A few years ago I had a dream in which I was mountain climbing with many thousands of people. Hundreds were all connected together by the lifelines that mountain climbers use; many were falling off of the mountain and being lost because some were not driving their stakes deep enough into the ground. If one gave way, often many were lost. I knew in the dream that those stakes were truth. For that reason, in every study I do, and in all of my writings, I try to drive the stakes of truth as deep as I can into the ground. This is also the purpose for so much repetition and review in these studies.
If you will develop this strategy in your life, going deeper and deeper into sound, biblical truth, you will not only be stronger, and more secure in the Lord because of it, but it may save your spiritual life, as well as others who you are connected to. We will need this devotion more and more in the times ahead. This is also why we have parked at the fruit of the Spirit for so long. If we are abiding in the Lord, we will have His nature.
To abide and grow in the fruit of the Spirit will be a fortress for our souls, but even more, it will position us to be used more by the Lord. We are not here just to make it through this life—we are here to prevail over the enemy and set his captives free. In John 17:18 the Lord Jesus said to the Father, "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” The purpose for which He was sent into the world was “to destroy the works of the devil” (see I John 3:8). The primary way the works of the devil are destroyed in our own life is by abiding in the Holy Spirit. Once we have overcome evil in our own life, we can then be used to set others free.
So our goal is not just to study this fruit, but to grow in it. This study is placed in the beginning of our study of prophecies for the end times because until we are abiding in the Spirit, and following the Spirit, we will not really be able to understand what these prophecies mean, much less be properly prepared by them.
The peace of God is not mentioned as one of the greater gifts, but, as discussed, it is the one that holds all of them together. If you lose your peace, you will lose your patience, love, etc., It is also the God of Peace who we are told will crush Satan under our feet (see Romans 16:20). Now we want to discuss a bit more practically how this happens.
When I was once asked to speak at a conference for professional athletes I happened upon a very interesting and insightful study that I thought articulated this about as well as it could be in practical terms. The author of this article was a psychologist who had studied for more than twenty years what athletes call “the zone.” The zone is a place of super performance where even the best athletes reach a level that is beyond their usually great abilities. When they get into the zone they feel unstoppable, and often are.
What athletes call “the zone” is very much like the Spirit that we are called to abide in, where we accomplish things that are far beyond our own abilities, and are in fact unstoppable as long as we abide in the Spirit. This is what the normal Christian life should be, and that should be a basic devotion that we have—to live in the Spirit.
The author of this article about the zone was never able to determine what enabled athletes to get into that place of super performance, but he was able to determine what would bring them out of it—either fear or anger. I believe these are also the two main attacks that the devil sends against us to keep us from living in the Spirit.
The author of this article cited a study that I had seen before which found that just a single moment of terror or rage consumes as much of the energy in the body as many hours of hard labor. This is why after you have been through a big scare, or have become really angry, you will then tend to feel tired. If you are just an anxious worrier, or a bitter, angry person, you are consuming the energy of your body at a much faster rate and will therefore tend to be tired a lot because of it.
Creative people, and those who accomplish great things, are usually operating at a level of 10 percent or even less above those who are just existing. The super performers only practice, study, and in other ways prepare and perform at a level that is only a little more than those who don’t. If we are an angry or fearful person, more than 10 percent of our energy is being sapped from us, and it is keeping us from accomplishing what we could.
This author noted that if an opposing player gets into the zone, and you can either intimidate him or get him angry, he will come out of it. If you yourself get into the zone, he recommends guarding against these two things so you can stay in that level of super performance. This is good advice for Christians too. When we begin to walk in the Spirit and get used by Him, the devil will try to either get us to worry or fear something, or get us angry. These two things are sapping the life of true accomplishment from many Christians. We must therefore guard against fear, anxiety, anger, and unforgiveness.
In one of my favorite Psalms, and one of the greatest exhortations in Scripture about how we inherit the promises of God, Psalm 37:1-9, we read:
For they will wither quickly like the grass, and fade like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust also in Him, and He will do it.
And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret, it leads only to evildoing.
For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
So we see here at the beginning of the great Psalm on inheriting the promises of God that we are told not to worry and to forsake anger. These two enemies can keep you from your inheritance!
This is why learning to abide in the peace of God is so crucial. This is also why it is the peace of God that will trample the devil’s attacks on us. This is why, in the armor of God, our feet are to be shod with “the gospel of peace” (see Ephesians 6:15). The peace of God is one of our greatest weapons. Use it by abiding in it. Do not let anything steal your peace.
Again, this is why in Scripture the dwelling places of God in the Promised Land were Shiloh, which was from a word many interpreted as "peace," and Jerusalem, which means "city of peace." Obviously this is a revelation of a basic characteristic He seeks in those who He will dwell with—peace. This is also how we abide in Him, by entering His peace.
The earth itself, and governments throughout it, are experiencing more and more of the prophesied shaking that is to come upon the whole earth until everything that can be shaken will be shaken, but we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This is going to be one of the primary ways that those who are the true representatives of the kingdom will be distinguished in the times ahead from all others. We do not need to worry; the kingdom of God is at hand. Resist fear. Resist anger. Do not let anything steal your peace.