Peace to you, which we always need, brothers and sisters. Before moving to the main verse, I want to remind you that Brother Daniel emphasized the thought of peace, and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself also gave us peace.
Peace is not that everything in my life is going well, therefore I am peaceful, and when things are bad, peace changes. Peace is the rest of the divine word within us. The Lord Jesus said, “My joy I leave with you, and My peace I leave with you,” so that in no situation would it be shaken. Divine peace means the presence of God with a person.
The apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 8: what will separate us from the love of Christ? Present things? Things to come? Persecution? Distress? Difficulty? It is written that nothing can separate us, beloved. Sometimes we have that peace in peaceful conditions, but in unpeaceful conditions we lose it.
Brothers and sisters, may God help us so that we can put the Word into practice in our lives. And whatever we lack, the apostle James says that we should not lie against the truth, but say, “Lord, we lack this.” In the Gospel of Matthew it says: keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking, and it will be given to you. Today we have much work to do on ourselves, and we must first see those lacks, and then ask the Lord and feel our need for it.
“That You May Have Peace in Me”
We are living in such times that truly the days are evil, very evil, and the trials are many. May God help us. I want to speak around John chapter 16, verse 33, where the Lord Jesus spoke about the fact that this would happen, that it was unavoidable.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Jesus said that we should have peace in Him, but in the world we will have afflictions and difficulties. After all, the life of faith is not an easy thing. A person passes through trials and difficulties. On the road of our spiritual life, we have problems, because before us there are two doors: the narrow and the wide.
The narrow door is walking in the word of Christ, which contradicts the laws of our old man and contradicts our fleshly desires. It is written that the spirit is against the flesh, and the flesh is against the spirit. We must go by the Spirit, and wars begin within us, but our choice must be toward the Lord.
Why Afflictions and Trials?
Jesus said that we will have afflictions. But a question arises: why should we have afflictions and difficulties when the Word of God says that we are precious to God? Even the hairs of our head are counted. In Zechariah it says that whoever troubles you touches the apple of My eye. The apostle Peter speaks of God’s watchful gaze, which is sweetly upon us.
So why did Jesus say that we would have afflictions? Because the Lord Jesus Himself personally passed through trials, afflictions, and difficulties. But not all trials are according to God’s will, or something God Himself wants us to pass through. There are trials that God allows in our lives.
There are two kinds of trials for the spiritual person. One is a trial according to the will of God, and the other is something that God may allow. And I think that in both of these, God wants us to have spiritual healing, growth in faith, and maturity.
The apostle James says that when the desires inside a person grow, the desires conceive, and then sin is born. God is never tempted by evil and does not tempt with evil. Many say, “This trial is from God, this is my cross.” But that is not always the case.
When a person himself has caused fighting and arguments in his family, when a person has been tempted outside and has fallen into temptation, that has nothing to do with the will of God. Brothers and sisters, we must distinguish this.
It is one thing when we suffer affliction for the Word of God and for righteousness. It is another thing when we are dishonored because of our bad conduct. The apostle Peter says, if we suffer because of our bad conduct, what benefit is there? But if we suffer for the glory of God and for the Word of God, we are blessed.
Today there are many problems in families that do not glorify God. These are human trials — the result of a person’s mistakes, desires, slander, judgment, and disobedience.
With Whatever Judgment We Judge
In the first verse of Matthew chapter 7 it says that if you judge someone, you will be judged. Now who placed this rule in our life — Satan, or God? If I have judged someone’s daughter-in-law, someone’s husband, accused and slandered someone, and then later I hear that people are slandering me and judging me, I become troubled and complain. But why? Perhaps I judged in the past, and God says: with whatever judgment you judge, with that judgment you will be judged.
In Galatians chapter 6 it is written: whatever a person sows, that he will also reap. If you sow good things, honor will come. If you sow bad things, dishonor will come. This is the order God has placed, not something where everything should be thrown onto Satan. God placed these rules so that we would be conscious, understand, and walk carefully on the roads of life.
And in the trials that come upon us, we must be careful and see how good the correction of God is for us. King David says in the Psalms that in the time of his mistakes, difficulties, and trials, he sought the face of God, and God taught him. He gives thanks for the good corrections of God.
God’s Correction Is Good
Once a person became sick with a serious illness. From a human point of view, there was no hope of living, but by God’s mercy, he recovered. One day we were sitting, and he said, “But why this particular trial? What was the meaning of it?”
Brothers and sisters, very often in the trial we do not see what God wants to teach us. But later we understand that the Lord did not leave us alone. He corrected us, but He did not leave us. Correction is not God abandoning us; it is God’s care. The one He loves, He corrects.
In Hebrews it is written that correction is for our benefit. Do not despise the correction of the Lord. In the prophecy of Ezekiel He says, “I am correcting you.” In the prophecy of Hosea He says, “I correct you so that I may strengthen you.” This is a very important thought.
In the Word of the Lord, correction is spoken of in many places. Correction is useful if a person realizes and understands. Jeremiah says, “Lord, correct me, but only with measure, so that I will not be unable to bear it.” Today very few people say, “Lord, correct me.” Because we are afraid, because we do not see our condition.
King David gives thanks to the Lord for correction. All the verses of Holy Scripture take us into the depth of the person. Human nature is so unrestrained that if we saw ourselves with spiritual eyes, we would be afraid of ourselves.
Trials are conditions that can bring a person to reconciliation with God. Sometimes God allows difficulties so that a person will stop, see his path, and return.
Not Running Away, but Humbling Ourselves
When a trial comes, very often a person wants to run away. But sometimes the Lord wants us to stand before Him and say, “Lord, show me what is inside me. What do I need? Where am I lacking? Why am I losing peace?”
Peace is not the peace of conditions. Peace is the presence of God with a person. If I am peaceful only in peaceful conditions, but in unpeaceful conditions I lose my peace, then I still have much to learn from the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, we must put the Word of God into practice in our lives. We must not lie against the truth. If we lack patience, let us say, “Lord, I lack it.” If we lack peace, let us say, “Lord, I lack it.” If we lack faith, let us say, “Lord, I lack it.”
This is the beginning of healing: to see the lack and ask the Lord. The Gospel of Matthew says: ask, knock, seek. But sometimes we do not even ask, because we do not admit that we have a need.
The Blessing of Seeing Our Condition
A person often does not see his condition. If he does not see it, he will not ask. If he does not ask, he will not receive. If he does not receive, he will not be strengthened. Therefore, when God shows us our lack, that also is mercy. When correction comes, it can be painful, but if correction brings us closer to God, then it is good.
Correction keeps us in the covenant. The Lord corrects us in order to strengthen us. He does not correct in order to break and abandon us, but He corrects in order to heal, straighten, return, and strengthen us.
Brothers and sisters, we must also learn to give thanks for corrections. This is not easy. But we can say, “Lord, thank You, even though You corrected me, You did not leave me.” We can say, “Lord, thank You for the corrections in my life. Some of them came from my own mind, my own thoughts, my own disobedience, but in some things there was also Your divine will. Thank You for everything.”
Correction Is a Sign of Sonship
Whoever has no correction, let him think. A father does not correct another person’s child in the same way as his own child. Correction is a sign of sonship. If the Lord corrects us, it means He has not abandoned us. He is with us, He has plans for us, He has hope and a future for us.
No one is as caring toward us as God is. People may give advice, people may help, but no one is as caring as the Lord. He makes plans for us in order to give us hope and a future.
The Lord Jesus Christ, as the Son, was obedient on earth. Through His example He teaches us divine obedience. And we must ask that the Lord would teach us also to obey, to be faithful until the last second of our life.
Can We Say, “You Came Well”?
When correction comes, can we say, “You came well, you came with love”? With a little difficulty, but we can learn to say it. May the Lord be glorified for the corrections that have come into our lives. If correction brings us closer to God, if correction cleanses us, if correction humbles us, then for that also we must have thanksgiving.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord wants us not only to be freed from trials, but to mature through them. Not only for the difficulty to pass, but for us to be changed. Not only for the pain to end, but for our heart to become more obedient, more peaceful, and more filled with faith.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we sincerely thank You. Thanksgiving, glory, honor, and greatness to You. We sincerely thank You, Lord, for the corrections in our lives. Those that came from our own mind, our own thoughts, our own disobedience, and those in which there was Your divine will — for everything we thank You.
Thank You, Lord, that although You corrected us, You did not leave us. May Your blessed name be glorified, may Your blessed name be magnified. We sincerely thank You. Now we need You to strengthen us more. No one can be as caring toward us as You are caring toward us, You who make plans for us, to give us hope and a future.
May Your blessed name be glorified. Thank You, Lord. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ, You as the Son were obedient on the earth, teach us also divine obedience. May we be faithful until the last second of our life.
We sincerely thank You. Thanksgiving, glory, honor, and greatness to You. Thank You for Your divine, inexhaustible love. May Your blessed name be glorified. Bless Your people, Your children, the course of the service, and may You be glorified forever. Amen.
