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The crucial element of our life in Christ is finding the way to trust and obey Jesus. That would be very easy if God made everything run just the way we want it to! The rocky part of the spiritual life is growing your faith in unfavourable conditions. We will need to be able to depend on God with anything that happens and anyone we love, or we will lose His peace and become divided from Him. Our invisible foe always seeks to provoke that kind of disruption. What are you planning to do about it whenever you notice the peace of Christ being stolen from you? You need to "A.C.T.!" fast to bring it back! 1) A.--Admit. Do you have a problem going on? Could something be troubling your inner peace? Go ahead and admit it! It could be a problem going on in the exterior world of people and events that encompass you, or in the inner world of thoughts and emotions within you. Regardless if it is inducing you to let go of the peace of Christ, you have a real problem. What are you going to do about it? Ignore it? Blame it on someone else? Work hard in a stressed out effort to solve it in your own strength? Why not go to Jesus and confess that you are getting disconnected from Him? Acknowledge that you are unable to "save" you or the issue, otherwise you would be enjoying His peace. 2) C.--Call. As soon as you are identifying the loss of Christ's peace as the true issue, call on His Name! What have you got to lose? The Lord is much more eager to return His peace to you than you could hope. He laid down His life so that you could enjoy His peace in every circumstance. He says that no one can take His peace from you. You have stopped trusting Him--that's the reason why you've failed to keep His peace. God doesn't reproach you for it. So call on Him for help with whatever the trouble is, but don't neglect to call on Him to help you be restored to trusting Him with the trouble. Go boldly to His throne of grace and accept His mercy and help. 3) T.--Trust. The secret to taking the peace of Christ back is getting the hang of how to trust God with whatever is going on. You need to rely on a promise of God that is greater than the problem you are ensared by-- or you will get anxious or discouraged about it. Choose to cultivate your faith by laying hold of one of His promises: "No weapon formed against you will prosper." Turn His truths into faith statements: "God is making even this work for my good!" All of God's words are the truth, nevertheless you will have to be willing to "gamble" your life on them! 4) A.C.T.--Act. It is time to add steps A, C and T together and ACT. Don't lay back and do nothing --this is spiritual warfare! There is an invisible foe who works to separate you from depending on your God. Heaven knows what further catastrophies will come about if he can get you to also stop obeying Jesus! So, hurry to the Lord in prayer asking to comply with His guidance. On occasion He may say "Be still and wait." Every so often you may need to say no to yourself if you want to walk closely with Him. Or, sometimes He may show you a step or two you can take that will have His peace upon them. A good rule of thumb is, "If in doubt wait, it out; if clearly led, go ahead." 5)!--Rejoice. Even before you even see final results, begin saying thanks to Jesus that His promises are absolutely trustworthy. Express joy that He is present with you and that He is dealing with all you have committed to Him. Praise God that even what the enemy was using to disconnect you from Jesus, is now being made to carry you closer to Him. As soon as your inner peace is reinstated, appreciate the flow of it. Our new life in the Spirit is designed to be a river of peace as we acquire the way of trusting and obeying our Mighty God. Just keep a watchful eye out for new tempests on the horizon. They are certain to come. When they do, what are you going to do? "A.C.T.!" fast to be restored to the peace of Christ! Steve Evans loves helping seekers obtain inner peace . Would like to understand more about the spiritual life? The basic lessons from his popular course, Matters of the Heart, are free on the net. Begin now and enjoy your gift copy of his offbeat ebook, An Illustrated Guide to the Spiritual Life.
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life in Christ, inner peace, peace of Christ, how to trust God, promise of God, life in the Spirit, stressed or depressed, spiritual life,
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