Christ’s peace and assured of the steadfast peace of Christ, one has the foresight to know if you open the gate of your heart to the enemy, he will storm your life. He will bring destruction. He will undo many of the good works which have begun in your life. If you open the gates to the works of the devil, God will not keep the devil from wreaking havoc in your life, but God will restrain the devil. When you recognize your sin, repent and turn from it, the Spirit of God will cleanse the fortress of your heart, renewing you in the peace of God that can help you face anything the world or the devil throws at you. You are secure in Christ. That is peace. Now, go live boldly for Jesus.

Today’s prayer is a blessing:

24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 ESV

https://youtu.be/rhaTIu_k4w0?si=DBvNVm2KrxhzBP1w It is Well with My Soul

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