Peace is sometimes suddenly discovered at the crossroad where we stop being in control and God becomes the unquestioned director. This was exampled in the moment the fisherman Peter listened to a Rabbi about how to catch fish. The experienced fisherman, Peter, had toiled all night, a night replete with stars and a glowing moon, a night of gentle salt flavored breezes; but a night absent of fish. His nets were empty in the morning, but his frustrations were full. He was tired. He just wanted to mend his empty nets, large nets that could reach about thirty feet beneath the surface; nets that he had dove into the water to bring the weighted edge over under the rest of the net. But there had been no need. The fish weren’t there. But a teacher stepped on his boat and requested to use it as a teaching platform. Peter obliged. Then after the teacher was finished he turned to the tired fisherman and casually said, Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a great catch.

Curiously Peter stared at him. “Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing, nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.”

Notice how Peter addressed him as Master, as one standing over another. This was his first real step of faith, recognizing something otherworldly and authoritative about Jesus. Peter was willing to give the mystery to the Master, the mystery of how this man could know where the fish were after a long night of empty efforts. But there was no trouble for Peter. He had come to peace with his decision at the point where he stated “nevertheless.” It was at this point that Peter stopped worrying about last night. He started to believe in the Person. Before the morning had past Peter and his fishing partners drug in boat sinking amounts of fish. You see, peace comes when you stop trying to figure out what’s wrong with you and you start looking at what’s right with Jesus.

Played: 180 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

Isa 26:12  LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

Isa 26:13  O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

This is the hope of the man scrambling on the intense, bullet ridden, carcass scattered battlefield; while his emotions are high in pursuit of survival and the defeat of his foe, he maintains that someday this will bring him peace. And this peace for child of God is ordered by God. It isn’t wasted peace. It isn’t part time peace. It isn’t pseudo peace politically motivated and seductively gained. It is true peace. Peace that justifies the long days of battle against unrighteousness. Peace that honors the sacrifices of intercessors caught in the relentless grip of prayer on long nights of travail. Peace that waits for the slave of another Master to return to His true Master; for while Israel had been unjustly ruled and vanquished by merciless kings of other lands, the peace seekers of the Almighty would never cease to call Him Jehovah. And by that name would they solely honor the Promised Land of Israel. By that name they would long for the freedoms of Mosaic law, Abrahamic covenants, and Levitical sacrifices again. Listen now...

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Some settle for the ounce of the opportunistic when they could have a river of power. Esau settled for a bowl of beans at his brother’s cookout when he could have feasted on the luxuries of fatted calves and endless delicacies as the rightful owner of the birthright and Abrahamic blessing. Gehazi was a prophet’s servant, who could have been the next miracle wielding, double portion prolific man of God following in Elisha’s footsteps, but he squandered it for a small bag of silver and some costly garments fabricated in Persia. Judas was handpicked to be an original disciple of Jesus Christ, and would have had his name engraved on the eternal foundations of the New Jerusalem; yet, he greedily grabbed a leather pouch of silver coins that ended up purchasing his own cemetery plot. Every day sinners settle for the beggarly sensations of a temporal world headed for the ash heap; every day atheistic men choose to believe fairy tales while rejecting earth proven, heaven sustaining facts and truth about God and His time resistant Book. But there is no peace in the small portion of a Big planet; there is no peace in the little open doors of grand powers and prestige of an age; there is only peace in the river of the Holy Ghost. Listen now...

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When they arrived at Jericho, they had to wait. They were instructed to encircle the city for seven days. Circle the city? Walk around the same circular trail for a week? The procession around the city had four divisions. First the warriors. Second the seven priests blowing the cornets. Third the ark. Finally the rear-guard.

Marching would mean something different to each division. The soldiers may have marched with more disciplines order; they may have kept a readied hand on the hilt of their swords. The priests may have walked more gingerly, cautiously, watching the ark at every turn, making sure it didn’t tilt the wrong way or slide from the shoulders of the carriers. The priests with the cornets may have walked more upright, postured to perform. And the rear guard may have walked with a wary eye scanning every inch of the territory, making sure no secret ambush hid among the brush or just by the wall.

The warriors were literally the “equipped men”. To walk in front of the ark they couldn’t be empty handed. The ark represented the Presence of God, the law of God; the sustaining power of God. My friend, I am afraid there are too many walking empty handed in front of the ark, the ark representing the Christian values, God’s Word for this generation. Too many have lost conviction for moral truths as taught in Scripture, and they walk powerless.  Too many have laid down the sword of justice and have allowed the Word of God to be unceremoniously attacked by demon-driven institutions and atheistic groups. We must be equipped with conviction. We must be armed with prayer. We must be empowered with the love of God to combat abject hate filling our world. We need to be well armored with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, having our loins girt about with truth and our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel. This is not to say that we need to be mean spirited, but we need to stand against the mean spirited who want to discredit the Bible and make Jesus nothing more than a man who living a long time ago.

And like the marching sons and daughters circling Jericho for seven days, we may have to repetitively march around walls of deception until by supernatural power they come crumbling down. Listen now...

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Est 4:16  Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Esther, the beautiful queen of King Ahasuerus, was to intercede for her Jewish people. They had been conspired against by the vicious and malicious malcontent, Haman. Haman, a jealous Persian noble, hated Mordecai, Esther’s foster father and uncle. As a result of his intense envy he manipulated the gullible King into decreeing the death of all Jews. Esther, thus inspired by Mordecai as the only hope for the targeted Hebrews, willingly accepted her distinguished and exclusive role as intercessor. She would chance going before the King to plead for her people’s lives and dignity. Herein lays the submission of her soul; the meaning of her steps into the dark shadows of uncertainty; her resolve to enter a vortex of risk that could obliterate her and her people or turn back against the mouth of the storm, Haman.

“If I perish, I perish.” Simply stated. Soulfully felt. Whole heartedly conclusive. No margin for error. Her bravery was as spotless as her fair skinned face. Her willingness was like that of a warrior racing toward the frontlines of battle, outnumbered, and against a superior foe. And she found the power of peace.

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Wouldn’t you agree that when you have peace in your life it is easier to smile? Well, with the joy of the Lord as your strength, knowing that you can rely on his sovereign power rather than your feeble limitations, you can smile in the storm, clap of joy in the cave, worship in the wilderness, lift up your hands of praise in the lonely prairie; you can change frowns of human disappointment to expressions of divine expectation. Realizing that you don’t have to have all the answers can be quite freeing; understanding that the King, Jesus, is on his throne making the absolute best decisions for your life and for the lives of others around you is quite spiritual cathartic. You can rest easier at night knowing that God is in control, even when it seems like violence, natural disasters, economic decline, political threats, and nuclear scares all seem to be saying everything is out of control.

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Yes, the God who fashioned the Universe from the ingredient, material forming inventiveness of His own word, could have spoken one word and dismantled the antagonists at the cross. He could have snapped a finger and thundering angels would have swooped in to rescue the beaten Son. But God did not win the world to Himself by showing His strong arm. He did it by showing his love and willingness to suffer.

He did not come as a soldier, but as a servant. 　

Yes, the Lion could have roared against the nefarious armies of darkness; he could have exercised his kingly prowess over the weaker dominions of hell, tearing them apart with truth-teeth that no lie could resist. But he chose the role of a lamb instead. He chose quiet humility in the face of prideful, arrogant religion that wanted him dead.  

The nails were driven deep, fastening a lover of souls to the wooden limbs of death, not for himself, but for humanity. The thorns were lodged upon his head, a rose pierced by his own dilemma of love, not for himself, but for humanity. The deep lacerations vibrant with crimson, jagged with flesh and debris, healing furrows from which miracles would grow, not for himself, but for humanity. The raspy statements of forgiveness his swollen tongue and bleeding mouth, uttered in mercy upon his merciless foes, was not for himself, but for humanity. The bleeding, the blame, and the bludgeoning was not himself, but for humanity.

            He left behind a memory of death, a cross of unparalleled sacrifice. It stands alone upon a hill in infamy, unchallenged by the towering redwoods of California, or the majestic evergreens on mountains high, or the eye-catching spruces of the deep-south, or the white-budded dogwoods of antebellum legend. Worthy is the Lamb...listen now

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Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Failure can be an intricate part of growth. Except a corn of wheat fall. Failure brings me to the ground of reality where I understand I can do nothing without Him. Failure brings me to the soil of humility where the seed of truth can replace the grain of self deceit. Notice, it doesn’t get into the ground until it falls. If falling brings one to the fertile depths of supernatural development, then that kind of falling is only the first phase of a new rising.

When you carefully observe kingdoms of history we proverbially describe each one with a “rise and fall”. The Rise and fall of the Roman Empire probably tops the list. For with earthly empires it is the seemingly positive first and then the negative ending, the grandeur of lands conquered, civilizations reared, and philanthropic contributions added to human history. But, then transpires the demise, the slow decay, the moral disruption, and usually a chaotic conclusion. But with the Kingdom of God, Jesus unveils a secret. The Gospel Kingdom starts with a fall, not a rise. It is the fall and rise of the Kingdom. For the Kingdom of Christ began with “a corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying.” It began with his death, and every horrid detail, every anguishing moment of Crucifixion that led to his final breath. But his death was not the end. It was just the beginning. For the Gospel is not founded on that which “rises” first, but on that which falls first. The Gospel is the death, burial, and then resurrection.

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Played: 173 | Download | Duration: 00:28:31

The sun glared on the golden statue. The frenzied citizens dropped to their knees and enthusiastically worshipped the idol when the hypnotic orchestra began to play. That is, except for three Hebrews. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were young men dedicated to God. And when the ordered homage took place the three Hebrews refused to bow. The king who gave the order was infuriated. They had a furnace prearranged for rebels, and in his haste, intense displeasure with the foreigners he commanded them to increase the temperature, seven times hotter.

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