Sunday, April 3, 2011

Seeking The Peace Of The Kingdom

Seeking God….to Fill Our City With People Who Bring Peace

Peace. That word alone inspires me to pray. To seek God’s face. And to ask the Lord to bring peace to our city, state, nation and the world.

As I contemplate what it means to have peace, I also pray that we would have the mind of Christ.

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? I read recently that it means that our hearts can be filled with the redemptive, creative thought-life of God. (See 1 Cor. 2.)

Paul had it right. He wrote:

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:14-16).

This revelation is a big help to me. We have the mind of Christ. God wants us to have the Prince of Peace’s mindset, eyes, ears and discernment.

Paul wrote to the Galatians,” My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you" (Gal 4:19).

If we have the mind of Christ, we will have a spirit-led desire for peace. The very nature of Christ is peace.

I believe that God's goal is not only to see us saved and go to Heaven, but for Christ to be formed and living through us on earth. We are not just to have a religion about what Jesus did; we are called to possess the very substance of who Jesus is. If we have the “substance” of Jesus, then peace would surely reign. Wouldn’t it?

We have this promise: We will all go to heaven through a faith in Christ (John 3:16). But, in a world filled with strife and war, He can “showcase” His Son through us. It is ultimately only so Christ, in the midst of a “less than peaceful world”, reveals how His life overcomes death. Now that is true peace.

"For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Cor. 4:11).

My prayer today is…………..

” Grant us, Lord, the motives of Jesus. In a fallen world, teach us to think, not as a prosecutor whose quest is to condemn, but as the Savior whose heart is to redeem………I pray for the peace of Jesus Christ on our city, state and nation…………Lord, we especially pray today for people and churches and countries in Europe and Central Asia………..may you bring the peace of Jesus Christ………...Amen………..”

Carl Gonder

Fellowship of Christian Athletes