Hello, lovely readers!
For this blog, I asked my best friend, Grace to write about whatever has been on her heart. She is wise beyond her year, hears the LORD so clearly, and is in general one of the most spiritually mature 20 year olds I have ever met! The LORD has been walking her through the understanding of peace recently and it is beautiful. I felt the Lord asking me to have her write and use this humble little blog platform to share his truth. I’m praying that it touches every heart it was intended to touch and bring true freedom and revelation! enjoy!
“… let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:15
What rules you, really? I don’t think I necessarily need to list particular vices… But to put it simply, if you’re not ruled by the Father – then the world rules you.
When the world rules you, sin nature is your only nature. You may have an understanding of moralism, you may believe that you are a ‘good’ person, you may think you know what is right and what is wrong. But until The Lord awakens your heart and mind to the truth of the gospel and it’s justice – the concept of ‘goodness’ is solely smoke and mirrors.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the courses of this world, following the price of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Ephesians 2:1-3
But as sons and daughters of the Father, we know that there is hope. We know that there is the gospel. We know that there is adoption.
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we may cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Romans 8:14-15
And what then can your soul find? Peace. For it is our Father who is the Prince of it.
For so long peace to me has always seemed like an obscure notion or a lofty prayer. A band-aid to hold together the heavy things: heartbreak, loss, anxiety. Is peace something one can truly feel or just hope for? How can there be ‘Peace on Earth’ if the world is groaning in pain to be perfected again?
Peace defined by the world means a freedom from disturbance, or a time period where there is no war. A worldly sense of peace… I don’t believe it’s something we are meant to experience in this lifetime. If not war across the sea, its war within families, neighborhoods, the government, our own hearts… The word says that we are to suffer alongside of Christ in order to be later glorified with Him. However, because we are suffering, fighting our sin nature, and the world is aching – that does not mean that we don’t get to experience peace that his Spirit provides. By entering into a covenant with the Lord, He sets us free from the bondage of the grave – what else can be evoked from that knowledge other than unconditional love, thankfulness, and peace?
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, speaking with the disciples, he left them with this: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27
Right now – peace in His presence gives me butterflies. My heart feels like it could physically soar out of my chest and drawing in air to breathe is lighter than a feather. It’s a euphoric place that I sometimes struggle to really put words to, yet I know that nothing of this world could ever move me like that.His presence leaves me in wonder, because I know that the peace of God is above all human comprehension and understanding.
And then – when the Father calls upon his bride, how beautiful that glory will be… The world will be healed, singing, and our spirits will be one with Him, whole. Eden will be restored, and death shall be no more. If I cannot comprehend His glory right now, imagining full freedom and dancing in heaven someday, completely new, leaves me undone.
“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the tress of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.”
Psalms 96:11-13
An old decade may have passed, and a new is on the horizon – but none of that matters, not really… Days come and go as grass withers and fades. Let the covenantal peace from the Lord rule your heart, mind, body, and soul – because His reign is eternal and does not fade with the passing days, from beginning to the end.
There is a time and place for every emotion to be felt under heaven, as God created them all – but peace is above emotion. Seek peace and pursue it.
-Grace Hoins
insta: @gracealicehoins
