Let Peace Rule

Pick up your bibles, wave them around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad.

And let's say this together say heavenly Father, I'm glad to be here tonight.

I have a divine appointment with revelation, knowledge, that which I need for my everyday life.

This word will water what I already have and I'll have fresh seed that's planted tonight.

In Jesus' name, I'll tell you, the Word of God is will do the job.

It'll do the work.

Let's look at Colossians, chapter three, please and I'm gonna read it first of all in the King James and then I'm gonna read it out of the Amplified Colossians 3, 15, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body, and be thankful.

But I believe the Amplified is I like this one.

Let the peace, that is, the soul, harmony which comes from Christ, rule, act as an umpire continually in your hearts, deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state to which, as members of Christ's one body, you were also called to live and be thankful, appreciative, giving praise to God always.

And so I just wanted to share a simple message entitled let peace rule.

Let peace rule.

Jesus told the disciples on the night before he was crucified.

John, chapter 14, verse one let not your heart be troubled.

John 14 · chapter mention

And so that tells you that you can either let it be troubled or let it not be troubled.

I mean it's up to you.

You have to choose.

You can choose in the situation.

God doesn't make robots, he makes independent moral agents.

We can decide.

We have free wills, we can decide.

And this message tonight is all about the choices that you need to make in order for peace to rule.

I mean, you've got to choose peace, and peace is so wonderful, he said later in chapter 14, verse 27,.

He said my peace I give to you, not the peace the world gives do I give you, but I leave you my peace.

So the peace another place.

That's a peace that passes all understanding, and so it doesn't make logical sense for us to have the kind of peace we have available to us, especially in times like this with all of the hubbub and all of the stuff going on.

So we have a choice to make.

In Galatians 522, one of the nine fruits of the spirit is peace.

So gifts are given, fruit is grown, and so when you were born again, you were given these nine fruits.

But what you have.

You have to grow, you have to develop the peace of God, you have to develop it.

And a lot of times we let peace shrivel up, we let all the other wonderful fruit that we have, that we have access to.

That's really God's character.

We let it shrivel instead of growing it and developing it.

And so the devil I mean he attacks our peace, no question about it.

He wants to throw things at us that will interrupt the peace that Jesus wants us to have.

You know, peace is the umpire that settles all the questions there in the amplified Galatians 315,.

You know, I love the way that peace is an umpire.

It's calling safe or out.

You know, safe or out, I thought can come your way.

And I mean, if it's gonna interrupt your peace, I mean the peace, the umpire is gonna say no, that's out, out, you're out of here.

We're not thinking about that.

We're gonna think about the things that generate peace and add to the peace.

And so in Philippians 4-7, in the amplified, it says that the peace of God garrisons and mounts guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, don't you like that?

It garrisons and mounts guards.

Kind of a military to it, kind of like a military.

In other words, peace is like the sentry that's standing watch at your heart's door.

And if we have the peace of God watching, then we can keep peace in our hearts.

Amen, I mean because it will drive away those attacks of the enemy.

And speaking of our hearts, proverbs 4-23 said we ought to keep our heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

So your heart's peace is real important, because when you let your peace be attacked and you lose your peace or you allow your peace to be interrupted, then you're gonna see that your faith is affected, because faith is of the heart.

Everything that we have from Jesus is of the heart.

It's of the spirit.

Healing, all healing, starts in the spirit.

All healing starts not at the doctor's office, but it starts in your heart.

It's really something you've got to grab hold of.

It's not something you asked for.

Oh God, heal me.

No, you don't ever ask for healing.

Why?

Because he, jesus, already did it.

He already healed you.

No, you claim it right, but when you have peace interrupted through many times, a bad report from the doctor, I mean, that can interrupt your peace and make you realize oh, my goodness, the doctor says this, jesus says that, but I've got symptoms, and so you know, then you begin to waver.

Well then you're gonna have a.

You're gonna have a hard time possessing the, the healing that belongs to you, because you've allowed the peace of God to get interrupted, amen.

So, and then the other point I want to make here for a move on is a peace doesn't mean the absence of conflict.

Now you're gonna have a battle.

The battle is right up here, and the fact that you have to contend with thoughts doesn't mean you don't have peace.

It just means that you have to fight that battle and win it.

You have to win the battle of the mind.

In other words, you have to enforce Peace right there, because everything the devil is gonna have, he's gonna have the natural to throw at you.

But we have what weapons of our warfare?

Or what they're supernatural?

They're mighty through God.

And so I Just had this simple thing I've got one, two, three, four, five, five little Things to talk about in order to let peace rule.

That's what we're talking about letting peace rule.

And so let's look at Philippians, chapter 4, just a few pages to the left, and and we can Just read this, read verses 4 through 8.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

The Bible says rejoice in the Lord always.

And again I say rejoice.

If you didn't hear me, I'm gonna say it again rejoice.

Get the picture you got to love him.

And he said be careful for nothing, but in everything.

By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God.

There it is.

The peace of God which passeth all understanding.

Shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good, of a good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise and if they're, you know, think on these things.

So we are given some, some good instructions here about the peace of God.

That's where I get these five Choices that we need to make in order for peace to rule.

The first one is found in first four choose to rejoice and not to whine, I mean.

I mean anybody can have a pity party, right?

I mean anybody can have a pity party.

It's so easy to have a pity party.

I mean, humans are kind of created like that, and and so that's why we had to be born again when God had to get it right the second time.

And so when he recreated you now you have the, the opportunity now not to be like you were before you got saved.

You don't have to worry, you don't have to fret, you can rejoice.

You don't have to have a pity party, you can rejoice.

And so I like Psalm 104, 34.

I will be glad in the Lord, I will be glad.

See you.

You will it say.

Your, it's a choice.

I'll be glad.

I choose to be glad.

Do you think glad just comes automatic?

No, you've got to choose it and then you've got to stir it up.

I like what brother Hagan used to do.

He just, you know he'd be attacked with symptoms.

You know he was.

He had blood diseases, he had a malformed heart.

He was born like I think our modern term would have been like a Blue baby.

I had a cousin, it was like that.

He died.

He was sick all during and growing up and then when he was 35 he finally just his heart gave out and he died.

You know, as a young man, because he was always kind of, had a blue cast to him, because you know I don't something about the blood vessels and circuit, or say I don't know, I'm not a doctor, I don't know exactly why he was blue, but he was.

I didn't know him.

He died before I was born, but but anyway, or maybe right after.

But, brother Hagan, he'd be interrupted in the middle of the night with these symptoms, they'd be alarming symptoms and he just, he just pulled the covers over his head, he just go ha ha.

Now he wouldn't laugh in because he felt like laughing he was, he was acting like he was laughing.

You know, scientists have found that even if you act like you're laughing, it's the same as laughing.

Your body responds, your mind responds to laughter, even when you're not really laughing.

I mean, we just go ha ha ha.

You know, it's kind of silly.

I mean you're bright.

That's how dumb your brain is.

Your brain is really dumb.

Hello, email, I'm not really laughing, doesn't matter, I'm still going to get happy.

You keep laughing, and so he would just laugh.

Choose to rejoice.

I said choose to rejoice and not whine.

Anybody can have a pity party.

Faith rejoices They've been so simple in order to let peace rule.

Verse four all right.

And then in verse five, here's a, here's a.

Let your verse four rejoice and Lord always.

Again I say rejoice.

Let your moderation be known unto all men.

In other words, just one bottle of wine a day.

Let your moderation be known to all men.

One, one, fifth.

No, we're not talking about that kind of moderation.

Moderation Y'all are looking at me like you're going to throw rocks at me.

Come on, let lighten up.

I'm just joking.

I didn't know you drank so heavily in moderation.

Moderation, all right.

So the Greek word translated moderation.

There.

It means you're unselfish for bearing spirit and listen to what the linguistic key to the Greek New Testament has to say about it.

It means this moderation.

It means reasonableness and judging.

Now, listen to this.

This is something I'm still working on real diligently.

It signifies humble, patient steadfastness which is able to submit to injustice, disgrace and maltreatment without hatred or malice, trusting in God in spite of it all.

Okay, so I'm really working on moderation.

I've got a ways to go before I master that one, because if you start talking about my wife or my kids, I'm going to get you.

I'm good, no, but really that's what it means.

In other words, it means someone that can take a lick and keep on going.

You're not going to take everything personal.

It's not always always about you have a thick skin and a tender heart, and especially right now, you've got to have a thick skin and a tender heart.

You know, some of our candidates were here today and they were looking at our church and they were looking at how it looked like heaven out there.

We had browns, we had blacks, we had every color, we had whites, we had every color out there, and we were all having a good time out there in the lobby and everybody was excited about the service and all that.

They just couldn't get over it.

See, they're not used to that.

I mean, they're not used to that kind of a church or not used to having all this harmony and all of that.

I'll tell you, when you get the word of God, all that other stuff just kind of goes away.

Amen and so.

But no reasonableness and judging, you know?

Or another word for that would be impulse control.

Did you ever feel like sending somebody to the moon?

Well, don't, just don't do it.

You know, instead of going like that, just put your hands in your pocket.

You know, like that, walk away.

Impulse control is a good one.

Facebook is the worst.

I mean, have you ever seen some of the stuff that people put on a Facebook man.

It's just a big old long list.

I mean, I had some cussing on the first day of my Twitter.

My first tweet had some cussing back at me.

But it's all right, let them cuss.

I'm gonna bless the Lord, hallelujah, they can cuss.

But you know, people put on Facebook what they would never say in person.

They don't have the guts to say that in person to you, but they'll just belch out all this stuff, just type it in.

Brrr, I'm sorry, but I use the voice to text.

I speak into my phone and it types it out.

So just let y'all know that I don't like typing.

All right, so choose moderation.

Choose to be, you know, able to take abuse without trying to get back at people, trying to answer and try to escalate the situation.

All right, that's how you can choose peace and let peace rule.

You know somebody else is being upset.

Doesn't have to upset you.

You know they're upset.

They've got all kinds of problems.

They're blaming you or they're throwing something at you, but you're not really the reason they're upset.

They're upset for something else.

They're not telling you.

So don't let their upset be yours.

Just withdraw.

All right, then the third one is down in verse six Choose to pray and not to worry.

Verse six be careful or be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God.

I like the message.

It's just simpler.

It just says don't worry about anything, pray about everything.

Don't worry about anything, pray about everything.

When Brother Hagin got saved, gave his heart to Jesus and you know he's a little Baptist boy who went to the Baptist church growing up.

But he wasn't saved.

He's bedridden, he's paralyzed and unable to get out of bed.

Doctors are saying he can't live much longer and so he worried about.

He worried that he wasn't gonna wake up the next day.

That's what he was worried about dying.

And the reason he was so worried about dying is because he wasn't saved.

And, sure enough, one night he did die and he went to hell.

You ought to see his little book.

I went to hell.

I mean you ought to read that and I mean you know, God sent him back.

Somehow he cried out and I don't remember the entire thing, but he's got a little mini book out about it.

And then you know, he got saved and he went to heaven.

He went to heaven after that.

So he was right.

He was worried that he was going to die, and he did a couple of times.

And when he did get saved and he came across that you shouldn't worry, he said I don't know how I can even be a Christian Lord.

How in the world can I be a Christian and not worry?

I worry all the time, and when I'm not worried, my mother's worried and my mother's not worried, my grandmother's worried.

We just worry each other all the time.

How in the world can I be a Christian and not worry?

But see, worry is just another word for fear, and fear is the opposite of what Faith.

Amen and the judge shall live by faith.

Faith is a lifestyle.

So if you're walking by faith and living by faith, then worry is something that you don't tolerate.

So instead of you've got a situation just like what we were.

We prayed earlier in the service.

Some people have some question marks Remember that I saw those question marks and so they're not worried, but they're concerned.

They've got something that they've come up against.

They're not worried, they're seeking the answer.

But you know, until we know better, sometimes we just lapse into worry Instead of praying.

We just worry and we worry and we let our mind run away with us.

We let our mind just make up every kind of scenario in the world.

It just gets worse and worse.

Well, what if this happens?

What if that happens?

What if the next time?

See, you're going to lose your peace.

In fact, you've already lost a good bit of it and that's going to affect you.

So he says, you know, in a message just don't worry about anything, pray about everything.

When something comes your way, start praying about it, start asking God about it, start finding what the Word says about your situation, start finding what the answer is to the challenge that you face.

So choose the third thing about letting peace rule.

Choose to pray and not to worry.

And then it says here that when you pray about that, pray with thanksgiving.

Pray when you're praying about that situation, pray with thanksgiving.

In other words, that should always be the default of any prayer you make.

Once you pray about something and you ask God for some kind of help or some kind of answer, then you believe you receive it and you shall have it.

And then you start thanking God for it.

But whether you know you have, whether it's shown up yet or not, thanksgiving is just always linked to prayer.

So then that's number four is to choose an attitude of gratitude.

Choose an attitude of gratitude.

In the first verse Colossians 3, 15, we talked about in the Amphiphite it said be appreciative, have an attitude of appreciation.

How many of you appreciate what God has done for you?

See, that ought to be above any kind of discomfort, any kind of bad report that's come in your way, any kind of situation that has risen in your life, whether it's financial or social, or whatever it is health-wise.

I mean we ought to be thankful.

Colossians 3, 15 says be you thankful.

In the King James, be thankful.

We choose an attitude of gratitude.

Be is be being thankful, so we could say continually and habitually thankful, because if you're filled with a Holy Ghost that's one of the marks of being full of a Holy Ghost is being thankful, giving thanks in all things, not for all things, but in all things.

You might be in the biggest fight of your life.

It might be a financial fight, it might be a health fight, but you ought to have an attitude of gratitude.

You ought to be thanking God, you ought to be Lord.

I thank you.

Right in the midst of all this, I know what the answer is I am healed, thank God, I'm healed.

I don't care how I feel, I don't care what the symptoms say, I don't care what the doctor report says, I don't care what the diagnostic, the diagnostic says, the MRI says no, I don't go by that.

I go by the fact that Jesus says I'm healed by his stripes.

I was healed.

And so then you hold on to the Word of God.

You can be thankful, you can be appreciative, you can choose.

You have to choose the attitude of gratitude because it's not gonna just come on you like, drop on you.

You have to stir yourself up, you have to choose it.

Everybody say I'm choosing, I'm choosing.

So I tell you, thank God for peace, the peace that passes all under.

How many of you want that kind of peace?

See, with that we talked about clarity tonight, clarity when we were praying for people up here.

Robert, you heard me say clarity to Miss May.

I said clarity to you first, and then, robert, you said I want clarity.

See, clarity, clarity is the peace that passes all understanding.

That's when you can have clarity.

That's when you're gonna see the trout in the stream.

Amen, crystal clear, all right.

So the last one here is found in verse eight, and this is a good one.

Verse eight it says the different things that you should think about.

So the last point of letting peace rule choose what you think about.

Choose what you think about.

I know that sounds so simple, but it's not that simple, is it?

Isn't it easy to think negatively?

Isn't it easier to think bad of someone Than it is to think good of someone?

It's easy.

I mean, just like I said, that is the world's program.

It's it's skeptical, it's negative.

Oh, they're not for real.

Oh no, you see, that's that's, that's that's the world.

You have to choose what you think about your thoughts, and here it gives you a list of things that they should be.

Whatsoever things are true.

Well now, if we stop just with true, then that covers a lot of territory.

That's not that much fun to think about.

Something can be true and and yet really, it's really not something you ought to think about.

Why it's true?

It's true, the Bible says things.

If it's true, yeah, but he's got all the list of other things all of that ought to be.

Come in to play.

So we're, we're gonna think about things that are true.

That that means false things.

You don't ever think about something that's false.

Forget about it.

Anything a Democrat says, you don't think about it because it's false.

You automatically know it's a lie.

Right, it's so easy.

It's easy.

How can you say that from the pulpit?

Well, we just don't care.

It's true anyway.

Try, and they have to be just.

But then it says it has to be pure and lovely and see, some things are true but they're not lovely.

It may be true that this person over here is guilty of some horrible Sin or murder or something.

I just think about that little Fort Hood soldier, 19 year old girl.

Somehow, some way, she got hooked up with a wrong dude and she was murdered and they found her body in pieces.

She was dismembered and President Trump paid for her funeral.

That racist, that dog, that racist dog.

I mean, how many funerals if you paid for Democrat Kamala hey, kamala, or is it Kamala, I don't know who cares how many funerals if you paid for here?

You know he paid for the funeral.

They, he met them in the White House.

Listen to their tale of whoa.

You know the army's kind of behind in their investigation.

They haven't done a very good job.

I don't know.

I don't know about all that part, but he pledged his concern and they love me, so I'll pay for the funeral.

She had eight hours over here at the high school on one day and then she had a private funeral.

He paid for everything.

He paid for everything.

So, but we don't want to think about that, that's true.

I don't want to think about her.

I don't want to think about her being, you know, getting involved with this person and and it led, and so what are her?

What, what's her mother got to think about?

She got to think about that baby.

Her baby has met that kind of in you can imagine, horrible, having to relive that.

See, if she knew this word, she would not think about it.

She would think about it where she's at now.

Hopefully she went to.

I have no idea if she's saved or not.

I would certainly hope so, but I don't know.

You know, not everybody goes to heaven.

That's why we're here.

Not everybody goes to heaven, all right.

So, whatever is true, just pure lovely.

If it's a good report, why not?

Why think about a bad report?

Think about a good report.

See these, all of these, if there's any virtue, if there be any praise, so you could look at all of these things put together and they form a filter, don't they?

Pretty good filter.

It's pretty detailed.

I mean, just like if you got a filter on your air conditioning unit at home, you know you ought to change that thing.

It's probably dirty because your air conditioning been running solid.

I mean, your air conditioning is running all the time.

Mine's running all the time.

I don't ever hear it go off, it just goes.

And what do you got to do?

Well, you got to change that filter.

Why?

Because this filtering out all the junk, the dirt, the dust, the pollen and whatever else is in there.

And so that's what you have on your mind.

You've got a filter that is informed by the Word of God, and you have weapons of warfare.

They're not carnal, but they're mighty through God, to where each one of these kinds of thoughts come into play and you say, uh-uh, you're out.

And then, when the praise report comes in, safe, let's think about the praise report.

Let's think about the lovely things.

Let's think about the good things.

Amen, are you getting anything good out of this tonight?

I know it's basic, but we need the basics.

And so you think on these things.

It tells you how and what to think in order to maintain the peace of God that passes all understanding.

I mean, we're going through things where we should not be so peaceful, we should not have it together.

People are coming and knocking on our door.

How can you hold it together like you do, going through?

I know what you're going through and yet look at you.

You look, you've got a smile on your face, you look, you look like the, like an angel.

I mean you just it's amazing, how can you do that?

Well, you just point to these verses because you're a doer of the Word.

See the Bible.

These are things that we should do.

They're not optional, and if we don't do them, what happens?

Then we deceive ourselves.

James 1.22,.

You know, if you hear the Word and you don't do it, then you deceive yourself.

So let's, let's hear the Word, let's do the Word, let's do the, the detail and the more and the.

Once you start doing that discipline, disciplining yourself to do that, now you're winning the battle of the mind.

Peace is beginning to rule in your heart, all your questions are beginning to be decided and settled with finality.

Amen, let peace rule.

That all right tonight.

Well, praise God, let's rejoice.

Everybody say I got the peace of God and it passes all understanding.