This journal entry is written with the youth of America in mind. Many of you have experienced so much manufactured “faith” that you don’t trust it anymore, but peace with God requires faith… real faith. Many of you do not trust the government, and I don’t blame you. You have been sold a bill of goods most your school-aged life, but if any generation is equipped to recognize real faith when they see it, it is you. This story of peace with God will challenge both manufactured faith and the finite lords of governance. Jesus Christ is the infinite Lord. How do we find peace with God when there are so many counterfeits to contend with? I’ll tell you how I find peace with God. I look for the beautiful phenomenon that is the Lord in my world. He shines forth like a ray of sunlight through His followers who glitter like diamonds. I believe God reveals His Son in the same way as He revealed the burning bush to Moses – in the shining forth of a miraculous object to behold. What will you do when you find the Person of peace with God? Will you watch? Will you listen? Will you take off your shoes in reverence when you realize the ground on which you stand is holy? Will you open up your heart to the seemingly impossible? Will you humble yourself in a posture of complete servitude to the King of kings and Lord of lords? Peace with man is something you make, but peace with God is something you receive.
STORY OF PEACE
PART ONE
A “This Little SCHOOL+HOUSE” ministry of JAiME for SCHOOLS
Oh, I have prayed for this day when I finally get to publish this article! Truly the Holy Spirit has forged me with fire these past months as I set out to tell this story. For He feeds me spoonfuls of Truth with each new day – details imperative to my ability to disciple upright. You will be challenged by these words as I know i have. Come to this text with a sense of otherness because Jesus is not of this world. I have loved living in this space these past months – this space between God and man – and part of me wants to remain here in constant discovery, but I feel the words are at a point now where they long to walk, talk and play in your heart, hopefully moving something deep within your soul.
Tree of Life
When I read the Bible, my mind is flooded with imagery. This cross section of a vascular plant was the inspiration for the cover illustration to Peace With God. It is just the perfect visual I was looking for to tie together this abstract concept of how Jesus connected the immortal LORD in heaven to us mortal men on earth.
Jesus provided man a straight path up to heaven when He defeated death by his own blood shed on that tree at Calvary. Not only that, but Jesus often spoke about the Kingdom of heaven like a garden plant, vine, branch, tree, etc. Since I love to meditate on the kingdom of heaven, I couldn’t help but wonder how the function of a tree trunk might be similar to the function of a pathway to heaven.
At the core of the trunk runs an active pathway between the root system below and the canopy above. This soft, spongy, central core sends nutrients directly up and down the stem. Without the pith (xylem and phloem), no fruit will grow.
Reaching Salvation
The story of Peace with God pairs so well with the Romans Road to salvation, and because my great hope and prayer is for you to reach salvation, I have woven each stop of the Romans Road into the seven patterns of peace with God. Follow along while stopping at each blue block of text. If you would like to study salvation more thoroughly, I recommend you read the books of John, Romans, Ephesians and 1 John.
If you would like to learn more about the Romans Road to salvation, link to THIS video, or read more at Got Questions Ministries website (linked in Citation at the end of this article). Please keep in mind the Romans Road to salvation is not a one-and-done formula for reaching salvation and peace with God. I offer it here as an entry point into your personal journey of discovery.
Spoiler Alert: The Bible presents salvation as a gift that is received the moment a person places faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION
FIRST STOP:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23
What is sin?
Sin is rebellion against God and God’s laws. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). For a detail of what sin looks like, read Romans 3:10-18.
The Law
God’s law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). By studying to know God’s law, I am studying to know God himself. Just because I fail to succeed in achieving the righteous letter of the law does not make the law bad. No, it’s just the opposite.
For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION
SECOND STOP: Consequence of sin
“For the wages of sin is death…” –Romans 6:23a
What is death?
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)
The punishment I have earned for my sin is death – not just physical, but eternal death. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death is the eternal separation of the soul from God.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
No amount of human effort is sufficient for me to become righteous under God’s law of the flesh. Peace with God can only happen through the law of the Spirit. This is a difficult concept to grasp for those of us who are used to being self-sufficient and in control of our own life. Hopefully the illustrations I have designed will drive this point home – that peace with God comes from above. For those who will believe, you have but one job and that is to receive God’s peace with an open heart.
How do I open my heart? Let’s take a closer look…
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION
STOP THREE: The Good News
“…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 6:23b
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” –Romans 5:8
7 Patterns of Peace
The following seven patterns of peace with God developed out of images I see while reading my Bible, listening to Faith Radio, worshiping in church, and opening myself up to the Holy Spirit.
1.
PEACE WITH GOD
IS WHO?
Person / Actor / People involved
Peace with God is
Jesus Christ
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (*Philippians 2:9-11).
Notice in the illustration, this comparison between the crucifix Jesus was hung upon and the tree of life with it’s xylem and phloem. If you have learned cellular biology, this concept may resonate with you. Jesus is the ultimate Peacemaker between God and man because he is the one and only Mediator who reconciles our two parties to one another.
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,” (Ephesians 2:14-15)
Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. Through him all things were made (John 1:1-3). As prophet, Jesus revealed the will of God by speaking the Word of God as the Word of God. He mediated between God and man by revealing God’s will, teaching with authority, performing miracles, and predicting future events with perfect accuracy. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5)
Jesus is Lord.
The word “Lord” is a majestic title, conveying God’s sovereignty and divine power. Early Christians lived under the Pax Romana, and the Roman imperial cult required political allegiance to the emperor’s divine spirit. The mandatory oath was to confess, “Caesar is lord.” Anyone refusing to say these words was charged with sedition and treason. It took extraordinary faith for early Christians to confess, “Jesus is Lord.”
By refusing to call Caesar “Lord” and failing to sacrifice to him, early Christians were accused of disrupting state order and denying the emperor’s divinity. They were martyred for replacing the word “Caesar” with the word “Jesus.”
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him."
This space here with Jesus is one I never want to leave, and I hope beyond all hope that somehow God will allow me to convey to you here in these simple yet profound ideas a love so powerful and so pure that you too will never want to leave the warm embrace of God’s peacemaker – Jesus Christ.
Keep Walking On The
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION …
2.
PEACE WITH GOD
IN JESUS CHRIST
IS WHAT?
Info / Actions / Things / Ideas
Peace with God is
Justification by Faith
“but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:24-25)
Notice this illustration is lighter because Jesus came down to our world and is light to a dark world. Since God is perfectly just, and man is perfectly unjust, He set Jesus as the plumb line of just standard before mankind (Amos 7:7-8) so as to be the propitiation for man’s sin. This basically means God is offended by our sinfulness but that Jesus reconciled us who rebel against God to God by appealing to Him on our behalf.
Our act of faith and obedience to God’s perfect Son is how judgment meets justification in they eyes of our infinite Judge. Think of it like the courtroom of the universe. Alone, we stand before the Judge in rags and filth. In Christ, we stand before the Judge white as snow, purified and washed clean. (Find out when, where and how in patterns 3,4 and 5)
Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness, and so in Christ our faith in Jesus is counted to us as righteousness. Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25)
Plumb Line
As man, Jesus was a carpenter by trade. As God, Christ is master builder of this universe. The tools and skills of His trade symbolize who God is. He is straight, measured, ordered, upright, righteous, and holy in every way.
This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them;“
CONCLUSION: If God is justice and mankind is incapable of living up to the plumb line of just standard in Jesus, then as through one man (Adam) and one trespass (eating the fruit) caused judgement upon many (sons of Adam) whose sin is counted to him as unrighteousness and death his punishment, so too does one man (Jesus) and one free gift (resurrection from the dead) cause justification for many whose faith is counted to him as righteousness and life his reward (summary of Romans 5:12-17).
In this way, our faith in Jesus Christ leads justice to victory.
Keep Walking On The
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION …
3.
PEACE WITH GOD
IS IN JESUS CHRIST
WHO SETS JUST STANDARDS
WHEN?
Time / Date / Frequency / Duration
Peace with God is
After Rebirth
“Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’ ” (John 3:5-6)
To be born again of water and the spirit is to be born from above.
I am baptized into His death. I am buried with Jesus so that I too may walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). My old self was crucified (Romans 6:6). I consider myself dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus (Romans 6:11). I am washed clean of all idolatry, not because my flesh no longer sins but because in my sinful flesh I am “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness.” (Romans 3:24-25)
The way I understand the process of being born of water and the Spirit, it is not necessarily the same things as the ritual of water baptism (though the imagery of baptism certainly parallels this phenomenon), but rather a supernatural spiritual cleansing of the soul by the Holy Spirit. In fact, the word “baptism” may just confuse what Jesus is teaching His disciples here.
In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God promises to both sprinkle clean water on His people (purification) and put a new spirit within them. These two things happen at the same time as a sovereign act of renewal. A baby is physically born through a watery womb, and a new person in Christ is spiritually born through water and the Spirit. The process of dying to self is something I experience every day in Christ. In addition to the daily birth that happens, there are also the big ones. With these there is a a line drawn in the sand of time, if you will, with a definitive before and a definitive after.
I will go more into detail about the Holy Spirit in PART 2 of the Story of Peace – Peace With Self, but for now regarding Peace With God, it is important to acknowledge that rebirth is a part of the process, and it happens by way of the Holy Spirit, not the will of man.
Born into a New Life
HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.
Follow my Journal.
4.
PEACE WITH GOD
IS IN JESUS CHRIST
WHO SETS JUST STANDARDS
WHEN BORN AGAIN
WHERE?
Location / Place (Physical or Conceptual)
Peace with God is
In The Temple
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
You are not your own.
1 Corinthians 6:19
In the illustration above, I rendered the temple as a human heart because this idea of a soft body becoming the temple seems to fit with the pattern of prophesy spoken by Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
The Lord declared “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33) “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 11:19)
The temple is the place where Heaven and Earth meet. The temple is where God’s presence is manifest – the place where He dwells with His people to bring reconciliation and restoration. What began as a stone building under the Old Covenant has become a fleshly body under the New. In the person of Jesus Christ, God lived among his people in Jesus, the new temple of God (John 2:21)
Today, the temple of God’s Holy Spirit is two-fold: The temple is the individual body that gathers together with other believers in the name of Jesus Christ, thus forming one collective body of Christ. Therefore, we the universal church constitute the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, and this applies to all of time. The Greek word translated as “you,” in reference to the temple, in the Bible is plural (ie. the two verses mentioned here from Matthew and 1 Corinthians).
It is important to note also, what the temple is NOT. The temple, as one collective church body, is NOT the building but the people who gather in the name of Jesus Christ. The Spirit dwells within the heart of flesh, not in an earthly building.
On a hill
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE OTHERS FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE CHRIST IN YOU!
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Keep Walking On The
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION …
5.
PEACE WITH GOD
IS IN JESUS CHRIST
WHO SETS JUST STANDARDS
WHEN BORN AGAIN
A HOLY TEMPLE ON A HILL
WHY?
Purpose / Reason / Cause
Peace with God is
separation unto him
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.“ (Ephesians 2:19-22)
We are Gathered together, all into one family.
Remember, in the previous article, I was curious how Jesus will separate the righteous from the wicked in the end? We get a pretty clear visual in the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus teaches on multiple occasions about how binding and loosing on earth will translate into heaven. This is one of the ways God will separate the elect unto himself.
binding and loosing – grafting on and cutting off.
Each member of the church body is like a living stone “being built up as a spiritual house” and is to function as a “holy priesthood” for the purpose of offering spiritual sacrifices. (1 Peter 2:5)
“Believers, then, are the ‘living stones’ of the church that Jesus promised to build (Matthew 16:18) . As living stones, we have new life in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). As integral parts of the building of God, we have security in Christ (John 6:37). As the Master Builder, God places His living stones just where He wants us to be (1 Corinthians 12:18). As living stones, we are connected to one another in the body of Christ (Romans 12:5). Our Lord, the foundation Stone, is alive forevermore and will never crumble. He will support us eternally.” by Got Questions Ministries (see citation)
Jesus is the cornerstone of that living temple. For instance, when Jesus says to Simon Bar-Jonah, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” Jesus is referring to Peter as a living stone. Jesus grants Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and, due to his faith in Jesus as Lord, Peter is also tasked with binding and loosing the chains of slavery to sin here on earth, knowing this will cross over into the heavenly realm. Wow!
Those of us who take the easy and light yoke of Jesus upon our shoulders bear this important responsibility of discipleship. As living stones of the Holy Temple, Jesus calls us to make disciples. We do this by going, baptizing and teaching (Matthew 28:19-20).
Binding and Loosing
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Preaching the Gospel is how the disciple is instructed to open the kingdom of heaven up to all believers and shut the kingdom of heaven down against unbelievers.
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION
FOURTH STOP: An individual Decision
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13
6.
PEACE WITH GOD
IS IN JESUS CHRIST
WHO SETS JUST STANDARDS
WHEN BORN AGAIN
A HOLY TEMPLE ON A HILL
SEPARATED UNTO HIM
HOW?
Process / Manner / Method
Peace with God is through
head & heart
Regarding righteousness that is based on faith (versus the law), Paul writes: “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
(Romans 10:8-10, emphasis mine)
Jesus is Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Romans 14:7-9
This brings me great peace when I think of my loved ones who have passed away. Jesus is the infinite Lord which means He is larger than life, literally. He is Lord both of the dead and of the living (Romans 14:7-9). Can somebody give me an Amen!? This is worth celebration and praise!
When I declare with my mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” I am not only saying His name, I am restructuring my whole self-identity in three ways…
I say my life is no longer my own.
I say my allegiance has changed.
I say my obedience belongs to Him.
This can only happen after the Holy Spirit convicts me of my sin. Only then do I come to the precipice of this cliff and JUMP!!!
I say, “Holy Spirit, remove my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh.” Then I make the personal decision to follow Christ. I recognize my faith is my own and is not something my family can pass down to me or pay off my debt to God through a church for me. I recognizing the wretchedness of my own slavery to sin. I recognize all the ways my flesh rebels against God and His sovereign law. I recognize that I do not deserve to live in the presence of God forever. I recognize my desperate need for a Savior! I recognize that only by God’s mercy and love for me am I saved by grace through faith, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
In this posture of humility, I fall on my knees at the foot of the cross and confess with my mouth, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior!” because I believe it in my heart God raised him from the dead, for my salvation unto the glory of God! Jesus tells us, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,” (Matthew 10:32)
Declare today, "Jesus is Lord."
Under the New Covenant of grace, the Word of God is written on my heart. ever present, ever near, is my identity sealed in Him forevermore.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION
FINAL STOP: The Results of Salvation
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1
7.
PEACE WITH GOD
IN JESUS CHRIST
WHO SETS JUST STANDARDS
WHEN BORN AGAIN
A HOLY TEMPLE ON A HILL
SEPARATED UNTO HIM
THROUGH HEAD AND HEART
WHICH?
Choice / Opinion
Peace with God is for
The Elect of God
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)
God declares the elect just, righteous & pure.
Romans 9
The nation of Israel is a hot topic today. I wonder though, has there ever been a day Israel has not been “in the news” in some way shape or form? This topic of election can be a tough pill to swallow for some. If you are offended by anything in this pattern #7, I just ask you to lean into that feeling with curious interest and critique. I had to do it for this topic myself. Ask, why does this make me uncomfortable? My God is a BIG God though who offers God-sized peace. We are not talking here about man-sized peace. So I had to remind myself not to think so small. My God is WAY bigger!
In the United States, we choose who will serve in public office through the process of “election.” The same goes for God and those who He elects will be saved. God’s elect are predestined from the foundation of the world. They are predestined. They are called. They are justified. They are glorified.
Who is the elect of God? The answer is, the true Israel is the elect of God. Do not think though that this excludes you. “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Romans 9:6) Not all people of ethnic Israel (that is, those descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) belong to true Israel. At the same time, do not think God rejected His people (Romans 11:1-2). Many Jews have stumbled over the cornerstone (Jesus). This is true, but God did not cause them to stumble in order that they might fall. “Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! (Romans 11:11-12).
Notice the verse says that God is causing Israel to stumble. He has cut many of them off the branch and grafted the Gentiles in. Why would he do that? Oh, I pray you read this entire chapter, Romans 11. This Gentile (me) is choosing to be grateful for the Jews’ disobedience because if it were not for that I would be doomed. Their hearts have been hardened against Jesus, yes, but God is saving His remnant. How sweet will be that day when the remnant comes in! So pomegranate sweet!
The True Israel
Those who are not Jews, those of the world, were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience. Now the Jews are disobedient to God, but this is part of God's plan. "For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all."
(Romans 11:32)
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
ROMANS ROAD TO SALVATION
FINAL DETAIL: Precious Promise of God
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
Final Thoughts
STORY OF PEACE WITH GOD
Every story has a hero, and Jesus Christ is the hero of The Story Of Peace With God. He is Immanuel, which means God with us (Isaiah 26:4). By this we now know the character of God through His Son Jesus Christ. Our God is a BIG God, and every big idea must be able to land on the ground and live among us, otherwise it floats around in the clouds and cannot take root. Our BIG God did just that. He came and lived among us.
While I was writing and illustrating Peace With God, my mind kept circling back to the sheer size and scale of God. First of all, I cannot imagine a space in existence where my God is not present. How then do I represent Him in an illustration? He has no border or boundary. My intention was to publish Peace With Self next, but as I have had to cut so much content out of this article so as to keep concise, God-Sized Peace will be next.
Citations
Got Questions Ministries. What does it mean that Jesus and believers are living stones in 1 Peter 2:4-5? Published https://www.gotquestions.org/living-stone.html
Got Questions Ministries. What is the Romans Road to salvation? https://www.gotquestions.org/Romans-road-salvation.html
I realize for some readers, salvation is an area of contention, or anger, even within the church. It may seem like I am taking a theological position but please know that I am not. I am searching for biblical truth. Since denominational truths can, in some cases, rebel against the word of God, I will stick to biblical truth for this, The Story of Peace. If you have a different biblical interpretation, I am more than happy to listen and learn what wisdom the Holy Spirit has taught you.
Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations by way of going, baptizing and teaching. I support the work of the Church of Christ while remembering also that every church building is made up of sinful people like myself. The Holy Spirit I trust above all, knowing He cannot be controlled by the will or force of man.
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)
Up Next
God-Sized Peace
HOW BIG IS MY GOD!
We know our God is big, but have you ever stopped to consider just HOW big? Every story has a setting with a top and a bottom. In the Story of Peace, what does the top look like compared to the bottom? Not only that, but mankind has a lot of gods who are so small that most never leave the ground. Where do they fit into this puzzle piece of a story?
To meet this challenging inquiry, the Holy Spirit has taken my research far beyond the Earth’s atmosphere into a space where I must rely on Scripture and prayer, not my eyes. Will you leave the earth behind with me for this adventure? Will you venture out beyond the fringe of human understanding to think REALLY big… like planetary big… like solar system big… and beyond. One cannot contemplate the kingdom of heaven without first leaving his own self-centered world behind.
Make Straight Paths in 2026
The theme for 2026 is “Make Straight Paths” as a way for the believer to prepare his/her heart, soul, mind and strength for the second coming of Christ. We can know how to do this by following John the Baptist’s lead who baptized sinners in the water Jordan for the glory of God. We can trust that God will go before us to level high ground, open closed doors and cut through thick bars (Isaiah 45:2).
Moses divided the water with his staff at God’s instruction. As prophesied, John the Baptist prepared the way for the LORD at His first coming and in so doing divided the Old Testament from the New.
THIS IS A CALL TO ACTION. Lord, Forge Us With Fire As A Body Of Christ – The Church!
When you are one in Christ, your body is a temple of the living God. You are His house of prayer, His school of study, His place of assembly, and His center of military training. 1 John 4:1-4 tells us we are to learn the difference between His Spirit and the spirit of the antichrist who is now in the world. We are to test the allegiance of EVERY spirit and teach our children to do the same.
Make Straight Paths
February 5, 2026
Story Of Peace
March 13, 2026