When my thoughts were bitter and my feelings were hurt, I was as stupid as an animal; I did not understand you. Yet I always stay close to you, and you hold me by the hand. You guide me with your instruction and at the end you will receive me with honor. What else do I have in heaven but you? Since I have you, what else could I want on earth? My mind and my body may grow weak, but God is my strength; he is all I ever need.
Those who abandon you will certainly perish; you will destroy those who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, how wonderful to be near God, to find protection with the Sovereign Lord and to proclaim all that he has done! (Good News Translation)
Sometimes we put our foot in our mouth. We know how it feels saying rash words that we later regret. And we also know what it feels like to get dumped on by another who has some choice words for us.
The psalmist, Asaph, records an encounter with God. Asaph was upset. He gave God a piece of his mind. Then later, after reflecting on the experience, Asaph admitted that his soul was embittered and let his base nature take over.
The human brain is a complicated organ. We process information in different parts of the brain. The neo-cortex (the rational part of the brain) allows us to engage in logical analysis and complex decision making.
Another part, the limbic system (sometimes referred to as the “reptilian brain”) processes information very quickly, largely by instinct. When we become scared, surprised, upset, or angry, adrenaline gets pumped into our limbic system so that we can quickly react to the perceived threat, danger, or injustice.
Having our brains flooded with adrenaline when there is real danger is necessary. There are life-threatening circumstances in which we need that quick response. Yet, if our brains remain on high alert and are continually fearful and upset, even when there is no real problem, we don’t calm down, and the result is less than stellar behavior.
So, what is the answer to this situation? Asaph said God holds his right hand and guides him with wise counsel. Being near to God brings the brain chemistry to appropriate levels so that we can relax and trust.
God is with us always in the person of the Holy Spirit. There is never a time, place, or situation where God is absent. As we learn to rely on God’s presence, and remind ourselves of it on a daily basis, we can restore more rational thoughts to our lives. We can live knowing God is in control and continually vigilant to watch over us.
Gracious God, I have no one in my life like you. My flesh and my heart may fail, my brain might become overwhelmed with irrational fears, but you are my strength and the Rock of my salvation. Thank you for your continual provision and help each day through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Everyone who trusts the Lord is like Mount Zion that cannot be shaken and will stand forever. Just as Jerusalem is protected by mountains on every side, the Lord protects his people by holding them in his arms now and forever. He won’t let the wicked rule his people or lead them to do wrong. Let’s ask the Lord to be kind to everyone who is good and completely obeys him.
When the Lord punishes the wicked, he will punish everyone else who lives a crooked life. Pray for peace in Israel! (Contemporary English Version)
Psalms 120-134 comprise a collection of short songs of ascent meant to guide Jewish pilgrims on their communal trek up to the city of Jerusalem, and ultimately to the temple mount.
Ascending to the Light by Alex Levin
The rhythm of the pious ancient Israelites centered round particular festivals, seasons, and Sabbath. Taking the annual pilgrimage to the Holy City was an especially anticipated time of year. This yearly cycle brought both increased faith and needed spiritual stability to the people. It reminded them that, like the mountains themselves, God cannot be moved. God will always be there.
Robust understandings of God are good solid mountain theology. Mountains make up about one-fifth of the world’s landscape and 12% of the world’s population live on them. They are more than imposing and impressive statues of rock. About 80% of our planet’s fresh water originates in the mountains.
So, when the psalmist likens God to a mountain, it is a reference not only to protection and strength; it is also pointing us to the source of life. With God, every need is met and satisfied.
On a mountain, Noah settled, Moses was given the law, Jesus preached and died – and the beans from my morning coffee were grown. I have everything I need in the mountainous God of all.
The most fundamental truths about God is consistency and constancy in the divine nature. God is forever present with people.
If God seems or feels aloof or unconcerned, it is not that the Lord is avoiding us or is distracted with other important matters of running the universe. It simply means God chooses to reveal divine character and the divine will whenever the appropriate time ensue, for our benefit.
A mountain looks like it never moves. Yet the slow but steady rains, the creeping of tectonic plates, and undiscernible changes within the earth shift mountain ranges over time. The Lord is most certainly responding to us, our movements and changes, in a way we cannot perceive with the naked eye.
Our responsibility in the entire affair is to engage in consistent rhythms of spirituality which place us in a position to receive grace when God decides to give it. If we are still, we can feel the movements of grace enveloping us with life.
Perhaps we need to become adept at being spiritual mountain goats, using our wide cloven hooves of faith to negotiate the immense crags and rocks of God. After all, we will spend an eternity getting to know God and never exhaust the exploration.
Therefore, we must not despair but anticipate meeting with God, just as the Israelites of old looked forward and upward to their annual worship at the top of the mountain. The truth is that God surrounds people, even when we do not always perceive it to be so.
The sturdiness of God is able to handle and bear the weight of our heaviest burdens.
Throw all your anxiety onto him because he cares about you. (1 Peter 5:7, CEB)
If we will but look up, there is abiding help for the most vexing of problems. I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. God won’t let your foot slip. Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job. (Psalm 121:1-3, CEB)
There is peace and settled rest when we call upon the God who surrounds us.
I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.
I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. (Psalm 3:4-5, NIV)
It is through trust that we become mountains ourselves – strong in faith and giving life to those around us.
Ever-present God, there is no place where I can go where you are not. Help me to so intuit your presence that it bolsters my faith and resilience for daily life in Jesus Christ. Amen.
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So, pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should. (New Living Translation)
When I think of the Apostle Paul, I think of a guy who had a bucket load of boldness, who did not sidestep tough situations, but who fearlessly stepped into the world with the good news of God’s grace in Christ.
Maybe Paul was that way because of prayer and the prayers of God’s people. Maybe what stands in the way of people knowing Jesus and believers maturing in faith is a profound lack of intense, consistent, and sustained prayer. Maybe too many of God’s people have been duped by the enemy of our souls to retreat in a bubble of fear, unable to effectively engage God’s big world with confidence.
Paul told the Ephesian Church what kind of practical and vital obligations were needed to put aside fear and flourish as Christians….
Be strong in the Lord because we are in an invisible war.
There is an unseen world all around us. We serve an invisible God, and we have an invisible enemy. Satan and all his wicked spirits exist. They are organized for war with methodical schemes and strategies designed to blunt our spiritual development and the expansion of God’s benevolent kingdom. The enemy seeks to render us ineffective in our walk with Christ, unproductive for God, and all knotted up inside in a broken mess so that we are weak, not strong.
The names of our invisible enemy in Scripture tells us the kind of diabolical and methodical work he is doing to snare us:
Satan (the adversary who opposes us)
Lucifer (the shining one who comes looking like the light but only delivers darkness)
Beelzebub (lord of the flies, who is a false god promising protection and help apart from God)
Belial (the evil one, who seeks to have us engage in sin instead of righteousness)
Tempter (offering alternative plans to the will of God)
Accuser (the false judge, using criticism to bully people into shameful submission)
Prince of this world (the architect behind all systemic evil)
Devil (the diabolical one who engages in spiritual guerilla warfare against God’s people)
The unseen wicked spirits of this dark world pull out whatever technique they can to turn us from knowing who we are in Christ and how we are to really live. They seek to distract us from our mission, to keep us busy fighting among ourselves, so that we will put our ultimate confidence in anything or anyone but Christ.
Put on the armor of God and prepare for spiritual battle.
Satan is a defeated foe. The nails that crucified the Lord Jesus, and the power of God that raised him from the dead, ensured Satan’s doom.
Although we stand in the victory of the Lord Jesus, the world, the flesh, and the devil still dog us at every turn. So, we must discover and dislodge every threat to our spiritual growth and the mission of the church to step into the world with the gospel of grace.
Jesus said he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against us. The picture is not one of the church being defensive and only responding to threats, but of a church pushing forward and storming the gates.
The promise we have is that we can engage the enemy to the point of hell itself – and will not be burned by demonic enemy fire. Therefore, we are not to hunker down in self-protective foxholes; we are to engage the enemy with our spiritual armor on.
Put on the belt of truth. We need to combat the demonic lies. The truth will set us free. Lies will place us in bondage. Shame will keep us in the dark shadows. We are to embrace Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life. The truth is that we belong to God. We are not to fight demonic fire with fire. Instead, we fight Satan with the waters of baptism, remembering who we are in Christ. Just as the wicked witch of the west was killed with water, so we are to fling our baptismal water in the face of the enemy and watch him melt away.
Put on the breastplate of righteousness. It protects our heart as we push forward and engage the enemy. Satan is aiming for our hearts, so it is vital that they are well-guarded. Our hearts belong to God. Before we chose God, God chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4).
Put on the gospel shoes of peace. Satan and his minions are trying to cause chaos, unrest, and division. We are to be ready for his methods through embracing God’s peace and harmony with others. We are to use our shoes, both for digging in and standing firm, and stepping forward into situations as peace-makers. Those who ready themselves with the gospel of peace live differently, openly, with grace and integrity.
Take up your spiritual weapons and do battle.
Whereas the spiritual armor is protective, giving us a solid defensive posture, our spiritual weapons help us to go on the offense and walk into the struggle.
Take up the shield of faith. Extinguish all the nasty flaming arrows of the evil one. The Roman phalanx was a rectangular military formation where the army took their shields and connected them together for protection and the ability to push forward, engaging the enemy. This tactic helped the Romans to conquer most of the known world of the time. It was based not on individual ability but on the strength of the entire army working together. The devil seeks to divide and conquer. Yet, there is strength in numbers, that is, as long as we work together! Linking our shields together through unity, fellowship, and encouragement is absolutely necessary if we are going to win the battle.
Take up the helmet of salvation. Active transformation through the renewing of our minds enables us to avoid retreating and going back to old sinful patterns of thinking. We need mindfulness, not mindlessness, aware of who we are in Christ and actively occupying our thoughts with God’s Word.
Take up sword of the Spirit. This is the word of God. The written word is to be the spoken word. Our primary offensive weapon in the battle against the evil one is God’s Word. It needs to be read, memorized, meditated upon, learned, talked about, and, used by speaking it aloud.
Be alert and pray.
Prayer is to undergird everything we do. The early church was effective and successful through prayer. They all joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14). They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31). The early apostles re-arranged their busy schedules so that they could give their attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4). Believers in Jesus pray.
Whenever prayer takes a back seat to everything else, believers end up fighting the wrong battles with the result of a lot of friendly fire where people get spiritually and emotionally hurt. Our battle is not with flesh and blood human beings; it is with Satan and his wicked spirits. Fight them, not each other!
Conclusion
The spiritual forces we are up against are wicked, evil, cunning and do not observe any kind of Geneva Convention rules when it comes to war. They are out for blood. Therefore, we must be ready and put on our spiritual armor, take up our spiritual weapons, and move forward with the word of God and prayer. This present darkness requires that we be at our best. Our very lives depend on it.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (NIV)
Why peace?
A lot of people just want some peace… peace of mind, peace in their families and at their workplaces, and peace in their nation and in the world. Racing thoughts, disharmony at home, conflict on the job, constant national disturbances, and the wars, takeovers, coups, assassinations, and oppressive regimes of the world sometimes might lead us to believe there might never be peace – either in our personal lives or on this earth.
What is peace?
Peace is not merely the absence of conflict. It is harmony with God, others, and self. To be at peace involves more than simply getting along with others or being able to sleep at night. Peace involves wholeness and integrity, having unity of mind and purpose, so that people can live beyond surviving to thriving and flourishing in settled peaceful relationships.
How does peace happen?
For peace to be truly realized, there needs to be a peacemaker. Jesus was the ultimate peacemaker. He achieved peace by provoking and challenging the establishment. Jesus brought on conflict in order to bring real and lasting peace.
The cross of Christ became an act of subversion to the existing religious system. Jesus championed the common good of all through his death. The violence of the cross brought the serenity of peace. Christ has abolished all barriers and divisions so that people can come to God and come together.
So, remember that once you were Gentiles by physical descent, who were called “uncircumcised” by Jews who are physically circumcised. At that time, you were without Christ. You were aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God’s promise. In this world you had no hope and no God. But now, thanks to Christ Jesus, you who once were so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group. With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us. He canceled the detailed rules of the Law so that he could create one new person out of the two groups, making peace. He reconciled them both as one body to God by the cross, which ended the hostility to God.
When he came, he announced the good news of peace to you who were far away from God and to those who were near. We both have access to the Father through Christ by the one Spirit. So now you are no longer strangers and aliens. Rather, you are fellow citizens with God’s people, and you belong to God’s household. As God’s household, you are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. The whole building is joined together in him, and it grows up into a temple that is dedicated to the Lord. Christ is building you into a place where God lives through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22, CEB)
Peace has been accomplished through Christ. We now are to live into that peace by being peacemakers. So, how do we do that?
What characterizes a peacemaker?
Peacemakers demonstrate and show how to relate to God and others because they know the process of being humbled before God and being filled with righteousness. Peace doesn’t just happen. It must be attended to and cultivated.
Peacemakers don’t merely try to smooth things over but actively promote and put energy into unity and harmony.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:3-6, NIV)
“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Peacemakers are careful to not use their speech for gossip or slander but help others with forgiveness issues.
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32, MSG)
Peacemakers do not create problems but purposefully facilitate all around good relations by seeking to listen and understand, then gently applying truth.
Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11, NRSV)
Peacemakers do not avoid conflict but seek reconciliation.
God’s kingdom isn’t about eating and drinking. It is about pleasing God, about living in peace, and about true happiness. All this comes from the Holy Spirit.If you serve Christ in this way, you will please God and be respected by people. We should try to live at peace and help each other have a strong faith. (Romans 14:17-19, CEV)
Peacemakers do not keep quiet but spread the gospel because they know that through Jesus there is true harmony between God and people.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1, NIV)
Peacemakers will be called “children of God” because their character reflects the character of God.
Jesus said, “I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.” (John 14:27, MSG)
Peacemakers do not encourage divisions between people but promote and enable relational connections which foster everyone getting their needs met.
When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice. (James 3:18, CEV)
Peacemakers don’t give up but continually keep making peace.
Stop doing what is wrong and do good. Look for peace and do all you can to help people live peacefully. (1 Peter 3:11, ERV)
Conclusion
Peacemakers are people who occupy a middle space between persons or groups at odds with each other. They desire to live righteously with the mercy and purity God has provided for them.
People dedicated to peacemaking understand there is so little peace in this world because there are so few peacemakers. There are so few peacemakers because so many people in this world have not availed themselves of God’s justice and righteousness.
And precious few people have availed themselves of God’s righteousness because there are so few truly humble people. There are so few humble persons because, so few individuals realize their poverty of spirit.
In order to achieve peace, one must first be at peace with God. This is why we desperately need the cross of Jesus Christ because through his blood peace has been achieved. There is now no wall of separation because Christ’s cross has torn it down.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. (1 Corinthians 13:11, NIV)
