5.12.18 Praise & Prayer Prompt: The Fruits of the Spirit — Peace

PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• This is Day Three of our nine-day study of the Fruits of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Today, we’re looking at PEACE.
I am so excited that “peace” fell on the third day! I know it’s cliche to use fruit-graphics for this study, but I wanted these images to be fairly consistent, so this seemed the best way.
And I decided to organize the colors in a rainbow-esque way which means yellow!
Lemons!
I think lemons are a great analogy to peace.
We all know lemons are super-sour.
Who eats a lemon straight, right?
But under the right circumstances, lemons are delicious.
A little sugar and water—lemonade (and if you’re at Chick-fil-A, all the better… their lemonade is the best!).
A few egg whites and sugar — lemon meringue. Lemon cake; lemon bars; lemon chicken; lemon broccoli (my favorite!)—all amazing.
It’s the addition of something else that turns sour lemons into something enjoyable and good.
Let’s keep that in the back of our minds while we think of people.
People left to their own devices are pretty sour.
We’re talking about egos, pride, self-centeredness, jealousy, anger, and a whole host of emotions.
You mix up all these people and all these emotions and you’re going to have conflicts.
Because at the core of our sinful human nature’s, it’s all about us.
Putting others first isn’t a natural instinct.
But, when you add the Holy Spirit, willful nature’s can be tamed.
It is no longer about us, it’s about Him.
And that brings sweet peace because we can recognize the One who loves us, made us, and saved us.
The addition of Jesus in our lives turns us from bitterness.
Now, with all that said, of course there are unbelievers who seem to have it all together.
They are kind, they volunteer, they show compassion.
From a worldly perspective, they are “good” people.
But good people can still be lost.
We are all sinners—believers and unbelievers.
But it doesn’t matter how “good” someone is, they will not experience true peace without Jesus.
In John 16:33 NLT, Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
It’s a part of so many Christian testimonies… that before they surrendered to God, they never felt peace.
It’s a part of my testimony.
Through my prodigal years, peace evaded me.
Even though I was secure in my salvation, I had walked away from the will of God.
When I came back and surrendered my will, peace overflowed me.
Jesus gives peace.
He takes us from being sour, bitter lemons, and creates something good in us.
He uses us to wonderful purposes when we allow Him to take the lead.
And the side-effect is perfect peace.
Today, as you pray, praise Jesus for the perfect peace He gives.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you focus on God’s will and allow you to enjoy the perfect peace that He offers.