Tag Archives: Peace

Having My Fill

11 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Image by Yinan Chen from Pixabay

This has been an interesting week.  In last week’s post, I asked questions I didn’t have answers for.  I had no idea where the Holy Spirit was going to take me as I began to seek to understand the Peace that comes only from Jesus Christ but I have been taught of Him long enough to know He was going to take me somewhere.  As I write this post, I still cannot say I have a complete understanding what peace is but I do understand why I haven’t been satisfied with any of the definitions for peace I have come across.

I subscribe to Jeff A. Benner’s YouTube Channel and so, when I set myself to study the Hebrew word for peace, I checked out some of Mr. Benner’s videos on studying Hebrew.  Lecture # 33 is titled “Eastern and Western Thought” and caught my attention because I’ve been thinking so much about the power of my thought life and the necessity for my thoughts to be brought under the rule of Jesus Christ.  This video is a short one and I’ll include a link to it at the bottom of this post.  It is short but it brought to mind something I hadn’t given thorough consideration.

I think we all understand the Hebrew People of the Old Testament had a very different culture, language, and thought process than we who live in the West.  Have any of us sought to acknowledge what that means?  I think it’s important to do so.  I am deeply grateful for my English Bibles.  To be able to sit and read it in my native language is a gift I never take for granted.  Such a gift is mine because of many people but I always have William Tyndale in the back of my mind whenever I look at the multiple translations I have on my shelves.  He dared to translate the bible into English, was condemned as a heretic, and was burned at the stake.  The Bible I hold in my hands is only there because William Tyndale, and others like him, so believed in the importance of it, that they gave their lives.  For this reason, I cannot disparage any translation.

That being said, what I have is a translation.  The English language comes with culture and a thought process very different from the cultures and thought processes in place when the Old and New Testaments were written.  Mr. Benner speaks of two schools of thought: the Greek and the Hebrew.  The Greek is equated with abstract thinking and the Hebrew is equated with concrete thinking.  What’s the difference?  Abstract thinking refers to the process of thinking deeply about some abstract idea and involves emotions such as love, hatred, anger, etc.: thoughts that are not real but a concept of our intelligence.  Concrete thinking involves thinking about physical things that can be felt, done, or processed by someone.  Is one better than the other?  I think that depends on whether we focus on one to the detriment of the other.

Malcolm Smith often utilizes an analogy of reading off a menu as opposed to eating the food the menu points to.  While Mr. Smith does not specifically attribute this analogy to abstract v concrete thinking, I think it works.

Imagine you are sitting at the table pictured at the top of this post.  Your friends and family are gathered around you.  The food has been prepared and set before you.  The aromas that wafted from the kitchen as the food was being prepared were indescribable.  They whetted your appetite and, now, as you sit at the table with the food before you, your stomach is growling.  The Host of the feast rises and begins to describe the food to you.  Perhaps the Host uses words like “delight”, “satisfaction”, “savory”, “sweet”, and “aromatic”.  All of these words are describing something real-the food is on the table before you-but then suppose the Host sits and everyone around the table begins to describe their favorite dish.  They share how it tasted that time they ate it, how wonderful it was, and how the taste would differ from anything on the table.  You’re ready to try the food for yourself.  All of your salivary glands are in overdrive and you can’t wait to taste what has been described to you, what you can smell, and what you can see on the table before you.  But then, everyone around the table sighs and says, “one day”.  They sing a song about how great the food was and how great it will be and then leave the table without eating a bite. 

The concrete mindset sees the food is there.  You can see it and smell it.  All you have to do is fill your plate and eat.  You do so and the food is just as wonderful as described!  You taste the promise contained in the smells.  You eat until you cannot possible take another bite and, while doing so, you and the others at the table with you laugh and talk and fellowship.  Perhaps one has tried a dish you haven’t tried yet.  He or she gushes about how delicious it is and the dish is passed down the table to you.  You taste it and find it is as marvelous as described.  You pass around your favorite dish and see the delight on your companions faces as they too experience it.  Perhaps no one wants to leave the table because the experience is too good and you all sit together enjoying each other’s company.  When the company finally does break up, it does so with the promise that you all will get together again and will eat together until you are filled to the brim.  Each morsel you taste between that meeting and the next is done so with the idea of sharing it with those who ate at the table with you. 

If you’ve stayed with me through that analogy, I hope you can see how abstract and concrete can work together.  I think abstract thinking can enhance the enjoyment of concrete thinking.  The Hebrew word for peace in my study passage is shalom and Mr. Benner covers it in his Lecture #8 video titles “An Introduction to Word Studies”.  He says shalom is not cessation from war but rather means “completeness”.  I take that definition to John 14 where Jesus says, “My peace I give unto you.”  I look at the Fruit of the Spirit as being “completeness”.  I remember Colossians 2:10 where the Apostle Paul declares I have been made complete in Christ.  Have been made!  Now! 

All of this is well and good but if all I do is remember it, it’s just the aromas.  Knowing all of this certainly whets my appetite but if I don’t actually eat it, I’m never satisfied.  I can look at peace as an abstract concept.  I can study it, compare and contrast it with other concepts, and learn all there is to know about peace.  This is not how the Hebrew people thought of peace.  The peace of God was something concrete with a very real application to their everyday lives.  So it is to my life today and I am convinced the only way to move from my enjoying the abstract to having my fill of the concrete is to leave my books and all my studying and allow the Holy Spirit to make everything I have learned real to me.  How do I do that?

I admit that as wonderful as it is, my abstract thinking isn’t enough.  I acknowledge I’m hungry and want Him to not only show me what peace is but to fill me with it until I overflow.  I ask Him to open my eyes that I might recognize the concrete reality of peace and then I rejoice along with the Psalmist because I know “my soul shall be satisfied as with the richest of foods” (Psalm 63:5, NI).

Lecture #33: Eastern and Western Thought – YouTube

Lecture #8: An Introduction to Word Studies – YouTube

Difference Between Concrete and Abstract Thinking – Ask Any Difference

Great Britons: William Tyndale – The Man Who Translated the Bible Into English (anglotopia.net)

MalcolmSmithWebinars – YouTube

Getting a Grasp on Peace

04 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Image by Avelino Calvar Martinez from Pixabay

Hello and welcome to Renaissance Woman as I continue in my study of Isaiah 45:7: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.”  I am moving on from my study of the word “make”.  The Hebrew word translated make, asah, is one I do want to look at further but, for now, I am content with what I have already discovered.  God is an artist, The Artist, and He pours His very self into everything He makes.  In Isaiah 45:7, the thing He is making is peace.  What does that mean?  What is peace?

I looked at peace a bit when I was conducting my study on the Fruit of the Spirit.  In that study, I saw peace as something that belongs to Jesus and can only be given by Him.  It is given to each individual believer as we come to see ourselves in Him and Him in us through the Holy Spirit.  It is not something that can be imposed on us from without rather peace becomes our way of being as His life is formed in us.  The peace of Jesus Christ is not something we can impose on others but flows out from us as the springs of His life in us overflow.  Such were my conclusions during that study and, while I still wholeheartedly believe what I wrote, I did not define what peace is. 

As I try to answer that question, some of my favorite scriptures on peace come to mind.  There is John 14:27: ““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.”  There is Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.”  I especially like the Isaiah verse as it states “whose mind is stayed on You” and I have been meditating a great deal on the importance of my thoughts.  Since peace is an aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit, I define it as something internal, something that comes from the life of Jesus Christ within me.  The verse in John does quote Him as saying, “not as the world gives do I give to you,” which tells me His peace is different than the peace I find in the world.  Is the difference between Jesus’ peace and the peace of the world that His is part of the flow of His life and, to the world, peace is something external?

I looked up peace in my New World Dictionary and find the answer to that is yes and no.  The first entries under “peace” are, 1., freedom from or a stopping of war, 2., a treaty or agreement to end war or the threat of war, and 3., freedom from public disturbance or disorder; public security; law and order.  This series of definitions can be summed up as “peace is the absence of conflict” which I admit is how I used to think of peace.  This idea of peace is fragile.  An argument escalates, or a law is opposed and this peace is broken.  This kind of peace is imposed on people from without and such imposition often breeds resentment.

Of course, the peace defined in the dictionary is not always imposed.  The fourth entry under peace says, “freedom from disagreement or quarrels; harmony; concord” and then under “make peace” I read, “to effect a reconciliation with, to end hostilities, settle arguments.”  Two individuals or disparate groups of people can choose to make peace with other, to cease from hostilities, and to settle conflicts.  And yet, there is no need of a heart change for this kind of peace.  It is not imposed from without but neither does it infer those parties ceasing from hostilities are now of one accord or that any restoration of relationship will follow.  This too is an absence of conflict but, just because they may not be acted on, does not mean resentment and bad feeling ceases to exist.

In entries five and six in the dictionary, I finally find peace defined as, “an undisturbed state of mind; absence of mental conflict, serenity, calm, quiet, tranquility”.  These definitions are certainly closer to what I think the peace of Jesus is and yet this peace too can be found in the world without Jesus being mentioned anywhere.  There are religions where the practices are meant to lead to serenity and a tranquil state of mind.  I have met some of the practitioners of these religions and they do seem more calm and confident-more peaceful-than I have ever dreamed of being.  I once watched a documentary where different religious leaders were interviewed and all of them spoke of life being good, peaceful, and blissful.  I listened carefully and Jesus as the source and giver of peace wasn’t mentioned once, even among those leaders who professed to be Christians.  If this is so, if this kind of internal peace can be achieved without Jesus, is He even necessary in our day to day lives?  Is the only bonus to a Christian life that belief in Jesus means you get to escape hell?  What is this peace He promised to leave with us and just how does it differ than that given by the world?

I looked up the Greek word for peace used in the John passage in the Strong’s concordance.  It is eirene (G1515) and means, “peace, prosperity, one, quietness, rest, set at one again.”  The entry in Strong’s Concordance suggests eirene comes from the primary verb eiro which means “to join.”  This same Greek word is used in the Septuagint in place of the Hebrew word translated peace in Isaiah 45:7 which is shalom.  The Strong’s gives a similar definition for shalom (H7965): well, happy, health, prosperity, rest.   

I see these definitions in Ephesians 2:14 where, speaking of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul says; “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation”.  Here, peace is unity; being set at one again with no divisions or separations.  I feel this passage sums up most of the definitions of peace I’ve come across but it all happens within the peace that Jesus Christ Himself is.  What is this peace?  I’ve looked up definitions, compared and contrasted, and still don’t feel I have a grasp on it.

In Isaiah 45:7, God declares He is the One who makes peace  and then in Matthew, Jesus declares, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt. 5:9).  I feel there is more to this peace than a lack of war, conflict resolution, or a tranquil mind.  Just what more there is, I do not know.  I need to know because I cannot make peace if I do not know just what it is.  My prayer is that in the upcoming weeks the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation will open my eyes to see what this peace is that God makes, this peace that is Jesus Himself.

Until next time…

Unless noted otherwise, all scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible Old and New Testaments, The Authorized King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Printed in Colombia, 2003

References

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., Cleveland • New York, 1974, 1976

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Fruit of the Spirit-Peace

12 Monday Apr 2021

Posted by in Fruit of the Spirit, Studies

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is…peace” Galatians 5:22

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!  This is the beautiful greeting used by the Apostle Paul in each of his letters and it is my greeting to each of you as, this week, we take a look at the Fruit of the Spirit which is peace.

The Greek word translated “peace” in all the scriptures I’ll be discussing is eirene (G1515).  The Strong’s Concordance gives me this definition: …from a primary verb eiro (to join), peace, prosperity, one…set at one again.  How beautiful Luke 2:14 becomes: “Glory to God in the Highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  God Himself has come to bring peace on earth, to set everything at one again. So the heavenly hosts proclaimed.  Jesus Himself said something different: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)  These two scriptures appear opposed to one another.  I have heard some believers say that Jesus came to save us from the wrath of the Father but no…looking at these two scriptures it seems to me God wants peace on earth and Jesus said nope-not peace but a sword.  Do we Christians have a divided God?  Can one member of the Trinity be at odds with another? 

Such a thing is impossible in the God who has revealed Himself as One.  There are all of the scriptures where Jesus says “The Father and I are One” like John 1:1: “The Word was with God and the Word was God”. There’s that great declaration in the Old Testament: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, The Lord is One! (Deuteronomy 6:4) and Jesus Himself says, “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30). Keeping their Oneness in mind, I took a closer look at Matthew 10:34.

My NKJV says “bring peace” but the KJV has “send peace”.  I looked up the Greek word and found ballo (G906) which carries the basic meaning of to throw or cast.  Jesus did not come to cast or throw peace into the earth yet He does give it. Here I see peace is not something imposed from without but rather, something central to a group of individuals.  The disciples carried it with them when they were sent out, it was something they could bestow, and it was something they could remove (see all of Chapter 10 of Matthew, specifically verse 13).  Chapter 10 of Matthew described terrible happenings, schisms between families, great tribulation.  There’s a similar passage in Luke’s Gospel but the word there is division rather than sword.  (Luke 12:51) 

Division or sword? I did find a similarity in meaning. The word translated “division” in Luke 12:51 is diamerismos (G1267) and means “disunion (of opinion and conduct), division” while the word for “sword” in Matthew 10:34 is machaira (G3162) and means “a knife, i.e. dirk, fig. war, judicial punishment-sword”.  I find these two passages aren’t saying entirely different things though because, machaira is derived from mache (G3163) meaning “a battle, i.e. fig controversy-fighting, strive, striving” and, tracing further to the primary verb machomai (G3164); I find “to war, i.e. (fig) to quarrel, dispute:-fight, strive.” I see a picture of both peace and the sword existing side by side: as the Holy Spirit opens the eyes to the reality of life in Jesus Christ, division and separation occurs where others do not yet see.

Not that the sword mentioned by Jesus in Mathew has not been interpreted by many to mean a literal sword.  History has recorded the people of God being put to death and, indeed, many times delivered up to death by a close friend or family member.  It is happening today in parts of the world.  To the shame of what it is to be Christian, the literal sword has been wielded by Christians.  I am not talking about being part of a military or defending one’s nation but am talking about killing another in the name of God thinking it brings Him honor.  This is not the way Jesus gave to peace.  “My kingdom is not of this word.  If My kingdom were of this word, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”(John 18:36) 

This thought continues in the New Testament and is perhaps best put into words by the Apostle Paul: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4)  No, the sword, or the far more advanced weapons of this day; are not for the hands of Christians to usher in the Kingdom of God.  Neither do we declare another human as our enemy because “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Perhaps all this is easy for me to say.  I do not live in a country where I am under threat of death for speaking what I believe.  That is true.  My life is not in danger (I hope) but I have experienced divisions.  There have been separations and an end to relationships. I know the pain of separation because of my faith.  I can speak to the truth of Luke 12:51 if not to Matthew 10: 34, and I can also speak to the truth of the peace of God centered in Jesus. I am so grateful for His peace, the peace that surpasses all human understanding and trust that one day, He will put an end to all divisions.

Until that day, His peace is in us in the midst of whatever we may face.  “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and “Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives do I give unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

His peace is also, quite literally, a fortress.  Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  The word “guard” here is phroureo (G5432) and means “to be a watcher in advance i.e. to mount guard as a sentinel (post spies at gates), to hem in, protect; –keep (with a garrison).”

What a peace is this!  It is not given by the world, it is not given to the world, and it can never be found there.  The Hastings Bible Dictionary says, “The transition from OT to NT usage (of peace) strikingly illustrates the inwardness of Christianity.”  The entry for peace also contains a quote from G.G. Findlay: “Peace on earth is to flow from the peace of Christ that rules in Christian hearts.”  The will of God is peace on earth but this peace is found only in Jesus.  It is the fruit of Christian lives because of His Spirit in us.  May the Spirit open our eyes to the reality of His peace and then may we go into our daily lives with our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  (Ephesians 6:15)

Amen.

References:

Unless notes otherwise, scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982

Hastings, James, Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Reprint from the edition originally published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1909, March 2001, Page 696-697

Strong, James, LLD., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Identity

08 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by in Poetry, Writing

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I was thinking how often I say “I Am” and then say something negative about myself. By doing so, I am creating my own existence for “As a man (woman in this case) thinks in his (her) heart, so is he (she).” Proverbs 23:7. I am changing that habit and striving to say what My Heavenly Father says about me whenever the words “I Am” come out of my mouth. While trying to put my thoughts in order, I wrote the following poem:

Identity

A thousand voices call to me

Demanding that I hear

The words they speak into me

And I cannot but draw near-

I hear them clearly now I’m close

And their words make my heart sink

“We alone know what is true:

We will tell you what to think.”

A thousand voices seek for me

They call me left and right

Demanding I align with them

With what they say is right

I cannot escape from them

Though I’ve run so very far-

“You cannot know yourself,” they say

“We will show you who you are.”

One Voice cuts through all the noise

The pressures, the demands

Bringing silence, bringing peace

Assuring me He understands

The burdens I have carried

As I’ve struggled to define

Just who I am in this world-

His Voice says “You are mine.”

“I Am,” He says, “All that I Am,

I Am Always Ever Now

All that I Am is for you

Let me show you how

My life is lived inside of yours

I in you and you in Me

You dwell inside my light

I Am your identity.”

I See An Almond Branch

08 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Walking in the Way

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Image by Matthias Böckel from Pixabay

I thought I was weathering this quarantine fairly well.  Not that I haven’t struggled with worries and fears but I have sought to try and fill this time with positive things.  I have taken time to pray by myself and with others, I have increased the amount of studying I do, I have tested recipes, and I have focused on writing.  I have counted myself blessed to have a job that offers a few hours each week so, by focusing on essentials only, I have been able to face this time without panic and despair.

Until this week.  Everywhere I looked I saw images of angry, fearful, hate-filled people and every story I heard filled my ears with the same.  I was also dealing with a great deal of pain.  I don’t know what I did to aggravate my injuries but my pain has been intense.  It was physically difficult to get out of bed and it quickly became emotionally difficult as well.  I admit it.  I took my eyes off Jesus and saw only the terrible things being done everywhere in the entire earth.

The moment I did so, I was overwhelmed.  I saw how powerless I was to stop terrible things being done to people I know and love.  How much more powerless am I to help people I’ve never met?  I can’t even help myself.  I panicked and then I despaired.

I did what I knew how to do to fight.  I prayed, I read studies that uplifted and encouraged me, I tried to encourage others the best way I knew how even though I didn’t feel it myself, and I listened to teachings so my ears heard positive words rather than negative words.

My spiritual breakthrough came today.  I listened to Malcolm Smith’s webinar number 168 entitled “What Do You See?”.  Mr. Smith’s message is taken from the book of Jeremiah Chapter One verses 11 and 12.  The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah and asks him, “what do you see?”  Jeremiah replies, “I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree.” (Quoted from the Amplified Bible)  Mr. Smith then goes on to describe why this particular vision is important.

I do not seek to copy his teaching nor am I remotely qualified to attempt to teach on this passage myself.  I will add a link to the teaching at the end of this post in case anyone is interested.  I do seek to put into words why this teaching was of such particular joy to me.

The almond tree blossoms in late winter/early spring.  It is the first plant to do so and, as such, is the promise of the life to come in spring.  It is the tiny bit of life seen while everything else still lies in the grasp of winter.  I do not think I push the analogy to say it is the bit of resistance in the plant world to the death that comes in winter.  It is tiny but it is real.

This struck me.  I cannot deny terrible things are happening nor do I wish to turn a blind eye to another’s pain.  I cannot feel compassion unless I know pain myself and recognize it in another and I do not seek my own peace at the cost of ignoring another’s suffering.  I want to be able to fight against evil with actions of love but it is difficult to prevent all of these terrible things from piling up, one on top of another, until they are innumerable voices screaming in my ears nothing but hopelessness and death.  I can do so little.  There are days when I am in so much pain I can do nothing at all.  These are the days of despair when I believe I am alone-and alone who can do any work for good?-and I forget there are almond branch stories.

There are stories of great sacrifice; people that have laid down their lives in order to take care of a fellow human being and people that risk doing so because the love in them won’t allow them to act otherwise.  There are stories of giving; people who give all they have and then more because the love in them cannot rest while a fellow being goes hungry.  There are the most precious stories of all where people do return the evil done to them with love.  There are big stories and there are small stories like the story a friend shared of a little girl in her neighborhood leaving a May basket on her door step.

These are stories of love that knows no barriers and no limitations.  These are stories of brave souls who hurl that love into the maelstrom of chaos raging around us believing in the hope that love is the far greater power.

It is such a fragile thing, hope.  Perhaps it is much like the almond blossoms who dare to flower in the midst of cold and frost.  These blossoms speak with a still small voice but that voice declares a promise of spring: abundant life to come.  I read these stories aloud to myself and listen to others tell them so that my ears hear words of hope and promise.  These words help me to find the strength I need to do something.

Because there is more to the picture of the almond branch.  In its expansion of Jeremiah 1:11 the Amplified Bible states the almond branch is the emblem of alertness and activity.  Alertness and Activity, Kate; not panic and despair.  I see an almond branch and it tells me I am not absolved of responsibility because I’m tired and in pain.  Perhaps I cannot do anything big but I can do something that tells an almond branch story of my own even if only one other person hears it.  I can do so knowing I am not alone.  In this time, it might be one almond branch flowering here and another there while the world lies under the weight of winter but each one is a promise that spring is coming.

Malcolm Smith’s Teaching: it’s just under an hour.

What Do You See?