Devotions

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). This marvelous word from Jesus had to amaze the disciples. In their eyes, it was an almost unbelievable promise: Christ’s peace was to become their peace. These twelve men had marveled at the peace they had witnessed in Jesus for the past three years. Their Master was always calm, never afraid, never ruffled by any circumstance. And now Jesus was promising them this very same peace!

Then Jesus added, “Not as the world gives do I give to you” (same verse). This was not the peace of a numb, zoned-out society nor the temporary peace of the very rich who try to purchase peace of mind with material things. No, this was the very peace of Christ himself, a peace that surpasses all human understanding.

The timing of this gift of peace was very important to the disciples because they were on the threshold of the greatest trial they would every experience. Christ was about to leave them, and the news of his imminent departure came as a great shock. They had looked forward to the day when the Lord would set up his kingdom on earth and make them all rulers. Now they had to face the fact that he was about to be given into the hands of evil men and killed.

“I will rise again,” the Master assured them, “and the Holy Spirit will guide you through what you are going to face.” At this point, all that the disciples had was a promise from Christ of his peace.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit has always been to reveal Christ to his people. In John 16:14, he says, in short, “The Holy Spirit will speak to you of me and of my ways.” Simply put, his peace comes to us as the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us.

When you received Christ, you received a measure of his Spirit and the Spirit’s work continues in you to this day.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:6-9).

Peter says that it is necessary for us to go through trials for a little while. I wish I could make all the troubles in my life last for just a little while, don’t you? But Peter is not talking about just a short time, he is saying that while we are on this earth, we cannot escape fiery trials that cause us stress and anxiety. While we are still in this body we are not to think it unusual that we suffer. God knows and is actually going to do something powerful in the midst of our trials. 

“In this you rejoice” (verse 6). Why would anyone rejoice in trials and tribulations? In the Greek the word rejoice as used here actually means to leap for joy. The same word is used in the book of Acts when a crippled man was healed after Peter laid hands on him (see Acts 3:9). But rejoicing while suffering defies logic and can only be reconciled in light of understanding what the Lord is causing to happen in your life. The three Hebrew men were thrown into a furnace of fire but instead of being consumed by the fire, they were brought out in perfect condition — to the glory of God. Even the king was impressed at their steadfast faith in their God (see Daniel 3:20-29).

We enjoy reading these testimonies, but God is the same today as he was then. He goes with us through all our trials and brings us through in victory if we trust him completely. 

As a true follower of Christ in this hour, you will need to contend with all kinds of voices around you — and you will fight in your mind. Every saint, with no exceptions, will engage in this secret war. We see in the Scriptures that even King David experienced this battle of the mind.

“Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me … But You, O Lord, are a shield for me; my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Selah. 

^“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! … Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people” (Psalm 3:1, 3, 5, 6 and 8).

David wrote this psalm during a season of struggling with a sense of past failure and present weakness. He had made a terrible mistake in his life — adultery and even murder — and the consequences were dire. How difficult it must have been for David to fully embrace the fact that he was still on the victory side — that God was proud of him and the lineage of Christ would still flow through him.

We can all look back on our lives and see things we wish we had done better. Our failures and weaknesses can often instill in us a sense that we are far from where we should be, and the enemy will taunt us because of it.

The apostle Paul described a specific season in his journey when this happened: “We were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears” (2 Corinthians 7:5). In other words, voices of mocking and cursing had produced fear within his heart.

God called you to be more than a conqueror — indeed, you are to be a song of praise to His name in the earth.

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.

As the world witnesses one calamity after another and unrest increases, people’s “hearts [are] failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26). There have been many prophetic warnings about such calamities — earthquakes, famines, plagues — and interest in the rapture and end times has increased. Yet, to many, God has been left completely out of the equation. Believers have been stirred to pray and prepare, but sinners seem to shrug their shoulders. The ungodly simply are not listening.

Jesus told us that when we begin to see these things come to pass, we are to look up and rejoice, for our redemption draws near (see Luke 21:28). As Christians, we are to “set” our faith, which means to “stabilize, make unshakable.” Scripture says it is within our power to do this: “Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7).

God is telling us, in essence, “When the world looks at my people in these days of trembling and anxiety, they must be able to see a faith that remains solid and unshakable. So, believer, anchor your faith! Take a fixed position and never give it up.”

The world does not need more sermons on faith. Unbelievers need to see an illustrated sermon: the lives of men and women who are living out their faith before the world. They need to see servants of God go through the same disasters they are facing and not be shaken by them.

“For by [faith] the elders obtained a good testimony” (Hebrews 11:2). When we hold our faith position through hard times, we have the same affirmation from the Holy Spirit: “Well done. You are God’s testimony to the world. Others can look at you and proclaim that there is hope.”  

God takes no delight in the testing of his children. The Bible says Christ is sympathetic toward us in all our trials, being touched by the feelings of our infirmities. In Revelation 2:9 he tells the church, “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty.” He is saying, in essence, “I know what you are going through. You may not understand it, but I know all about it.”

It is essential that we comprehend this truth, because the Lord does test and try his people. Scripture says, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined” (Psalm 66:10). The Psalmist says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

The Bible says a great deal about suffering and trials in the lives of believers. But it is important for every Christian to know and accept that God has a purpose in all sufferings. No test comes into our lives without his allowing it, and one of God’s purposes behind our trials is to produce in us an unwavering faith. Peter writes, “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Peter calls these experiences “fiery trials” (see 4:12).

The good news is that we can win the faith test! Paul wrote: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Of course, Paul knew he still had much work to do, but he was able to honestly say, “I may not have apprehended Christ as I wanted, and I haven’t been perfected. But when it comes to faith and trusting God through every trial, I know whom I have believed.”

Fix your eyes upon Jesus and praise God through every ordeal. Your heart will be filled with gladness as you practice praising and rejoicing over the joy that awaits us.