We’ve got a good start on our garden. It would be impossible to ever say we have planted enough. Who can have too much love, joy, peace, humility, patience, kindness? A friend reminded me recently that as long as we abide in the vine (Jesus) we will bear much fruit.
““I am the true Vine. My Father is the One Who cares for the Vine. 2 He takes away any branch in Me that does not give fruit. Any branch that gives fruit, He cuts it back so it will give more fruit. 3 You are made clean by the words I have spoken to you. 4 Get your life from Me and I will live in you. No branch can give fruit by itself. It has to get life from the vine. You are able to give fruit only when you have life from Me. 5 I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me. ” John 15:1-5 NLV
That’s precisely what we are doing with our garden. We are planting God’s word in our lives and so we are living attached to the Vine and we will produce fruit.
Do you know what the plant in the picture above is? It’s a peace lily. That’s right, peace lily. I had never heard of such a thing but because I want us to plant seeds of peace today I did a search on peace images and this came up. (Now I need to search and see if they will grow in Southern Arizona and get one.)
This is what I found, “Peace lilies are one of the most common houseplants because they are so easy to grow. Most household varieties grow up to 16 inches tall, but larger cultivars can reach 6 feet in height.”
Let’s get started on planting Peace! We can all use more peace in our days right?
“People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. 6 If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. ” Romans 8:5-6 CEV
If we look at things from a worldly viewpoint and not from God’s we will be filled with selfishness, greed, anxiety, and stress. God’s way brings life and peace, I’ll choose His way!
I wish I could say that I always have a life of peace but that just isn’t true. Sometimes I get so caught up in the demands of the day that I find my mind racing here and there – tossed back and forth in what to do or what to do next. Then I hear that small inner voice, better known as the Holy Spirit, whisper “Peace”.
When I see that I’ve lost my peace I know that I haven’t been focusing on the Lord and waiting on His direction because His Word (our seed) promises “God, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
Did you ever notice that most of the New Testament books begin with greetings of Grace and Peace? If they don’t begin with those two words they generally end with them. Those words aren’t there as space fillers, they have real meaning. Grace is God’s blessing to us in spite of who we are or what we do. Peace is inner calm, presence of mind, settled, still.
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 1:3
When we know God’s grace, we can be at peace.
One of the last thing Jesus told his disciples was ““I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid.” John 14:27.
If the disciples could have peace, so can we.
Peace, a true inner peace, will lead us in the right direction and be our compass for making right decisions. When our kids were in school and they would ask if they could go somewhere or do something and we weren’t sure, our answer was always the same. “Let us pray about it and if we have a peace you can go. But if we don’t have peace, it’s a NO GO!” We let God lead in situations where we didn’t have sufficient knowledge and the same has been true in our own decisions about jobs, moving, and other major life decisions.
“So you will go out from there with joy. You will be led out in peace.” Isaiah55:12 CEV
Sometimes we will be overwhelmed with a sense of peace. Everything around us says we should be worried, stressed out or in complete fear but then there comes this peace that goes passed our understanding.
“Don’t worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks for what you have. 7 And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.” Philippians 4:6-7 CEV
Worry and fear are so prevalent today, they were in Jesus day too. In fact the Bible is filled with verses on peace, don’t fear, don’t be anxious. God gave us the instruction in advance. Plant peace!!
This last verse should be our sleeping pill each night – “When I go to bed, I sleep in peace, because, LORD, you keep me safe.” Psalm 4:8 CEV
Peace, Peace, wonderful peace comes down from the Father above.