“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Matthew 5: 9
We all want to walk blessed, and in the Beatitudes, we see the Lord revealing heart sets that enable us to walk truly blessed on this earth. We are called to be blessed to be a blessing. One of these heart sets is being a peacemaker. Understanding what it means to be a peacemaker is important because many have an opinion of what Jesus meant, and their opinions fall short of what the Spirit is saying to us.
Kathryn Kuhlman shared:
“Just consider for a moment this thing of being a peacemaker, The true meaning of peace as Jesus meant it here is often misunderstood. He was not referring to one who plays the role of peacemaker- bargaining or negotiating between neighbors or family members or even employees in the work place.”
The problem is that most people see the term peacemaker exactly as Kathryn was explaining it is not. Kathryn went on to quote someone else and explain:
“Peace is not the absence of war, but the tranquility of order. Order is the subordination of senses to reaction, body to soul; reason to faith, the whole personality to God. Peace is not automatic; it is made.”
As humans, we long for peace, yet it always evades humans. Peace is something we all long for, not just in the world but also in our lives. We all know that peace is priceless and that having peace is beneficial in every area of our lives. The reality is peace is only obtainable under the Lordship of Jesus.
Kathryn explained-
“Then how is it gained? It must come by inner regeneration. Only he who has the peace of God in his own soul can give it to others. Perhaps you have noticed, as I have, that this thing of peace is the most sought after thing in the world. There is not a sensible and intelligent person living today who does not want peace in the world.”
‘Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
John 14: 27
In these perilous and concerning times, His peace is more necessary than ever. Jesus gives His brand of peace, and His peace has been proven in the most challenging situations. His peace overcame the Cross and endured through it. His peace is able to keep us in every circumstance and keep us.
“You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.”
Isaiah 26: 3
You can see a parallel between Isaiah 26 and what Jesus said because His peace is the perfect peace provided to us by the Master. Let us remember that we can only give what we have, and many seek to give their version of His peace. We must fully encounter and know His peace so that we can become a peacemaker. Kathryn explained-
“Peace is vitally important. I’m sure it is one of the reasons why Jesus peacemakers in His Sermon on the Mount, and why He said in John 14: 27: ‘peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.’”
The world seeks peace, but only His perfect peace can keep you. Kathryn added-
“What exactly is the peace that Jesus promised to leave with His disciples, that He will give to us? We all agree that peace is important, but important as it is, as earnestly as it is desired and as fervently as nations seem to strive for it, I wonder if many fully understand exactly what peace is.”
His peace brings us to a place where we stand, with nothing missing and nothing lacking. It is a place where we stand secure, complete, and whole. Jesus explained that He gives us His peace, not as the world gives. The world offers peace based on what they can get from us, and the focus is them. He seeks to lift us with His peace that we are not qualified for but, through grace, gives t to us. It is not a peace the world gives, and so the world can’t take from us. We need to learn to refuse to surrender His peace in our lives to the world, flesh or the devil.
Kathryn explained-
“Peace is a vital and positive force, one that perhaps I can best explain by giving you an illustration. Let’s suppose you have a little plot of ground in your back yard or at the side of your house, where you plan a flower garden. The best way to do it effectively, you say to yourself, is to rid the soil of all weeds. So you begin to work long and hard until every weed on that little plot of ground has been wiped out. Now, you say, because I have destroyed the weeds that were in that plot of ground, I have a beautiful flower garden. Wrong! Even though you have destroyed the weeds, you do not have a flower garden. All that you have is barren plot of ground. You have done away with the weeds, but it will only become a garden when flowers are growing there- the flowers must be planted. A garden does not sprout automatically.”
If we go back to the two verses, one in John 14: 27 and the other in Isaiah 26: 3, we see that we have responsibilities. We must receive His peace, keep our mind stayed on Him by trusting Him and refusing to allow our hearts to be troubled. Kathryn added:
“The prophet Micah (4: 3) states that we must go beyond breaking up the swords and spears that compromise our weapons. They must be fashioned into plowshares and pruning hooks. To have peace, both in the world and in our hearts, hate, suspicion, and fear must be rooted out, and in their stead love, joy, understanding, patience, and mercy must be planted and cultivated.”
We must allow the Lord to do work in us to transform us. There are so many things that we must be willing to yield and surrender to Him and allow Him to remove from our lives.
“Removing the weeds alone does not make a flower garden. You will never have a flower garden unless you plant the seeds. In the same way, after the hate and prejudice have been removed from a human heart, one must plant and cultivate understanding, love, patience and mercy.”
In the Book of James, he shares something powerful that can help us walk in and make peace.
‘Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
James 3: 13-18
There is a wisdom that comes down from above that is PEACEABLE! And we learn that We have to learn to walk in His wisdom because we learn that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. There is maturity we must come to that is demonstrated in our conduct and to be a peacemaker, we must minister in His wisdom, which means we must be:
- Pure
- Peaceable
- Gentle
- Willing to yield
- Full of mercy and good fruits
- Without partiality
- Without hypocrisy
Where we tend to fail is o learning to be peaceable, gentle, and willing to yield. As believers, we don’t want to be deceived, so we always believe we are in truth and others are wrong. This is where we need to ask for wisdom and walk in this wisdom.
Kathryn explained-
“In the third chapter of Mark, the twenty-fifth verse, we find a very familiar portion of Scripture, ‘If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.’ There are three ways by which a life is divided, and if you are living any one of these three divided lives, you do not, you cannot, you will not, have peace of mind or peace of soul.”
She then explained:
“First, we will examine the divided self-life, divided between its inner self and its outer self. You and I have an inner self and an outer self, since we are a part of humanity; and within most of us, there is that conflict between the inner and the outer self.”
We have to walk without hypocrisy so that we are real and not just putting on an outward show. Many learn to put on their church face so that they say and do the right things in church, but outside of the church, they are just like the world.
“Second way that a life is divided is by the forward and backward look…By looking backward instead of forward, we bring on ourselves much of our distress, our unhappiness, our frustration, our confusion, our lack of peace”
Today many people are held captive by their past and can never outrun it. Things from our past can paralyze and capture us, so we never can move forward. The degree we continue to look back, we fail to move forward.
“I would have lived a life of defeat if I had been satisfied to live in the yesterdays of my life. Sometimes I do not think anybody has made more mistakes than I have made.”
But we must not allow those mistakes to hold us.
“Therefore, beloved, I have learned that it is not the experience of today that drives one mad; but the remorse and bitterness of yesterday that one still clings t and holds in his grasp. No one person will ever have peace of mind and peace of soul if he is till living yesterday’s problems and mistakes, instead of fixing his sights in tomorrow’s possibilities and attainable triumphs.”
Then regarding the third way, Kathryn said:
There is still a third way that a life is divided, and that is by the higher and lower natures.”
We have to learn to walk by the Spirit and not the flesh, man, which is exactly what James explained. Because, again, we can only give and impart to others what is true and real in our lives.
“Any person who remains in a state of indecision never gets anything from God, never accomplishes anything, and never amounts t anything. “
James warned of the danger of being easily tossed and being double-minded. Kathryn added:
“The first thing that you must do if you are going to be a successful Christian is to determine to stand firm for God, no matter what happens, no matter what comes, no matter how deep the waters, no matter how severe the fight, no matter how great the battle. Your first requisite as a Christian is your unwavering determination to follow God. You must make up your mind. God forbid that we should stand in indecision.
