ICS Daily Devotions
Peace in Relationships
3 John 2 (NKJV) Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
It is God’s desire that we prosper in every aspect of our lives. Peace is one of the elements of prosperity in the eyes of God. God created us for relationship. The soul comprises of our emotions therefore God wants us to prosper in our emotions especially in inter-personal relationships. He wants us to have love, joy and peace in our lives. This PEACE in our soul is something that we need to pursue and take it by force because it belongs to us. It is a fight between what the Spirit wants and what the flesh desires. We will prosper in our soul when we do not allow strife, un-forgiveness, hatred and anger to enter into our lives.
Galations 5:19-21 (NKJV)Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Will we be prospering in our soul if we practice or live in the work of the flesh when we are actually meant to live in the newness of life….
Lewdness , adultery, cohabitating and fornication, uncleanness , contentions, and outbursts of wrath will not bring peace into our lives.
Maybe some of the above practices is what used to be our lifestyle but now we have come into the kingdom of God and we have the newness of life in Christ therefore we are expected to live by walking in the Spirit. The devil would like to steal the peace in our lives by keeping us from the knowledge of the truth and stirring us up in the flesh. Since he is the god of this age , he will use different means to work on the lust of the eyes and the flesh so that he can keep us as a carnal Christian.
God doesn’t want us to walk in the flesh, practice or live without a change of lifestyle. Our old lifestyle and the work of the flesh don’t offer peace, love and joy in our lives. He expects us to put on the new man, yield to the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to overcome the temptation that used to lure us to live in sin.
We are not abiding in Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to rule and reign in our lives if we gratify the desire of the flesh. We need to pursue peace in the relationships that God has allowed to develop around us.
Sermon Series: Peace – Fruit of the Holy Spirit
