Stay True

Pay close attention to yourself and to the teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
—1 Timothy 4:16 NLT


In 1 Timothy, chapter 4, Paul advises Timothy with his responsibility as a teacher of the Gospel. It is a strong lesson for the young man and filled with crucial advice for ministry. The Scripture today is the last verse, and it brings to a powerful conclusion the whole message of the chapter. 

“Timothy,” Paul imparts to Timothy, “be careful how you live, but not only be careful in your living; be careful in your teaching. Those you teach watch you.” Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited” (Corinthians 6:3, NIV).

The truth of the matter is that Paul’s lesson does not just apply to people in what is considered “ministry.” This applies to every Christian. Someone watches us. Someone listens to us. Everyone leads someone else. We must remain true to the words of the faith God has entrusted to us.
 

Many Christians fail to understand the power they have to influence others. If what they share lacks scriptural grounding, they can mislead others and cause spiritual harm. Just as Paul told Timothy, we must remain true to the Word not only the sake of others, but for ourselves. Each one of us is called to live responsibility and with integrity. We are called to be His light in this vacillating world—to share His love and His Word accurately and to be sure that what we share is responsible to the biblical principles of the faith. We are also accountable for our interpretation of Scripture. If we don’t want to become a stumbling block to others, we will share the Word and our revelations responsibly, living a holy life that reflects what we say.

Many have never considered the fact that what they say or share or how they live affects the one right next to them. We have the potential to speak life or death. We have the power to impart peace. When the Word is spoken under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, it delivers its maximum benefit. When we surrender, aligning ourselves completely with God’s truth, His Word manifests in our lives.We have His power and not a man-made counterfeit. We are called, just as Timothy, to live and share our faith responsibly. We stand accountable not only for us, but for others.

The Word of God should never be manipulated. Scripture will never contradict itself. It stands complete and powerful in its own perfect revelation. We, humans, can make it less or make it more so we should always yield to the Holy Spirit, considering how our words and our lives affect others.

We are God’s children, who inspired by the Holy Spirit, interpret Scripture in light of our own personality—in light of our reason and personal experience. We should take seriously the words we offer as His. A God-breathed revelation or a word of knowledge or prophecy inspired by the Holy Spirit, will never contradict biblical truth. When we honestly and truthfully share God’s Word, His resurrection power is present. His truth, sown in the human heart, transforms the mind and heart and empowers those who receive it to fulfill God’s intended purpose.

The Holy Spirit imparts the same Word to each of us, but we share and live its truth according to the personality, gifts, and talents God gave us. No two of us are alike. We are each specially and individually created.

How do I know when I have stayed true to the Word? The Holy Spirit continually convicts me about the truthfulness of my words, thoughts, and actions. I know that the Word is alive in me, directing and defining my life.  And when I see those in whom I have invested my life move responsibly and powerfully into their purpose, staying true in humility of heart, I see the manifestation of the Word in their lives. I know that the seed sown was incorruptible.

Bearing One Another's Burden

When a Pharisee asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the Old Testament Law, Jesus summed up all the Law. He explained the greatest commandment is loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and loving others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). The night before His crucifixion, Jesus gave an even greater commandment: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). 

Loving others as Jesus has loved us is our commandment.

“Bear one another’s burdens,” Paul wrote, “and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

One of the ways to fulfill Christ’s commandment to love others is to bear their burdens as He did ours.

The Greek word “baros,” translated as“burden” in Galatians 6:2, means “heaviness, weight, burden, trouble” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon). This is a burden so heavy that if someone isn't assisted in carrying it, they will be overwhelmed. 

This burden can be a sin or a circumstance. If it’s a sin, we must restore the person gently, remembering that we’re also tempted and not immune to sinning (Galatians 6:1). If it’s a circumstance, we should be available, praying, listening, and helping them bear the weight of their burden. If it’s within our power, our love must help alleviate their suffering. Regardless of whether it’s a sin or a circumstance, when we assist others in bearing their burdens, we fulfill Christ’s commandment to love as He has loved us.

Paul continued in Galatians 6:3: “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

Paul argued that if we believe we are too important to assist others in overcoming their challenges, we are deceived about our own significance. We aren’t better than anyone else, and we certainly don’t have any excuse for not helping restore others. The Amplified Bible Classic translates Galatians 6:3 in this way: “For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.” 

Paul further wrote in Galatians 6:4: “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” 

To assist others in bearing their burdens, we must lay down any lofty opinion of ourselves. Intolerance toward those who have sinned is a sign of our own susceptibility to sin. Pride breeds the sin of self-righteousness in us.

In Galatians 6:4, Paul gives us an answer for pride. A realistic assessment of our own shortcomings will humble us, better enabling us to help others. Matthew 7:3-5 offers this same message: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Paul wrote in Galatians 6:5: “For each one shall bear his own load.” 

In this verse, Paul used the exact opposite of Galatians 6:2 to make a point. In Galatians 6:2, Paul instructed, “Bear one another’s burdens.” In Galatians 6:3-4, he took away any objections someone might have to help others. In this verse, Paul settled the argument: “For every man shall bear his own burden.” His reasoning is that since we all carry our own burdens and know what it’s like to be overwhelmed by their weight, we should not hesitate to help others in their struggles.

It’s so easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re better than someone else—that we’re not above sin or facing a difficult situation. The difficult burdens we carry should reveal to us the pain of someone else’s burden. If we aren’t deceived by a spirit of pride, our burdens fill us with compassion to help others bear their load.

None of us know what we will face in this life. We all need mercy and help with our burdens. Jesus extended mercy to help us. James 2:13 states that God doesn’t extend mercy to those who show no mercy. Those who don’t help others won’t be helped themselves. Helping others sow a seed for their needs is also sowing a seed for my own future needs.

What I sow into others, I will reap (Galatians 6:7).

Made Complete in Jesus

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
—Psalms 138:8


In Philippians 1:6, Paul made the same point David made in Psalms 138:8: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

In Psalms 138:8, the Hebrew word “gamar” was translated as “perfect;” it means “to end (in the sense of completion or failure)” (Strong’s Concordance). 

We can either complete or fail in what the Lord wishes to accomplish in us. If I'll allow Him to work in my life, His promise is to perfect that which concerns me. 

Something that is perfect is without any fault or deficit. It is pure, total, complete, absolute, and unequivocal. Philippians 1:6 states that the work of Jesus Christ will be “pure and complete without fault or deficit” in each person who allows the Word to perfect them. 

The New International Version of Psalms 138:8 states, “The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.” In Psalms 138:8, the Message declares: “Finish what you started in me, GOD. Your love is eternal–don’t quit on me now.”

It’s wonderful to receive salvation and begin our journey with the Lord, but as Ecclesiastes 7:8 wisely states, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning.” Therefore, we should strive to grow spiritually, maintaining unwavering faith until the day we meet the Lord. God promises that He shall perfect His work in us. “He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). The Lord is unwavering in working with us.

Often, we become discouraged on our journey of faith in Jesus Christ. We will fail at times. Circumstances will be overwhelming. The flesh will attempt to claim us again and again. The enemy will lie, trying to create strongholds. But we must never forget that His mercy endures FOREVER. The Lord will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

David writes in Psalms 138:7:
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, 
You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.”

Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we don’t have to fear because the Lord is with us (Psalms 23:4). If God is for us, no one can successfully oppose us (Romans 8:31). He will rescue and revive us. By cooperating with Him, He will complete His perfect work in us.
 

Lord, help me to never give up on this journey. I want to be molded and refined until I'm complete in you. Of this I’m confident, certain, and sure—you shall finish what you started in me. 

Thank you, Jesus.

Known Beyond Myself

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain” (Psalms 139:1-6).

To realize that I am so greatly and so deeply known by you, Lord, goes beyond my limited human understanding! I open up my heart to you, and my soul yearns for you to continually search me. I thirst for you with an unquenchable thirst that you alone quench. 

You are my Creator. Yet, you are my Father! I never move without you knowing it. Every step that I plan may be formed in my mind, but You direct my steps. My thoughts aren't as high as your thoughts, but you impart the revelation of yours to my heart. 

You are familiar with every part of me—spirit, soul, and body. You know when I’m at ease or when I’m distressed. You know when I have the faith to move mountains or when I need rest to be revived.

Before I even speak, you know what I’m going to say. You know whether I’m in pain or experiencing joy. In your death you brought me forgiveness and grace. In your resurrection you brought new life. You call me your own. You place your hand upon me. You know me better than I know myself. Such understanding I cannot attain. But as I renew myself with your Word, you unveil your understanding, transforming my mind and heart.

Why would I ever live without hope? I have the promise of hope in you, Lord Jesus. Because you know me and created me, I’m in you and and you’re in me. I pray before a word is ever spoken that my words are your words. I long to have a joyful heart that speaks life. You disciple me, Lord, and guide me in your direction. You correct me when I fail, and you encourage me when I succeed. You have placed your hand upon me, and I’m always aware of its steady pressure and your unrelenting encouragement. 

Just to know you loved me enough to die for me takes my breath away. To know you raised me to new life with your spirit and purpose is a joy beyond my human ability to grasp. I surrender my limited life today because that’s all I have—a limited life unfulfilled without you—a limited life needing to receive beyond myself. Take my limited life and make me unlimited in you. Take me, and never let me claim myself again.

Priceless

 

 

It takes time for a priceless pearl to form or for us to discover the inner beauty that comes from the trials of life. A pearl's perfection comes from the constant irritation of sand within an oyster. Life is filled with constant irritation. Those irritations can spur me on to spiritual maturity, or they can destroy what God wishes to produce in me. Whether good or bad, my life is a result of my attitude. 

“Rejoice always,” Paul encourages, “pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-8). 

It’s God’s will that I maintain a positive attitude, regardless of my circumstances. I will pray and rejoice in every situation. I will persevere, reaching beyond any circumstance through faith. By surrendering to God and not my circumstances, and trusting in His unwavering support, I am lifted above the destruction of life’s numerous challenges.

Surrender is not an option; it’s a necessity.  Raging against my circumstances or being passive and accepting of them doesn’t help. Instead, letting God guide and instruct me through each challenge leads to victory.  Strength, joy, and peace come from surrendering to the Holy Spirit’s transformative power. I listen and don’t question His Word. I seek what He wants to reveal to me. I yield to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to create in me His understanding and perspective. By graciously accepting the pruning of the Vinedresser upon my life, I accept His molding, and He becomes my passion.

The price He paid for my surrender is worth everything I receive in return. I relinquish my desires, agenda, and control in every situation or relationship, allowing Him to shape me. When I let go, I discover the gift of His peace. God doesn’t demand my surrender; He gives me the freedom to yield to Him or not. Surrender is my gift to Him. 

I seek that priceless pearl. I will give all of myself to possess it. When I yield to Him without any hesitation or reservation, I realize that I'm no longer my own: I’m overwhelmed by His love. Such love is beyond my understanding, but as I give myself away to Him, I believe the miracle of His grace. On the cross, He saw me as His pearl of greatest price. I’m priceless to Him.

Defeating Deception

A stronghold is anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:5). It’s anything that elevates itself in our minds, pretending to be greater and more powerful than God. It diverts our focus and makes us feel overwhelmed, controlled, and mastered.

Have you ever entertained one of these lies?

—I can never overcome this sin.
—I can’t help the way I am.
—I’m worthless. I’m nothing but a failure.
—I’m in control. I’ll know when to stop.
—I’ve been through so much. I deserve this.
—There’s nothing wrong with this relationship. 
—I’m only human. Everyone thinks these things.
—God may help others, but He doesn’t help me.
—Look what was done. Forgiving is impossible.
—God can’t fill this void. I need something more.
—I have too much trauma to ever be free.
—There’s no hope for me. 

Whether it’s an addiction, unforgiveness towards someone who has hurt us, or distress over a loss, a stronghold consumes a significant amount of our emotional and mental energy, stealing our abundant life. As a result, we remain unfulfilled, and our faith becomes ineffective. These are the enemy’s goals. He lies to deceive us.

Deception can lead us to accept or even perpetuate lies. It can also ensnare us in a web of deceit so intricate that we lose sight of our true selves and our circumstances. Perhaps we don’t always realize when we’re being deceived, but one clear sign is when we deceive others. How do we recognize a lie within ourselves? Anything we believe or do that contradicts what God’s Word says about us is a lie. 

2 Corinthians 4:2 provides guidance on identifying and responding to anything contrary to the Word. It states, “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God” (NIV). This verse reveals some of Satan’s tactics that believers must reject to walk in victory. These tactics are secrecy, shame, deception, and distorting Scripture. 

Satan’s intentions towards believers are always diametrically opposed to God’s. Jesus desires to liberate us from secrecy and lead us to a place of freedom, and transparency. On the other hand, Satan seeks to enslave us in secrecy, using guilt and shame to weigh us down. The enemy understands that when we entrust the intimate aspects of our lives to a beloved brother or sister in Christ, the Holy Spirit has been given the opportunity to do His work. We are on the path to freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).

If we’re going to live in freedom, we must expose ourselves to the revealing light of God’s Word. We must repent for anything the Holy Spirit reveals. And opening up to a trusted brother or sister in Christ can bring healing of spirit, mind, and body (James 5:16). Don’t read these words and just confess to anyone. The Holy Spirit will reveal to you who you can trust—someone with spiritual maturity and wisdom who can share God’s grace with you. Living a victorious life requires courage.

The most successful way to defeat deception is to walk in the revelation of God’s truth. The more we immerse ourselves in God’s Word, renewing our minds, the less Satan can distort its teachings. By understanding the truth of God’s Word, we gain freedom from strongholds, and as long as we continue to receive God’s truth, we remain free. 

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth” (3 John 4). The joy you experience won’t just belong to God. It will also be yours. 

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full,” Jesus said (I John 1:4).

Those who believe and walk in God’s truth are free. 

The Desire For Unfailing Love

What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.
—Proverbs 19:22

In Proverbs 19:22, the Holy Spirit unveils the profound origin of man’s persistent desire for affirmation, approval, and success. We yearn for more in an attempt to satisfy the depths of our soul. The Spirit also reveals that we are lying to ourselves if we claim that our most pressing need is anything other than unfailing love. Each of us craves a love that is unconditional, unwavering, absolute, unreserved, broader, deeper, and higher than anything in our life. God has created us with this immense need to be filled with His love.

Seeking for a perfect, unwavering love in others is not only futile but also deeply discouraging and devastating. True fulfillment and wholeness in our hearts are achieved only when we find satisfaction in the love that created us—the love of God, Himself. 

Oswald Chambers wrote, “No love of the natural heart is safe unless the human heart has been satisfied by God first.” 

We aren’t free to love with the kind of unconditional love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 until we understand the depth of God’s love within our own hearts. Everyone yearns for unfailing love, and we’ve all sought it. However, if we unknowingly let the enemy guide us in our search, our pursuit for this love will be futile. The enemy’s counterfeit version of love only leads to bondage.

We have all lost people we love, either due to death or changing circumstances. Despite the depth of their love, their love wasn’t unwavering. Their love ebbed, flowed, faded, and changed. When they were gone, we were left with memories and a deep sense of emptiness. Only God’s love is steadfast and never failing (1 Corinthians 13:8). His love never leaves us or forsakes us.

We all have unfulfilled needs, and we carry them around like an empty cup. We extend our hand to the people in our lives, hoping they’ll fill it. Whether we seek approval, affirmation, success, or recognition, we remain miserable until something is in that cup. We were created to be filled with God. Nothing else can fill the emptiness He designed to be filled with Himself.

“Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you” (Psalm 143:8, NLT). 

When we unreservedly trust our hearts, minds, and all our needs to God each morning and ask Him to fill us with Himself, our burdens lift. When our cups are filled by Christ, there is no room left for anything else that is offered to us. A person filled with the love of Christ will never lack affirmation or approval because they draw daily from God’s well of unwavering love. They know the meaning of Paul’s words in Colossians 2:10, “You are complete in Him.”

Don’t struggle with feelings of insecurity, rejection, and being unloved. The answers lie within God’s Word, but sometimes, our hearts are so burdened with pain that we refuse the discomfort of exposing ourselves to His Word long enough to receive healing. If we will seek Him, we will find Him. We will discover that, as His beloved children, His unfailing love has always been ours; our "unrenewed" minds and hearts just haven’t known it.


Lord Jesus, I’m seeking You with all my heart. Reveal the wonder of Your great love to me. Help me to meditate on Your Word until its truth is revealed in me. Until unbelief is cast out of me. I want to trust in Your unfailing love. I want to rejoice in Your salvation. Show me Your ways, Lord, and teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth, for You are my God and Savior. All my hope is in You. I praise You, Lord, for You are good, and Your love endures forever. Your banner over me is love.

Though the mountains be shaken, Your unfailing love for me will never be shaken nor will Your covenant of peace be removed. You are my God who has compassion on me. Jesus, help me to remember this and to always have hope. Because of Your great love, I’m not consumed; Your compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.

In Your presence is fullness of joy. You dwell in my heart through faith, Jesus. I desire to be so rooted and grounded in You, that I always know what is the width and length and depth and height of Your love for me. May I know Your love, which surpasses all other knowledge and everything else in this world, so that I may be filled with all the fullness of You.

 

You Are A Privilege

 

Jesus, are we like Your disciples before the indwelling of Your Spirit, following You around but not really understanding who You are? I’m still learning who You are in me. I don’t want to be distracted with discussions of man’s opinion of You. I don’t want tradition and religion consuming me. I just want to hear You speaking and Your power transforming me until it’s only You in me. 

Jesus, You were the Word in the beginning, and You are still the Word now. All things were made through You, and without You nothing was made. You created me. In You is life. Your light is life in me. I don’t want any darkness in me to keep me from knowing You. I don’t want to listen to talking points about You or hear about spiritual movements that are of You or aren’t of You. I want to know You crucified and the power of Your resurrection. I want You, the Word, full of grace and truth, living in me.

I pray for those who only want to know about You. I pray for those who believe they are truly seeking You but there’s something holding them back from letting You have all of them. Perhaps, it’s pride, a fear of man, a deep wound, an offense, a sense of unworthiness, or a fear of missing the mark. Perhaps, they are just seeking You too desperately, and it has become their work. In their frustration, they cannot let go and allow You to work in them. I know this, Jesus, for I have been there. I have made You a work when all you wished was to have the deepest fellowship with me. 

You are a privilege, not a work, Jesus. Prayer is my privilege, Jesus. It’s only hard when I see it as a work. Jesus, pray in me. I cannot imagine praying without You, Holy Spirit. You know all things. I don’t. You know my flesh needs to be avoided. I’m subject to selfishness. Jesus, You aren’t. Praying in You builds my faith. You complete me, Jesus.

You woke me out of a deep sleep. I heard Your longing for Your children. I felt Your pain for our striving. I heard, “Wasn’t it enough for Me to give My life for My children to know Me?”

I offer You these written words as an offering, Jesus. I cannot create hunger or trust in anyone. I cannot crucify any fear or tradition. You yearn to gather You children close and have fellowship spirit to Spirit.

I fail at times. But Jesus, please, right now use me for Your highest. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart bring You nothing but joy.

Practicing Peace

To remain in continual peace is God’s will. For peace to flow in your life, you must practice it every day. 

Jesus’ instruction to the woman who had been healed of the issue of blood was to “go into peace so that you may be continually healed.” It’s His instruction to us (Mark 5:34, AMPC).

Does that mean you can’t be tempted to worry? Temptation is inevitable. However, you must resist the temptation to succumb to the sin of worry. But here’s the thing: just as you can develop a habit of worry, you can also cultivate a habit of not worrying. By consciously choosing to focus on peace, you can create a habit that brings inner calm to your life. 

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you.” When Jesus talks about this peace, He’s saying He’s leaving it with us. It’s His peace. It’s the same peace that governed His life. He said it will govern ours. 

“My peace I give unto you,” Jesus said. We don’t have to work up our own peace. It’s His peace He gives us to walk in. He also said His peace wasn’t the peace the world gives. Next He’s telling us how to stay in the peace He’s given us. “Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid.” 

Jesus is telling us how to guard our peace—to keep our minds and hearts free of worry and fear. To stay in peace, we must resist the temptation to worry. Jesus lived in peace. His peace is the same peace He gave us. He’s telling us that we can do as He did. We can safeguard our hearts from worry and know His peace.

Jesus had many opportunities to lose His peace. But He made a decision to remain in peace. Jesus also said in John 16:33 that in Him we have peace. He then said the world would give us tribulation but to be of good cheer. The Greek actually says that “to be of good cheer” means to encourage yourself. There’s a time when you need to speak to yourself and say, “This is going to be alright. I live in God’s peace.”

Do you realize that you will come to believe what you hear? You must speak His peace to yourself. If you’re listening to wild thoughts and creating scenarios that make you anxious and afraid, you’re listening to the wrong thing. If you don’t have anyone else to speak God’s peace into your mind and heart, you can speak it to yourself. 

Cheer yourself up. Tell yourself, “This is going to be alright. God’s Word is true. Peace and healing belong to me. Victory is mine in Jesus.”  Encourage yourself out loud, and let these words fill your ears, for faith is born from hearing and hearing comes through the Word of God (Romans 10:17). If you have no one else to cheer you up, cheer yourself up.

One of the strategies of the enemy is to remind us over and over where we messed up. We went a wrong direction. We made a bad decision, and the enemy implies there is no hope; we must pay the price because we did it wrong. But Jesus says we must cast all our cares on Him. That’s right. All our anxieties on Him. All our fear. All our sins. Especially when we’ve messed up. He’s waiting for us to repent, and let Him have our mess. When we mess up, we need His help more than ever. 

Jesus is right at our side saying “Why are you carrying around all that weight? Let me have your burden. It’s going to crush you. Just heave it onto me. I’ll carry it and deal with it.” 

Give Him that burden. Move it from your shoulders to His. If you continue to carry all that worry, it will affect your health. It will keep tearing you down until you are completely defeated.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Guard your mind and heart. Think on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). You must practice peace everyday. And once you continually practice it, you become skillful with it. It becomes second nature to you. The flow of peace becomes your good habit. 

Peace is unparalleled. It’s the only way to live. 

Go Into Peace

At the age of fifteen, Kenneth, a young man bedridden due to an incurable blood disease, made a profound decision to invite Jesus into his life. He had been paralyzed for over a year; worry and fear had claimed his heart. He’d been told that he had no chance of living, that healing had died with the Apostles, and God probably didn’t want him well or he would have already healed him. God began to deal with the worry and fear in Kenneth’s life. Several months after being saved, he heard a still small voice telling him he must stay in the Word of God. Kenneth began sowing Mark 11:23-24 into his heart until he came to believe, that even though he was about to die, this mountain of sickness in his life could be cast out. One night he began speaking these verses and felt the Holy Spirit encouraging him to give praise to God for his healing. And as he praised the Lord, God healed him completely from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. 

When he first got saved, God didn’t immediately reveal anything about healing to Kenneth. God first started dealing with the sin of worry in his life. If Kenneth had received healing without God taking care of his worry, he wouldn’t have been able to hold on to his healing. So God dealt with the sin of worry first. Then Kenneth was able to receive healing and not lose it.

God not only wants us to receive what belongs to us, but for us not to lose it. The enemy is constantly trying to steal everything God has blessed us with. It’s up to us to hold fast. This is what Jesus was declaring to the woman with the issue of blood when he said, “Go into peace and he continually healed.” He’s revealing that peace should be the flow of our everyday life—that healing power flows in peace. But worry and fear will close the door to the power of God. 

Jesus has redeemed us from fear, worry, and the shame of our past. He doesn’t want us to worry because sowing worry and fear will rob us of our peace, joy, and healing. The truth is the perfect love of Jesus casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

Maybe you think worrying about something or others is your responsibility. My mother did. Please realize that not being worried doesn’t mean you’re being irresponsible. Not worrying just means you’re refusing to carry the weight of that concern. You are giving it to Jesus.

The Word tells us to cast our burden on the Lord; He will sustain us (Psalm 55:22). Synonyms for sustain are: bear, support, carry, and stand. Jesus tells us to give our burdens to Him (Matthew 11:28-30). He will carry their crushing weight and support us. He will keep us from falling.

Hundreds of years ago before modern conveyance, when someone had a big, heavy burden, there was an animal to carry it. They would heave that heavy burden onto the back of an animal. The weight didn’t disappear. It was just transferred to the animal. If they had tried to carry that heavy load, it would have crushed them. That’s what worry does; it crushes us.

Jesus tells us to transfer our worries onto his shoulders. It doesn’t mean the problem goes away. You’ve just moved the burden and its weight from your shoulders to His. Jesus literally became our “beast of burden” when He carried the weight of our sins to the cross. If we will give him the weight of our worry and fear, we’ll become free of their crushing weight. 

When Jesus tells the woman in Mark 5:34 to “Go into peace,” He is literally telling her that this must be her lifestyle. You must control what you think about and cast your care upon the Lord.

In Peter 5:7, the AMPC says, “Casting the [whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, [once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

This is “going into peace.” Cast all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns once and for all on Him. Jesus wants to fix your problem. He wants to heal you. He wants to take care of you. He cares for your affectionately, watchfully, and carefully. But He can only fix what you heave onto His shoulders. 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV).

Kenneth cast his worry upon the Lord. Peace came, guarding his heart and mind. And with peace, the Word manifested itself in his life. Healing came. 

Lord Jesus, I seek your Word to manifest in me. I will sow your Word in my heart until it bears your promised fruit in my life. I cast all my worry, concern, and fear upon you. I guard my mind from any lie of the enemy and my heart from any unbelief. I go into you, Jesus. I go into peace. I abide in you today, tomorrow, and forever. Now abide in me. You are my peace and healing. I will continually receive your Word. I will remain in you. This is my prayer, Jesus. I wish only to fulfill what you have asked of me. Give me clarity. Help me not to walk in front of you or lag behind you. I walk in fellowship with you, trusting in you and you alone. Help me to freely give what you have freely given me.

In your name I pray.  Amen.