Peace - The How To
1 Timothy 4:7-8
Message #9
This is our ninth message in our impromptu series on “The Spiritual Battle.” We are talking about the spiritual armor, and we are focused on God’s supernatural peace as a crucial part of the armor of God. When talking about the spiritual armor, Ephesians 6:15 says to put on the shoes of peace that come from the Good News (gospel) so that we can walk in peace… and so that we can stand firm against the attacks of the enemy in this crucial area of our lives. This is a crucial area to stand firm against the attacks of the enemy because the attacks of the enemy come so often in this area where instead of peace, the enemy sows worry, and doubt and fear.
Guys, Jesus Christ came to be our peace, both our peace with God and the supernatural peace of God in our lives. Remember from last week, Ephesians 2, verse 14 says:
Ephesians 2:14 (ESV)
14 For he himself is our peace . . .
This is probably one of a couple of the most important things we can learn about how to walk in peace. Peace is a Person. It’s not a plan; it’s not an approach. He’s a Person. His name is Jesus, and he exists as our peace. First, our peace with God, and Romans 5 really lays that out. I had to cut out a bunch of Romans 5 verses for time’s sake, so you study Romans 5. We were enemies of God. Our sin made us enemies of God, and Jesus died for us when we were enemies of God, and he made us right with God. He justified us in God’s sight by paying the full penalty of our sin on our behalf. That’s Romans Chapter 5, so study it, maybe, this week.
Jesus Christ is our peace with God, and He is the peace of God in our lives that allows us to walk in the midst of the storm in peace, which is defined as an inner rest that comes from experiencing the inner presence of God and does not change based on our circumstances. Last week we studied what the peace of God looks like in our lives, and I promised today we were going to spend the entire message time on the how. So many Christians know about peace. They know intellectually what the Bible says about the peace of God. Yet they’re living what we might call the opposite of the peace of God. They’re living in turmoil and stress and anxiety and worry and all that stuff. And so, the how is a huge question to me. How can we learn (notice – learn) to walk in (to live in) the supernatural peace of God no matter what is going on in our lives? That’s our goal today.
Alright, first, I gave you a homework challenge last week to look up the scriptures on peace on our website or phone app and spend some time with them. And if you actually did that, could you raise your hand? Because just like Sunday School, I promised candy to anyone who actually did their homework.
This is a critical part of the message. It’s not about “hear,” meaning having an auditory response to the word of God. We’re not saved because we “hear,” meaning the inner ear, the cochlear nerves vibrate, and we ascertain some type of sound in our ears. If we hear the gospel only that way, we are not changed. When the Bible says “hear,” it means “receive.” It means to “take to yourself.” And when we take the gospel to ourselves, we are saved. Today I’m going to be asking you, encouraging you, exhorting you, in a nice manner, to do something because the peace of God doesn’t come from hearing. The peace of God doesn’t come from the most eloquent sermon in the world, it comes from a lifestyle, a lifestyle that will allow you to walk in the supernatural peace of God, but it takes action.
The peace of God is such a critical part of the spiritual armor because the enemy does so much damage in our lives by keeping us out of God’s peace. I’ve experienced it in my own life, in the lives of those I love, and in you guys, whom I also love. So many anxieties, so much stress, so much turmoil, so much worry, so much fear, it just paralyzes us.
And I open the Bible, and I say, “Look, it says right here, Jesus Christ IS your peace, that he came to give you new life in peace. That you can have peace in the midst of the storm.”
And I hear, “I know, I know it says that. But here’s my problem. I’m really worried, and I’m afraid, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Yeah, but look what the Bible says.”
“Yeah, whatever… here’s my problem…”
And so, this question of how do we walk in the peace of God is a huge issue to me because I see so much teaching and resources on the peace of God, and so few Christians actually experience it. Now I realize none of us can always be living in the peace of God (I certainly can’t), but some of us have never experienced any of the peace of God, and we all need to experience it more (may even much more.)
So, there are two things we need to make clear before we even begin the how.
1). The peace of God is available only through a real experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me just explain that word, “experiential.” Experiential means you are actually experiencing a real relationship with Jesus Christ. Meaning you have real interaction with him, relationship interaction. That’s different than saying you repeated a prayer at some point, and so you’re pretty sure you’re going to heaven. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is an actual relationship, which means there’s interaction with him. There’s give and take. You pour your heart out to him; you listen to him. You respond to him. You spend time with him. You worship him. It’s a relationship. And in order to have any hope of actually walking in peace, there must be a real relationship. So, first, the peace of God is available only through a real experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.
2). We must recognize that us living in the peace of God is fully dependent on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We cannot hope to experience a supernatural peace without acknowledging the role of the supernatural member of the Godhead who is living in us in order to be that peace. In John 14, we see Jesus say:
John 14:27 (NKJV)
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you…
It’s in the context of him giving us the Holy Spirit. And so, if we’re like, “Oh, I don’t want any of that Holy Spirit stuff, those people can get all ‘emotional.’” But God is like that. God is an emotional God. He loves to the immeasurable degree. He is wrathful to the immeasurable degree. He is funny. He’s creative. He has all these emotions. God desires to be relational. The Bible is full of emotion, and the Holy Spirit’s job is to be that in your life. One of those emotions is peace. It’s something you experience, not something you learn intellectually. And so, you can’t do it without the relationship of Christ; you can’t do it without knowing who the Holy Spirit is and what his role is in your life.
This is a huge problem because we have this natural tendency to try so hard to follow Jesus in our strength, and (as I used to say often) “There is not enough TRY in you!”
You couldn’t be saved in your own strength.
You can’t live for Jesus in your own strength.
You can’t experience the peace of God in your own strength.
Certainly, one of the largest overall schemes of the devil is to keep Christians trying to live for Christ in their own strength. Trying to live the Christian life in your own strength is a guaranteed way to become a notch on the enemy’s belt. It is the life of God in us, IN the Person of the Holy Spirit, that enables us to walk in the peace of God. We cannot even begin to hope that we will be able to experience the supernatural peace of God without first acknowledging the primary and crucial role of the Holy Spirit in this process.
So, we have to be really clear about these two things.
1). The peace of God is available only through a real experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.
2). Living in the peace of God is fully dependent on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
So, I asked a lot of Christians this week, what it takes to really experience the peace of God in their lives, and there’s one word that really sums up all the best answers. That is, after those two prerequisites, there’s one word that really sums up all the best answers to the question; “What does it take to live in the peace of God in your life?” and that one word is – DISCIPLINE. Not in the negative sense of chastisement but in the positive sense of “learning” or “training.” Discipline is the one word that can sum up what it takes to live in the peace of God in your life.
Definition of discipline: Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior.
You see, walking in the peace of God is:
A specific “New Life” character trait
A specific “New Life” Pattern of behavior
And if you desire to walk (live) in the supernatural PEACE of GOD, it is going to take some focused spiritual discipline which is training expected to produce a specific “New Life” character trait in you.
There is a two-part truth to your new life in Christ. There is a “positional” truth, and there is a “practical” truth. And so, Romans 6 and Ephesians 1 give us the positional truth; what Christ has done in you is positionally true. But then there is also a practical truth that pretty much the rest of the New Testament gives, especially Colossians 3; Ephesians 4, 5; Romans 7, 8. The practical side is not: are you a new creation positionally. The practical side is: does it show? Sure, you might be seated in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:6). You might have been raised to new life like Romans 6 says, but is it changing you? That’s the practical side. The thing that makes a difference between you having a positional truth and a practical truth is this word discipline.
Let’s turn over to 1 Timothy 4 and look at verses 7 and 8.
1 Timothy 4:7–8 (NLT)
7 . . . train (discipline) yourself to be godly (for godliness).
8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life (like the Peace of God) and (benefits) in the life to come.”
The word “train” can be translated: “Discipline yourself to Godliness.” (NASB) It means to train yourself to walk in the new life character trait.
The words “train” and “training” are GYMNAZO and GYMNASIA, from which we get our word GYMNASIUM. And if you want to experience the supernatural peace of God, you’re going to have to hit the spiritual gym on a regular basis.
The word “discipline” is a bit of a complicated word, and it has gotten even more complicated recently. So let me try to be very clear. When we use the phrase “Spiritual Disciplines,” we’re referring to the exclusively Biblical ways we train ourselves to walk in the new life Jesus Christ has given us.
Again, when we use the phrase “Spiritual Disciplines,” we’re referring to the exclusively Biblical way we train ourselves to walk in the new life Jesus Christ has given us.
The teaching of the spiritual disciplines has had a renewal in recent years. Unfortunately, some have gone far beyond God’s Word into teaching things that come from Eastern Mysticism and New Age Philosophy. I’m obviously not talking about those extremes. But the term is correct; when it is used correctly and when we use it, we are referring to the exclusively Biblical ways that we train ourselves to walk in the new life Jesus Christ has given us.
So, let me say again, if you desire to walk (live) in the peace of God, it’s going to take some focused spiritual discipline, which is training designed to produce a specific “New Life” character trait in you.
Romans Chapter 6 is a great chapter to study about us positionally owning a new life in Jesus Christ, meaning God has “positionally” given us new life in Christ.
Romans 6:4-5 (NLT)
4 . . . And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (the New Life)
Romans 6:11 (NLT)
11 So you also should consider (reckon) yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:13 (NLT)
13 . . . give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life . . .
You have new life in Jesus Christ, including the ability to walk in the supernatural peace of God. The problem is this new life is completely opposite of your old life, and you’ve gotten really good at living your old life. And even though the power to live this new life in Christ is fully and completely from God, through the Holy Spirit, you still must train yourself to walk in it. You have the position through Christ’s work. You have the power through the Holy Spirit. The only thing left is your choice. You have to choose to train yourself to think differently, to respond differently, and to react differently.
Romans 8, verse 6 says – it’s really an issue of mind control!
Romans 8:6 (NLT)
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace
We own it “positionally,” but we have to re-train our mind to allow the Spirit to control it instead of the flesh, and we’ve got to focus that re-retraining specifically on the “New Life” character trait you need to develop. So, training yourself to walk in the peace of God requires going to the spiritual gym and training until your mind thinks differently and until you react differently. Until you think according to your new life in Christ instead of according to your old life in the flesh. Until you react according to your new life in Christ instead of according to your old life in the flesh.
It’s not enough to learn “intellectually” about the peace of God. We’ve got to learn to experience the peace of God, and the only way we can learn to experience the peace of God is to train ourselves to think and act according to the new life. And the number one reason Christians are not experiencing the peace of God is because we are not “disciplining ourselves” to learn to walk in the peace of God. We’re not “training ourselves” to produce this “New Life” character trait in us.
Really, the entire “how to” process of the Spiritual Disciplines is found in Romans 12, verses 1-2. (These are the key verses to all transformation in the Christian life.)
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
All training starts with a breaking, whether it is military, sports, or spiritual. All training starts with a breaking, and Romans 12, verse 1, is a breaking.
Paul says I plead with you to give your bodies (totality of yourself) to God because of all he has done for you
The word “bodies” here is referring to your complete life; give all of your “self” to God. Let all of your “self” (all of your life) be a living and holy sacrifice – that he will find acceptable This is truly the way to worship him
This is full surrender to God (a complete breaking), and without it, you will never be able to actually live (in a practical way) in the “New Life” traits.
In one definition of spiritual discipline, Jack Hayford said: “Spiritual discipline can only be produced by a deliberate yielding to the Holy Spirit’s power”
First, we’ve got to have a “deliberate yielding to the Holy Spirit’s power in our life. Then Romans 12, verse 2 says:
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
In order to walk in the peace of God, we’ve got to stop thinking like the world thinks and stop acting like the world acts. Instead, let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. How does God transform you? (By changing the way you think.) What will the spiritual disciplines do for you? They will change the way you think. And when you allow God to change the way you think, what will happen? As Romans 12, verse 2 says, you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. And part of God’s will for you is for you to live in his supernatural peace (we established that last message), and you can learn to be transformed in this area by allowing God to change the way you think.
God wants to transform you by renewing your mind. Your part is “hitting the gym!” It’s Training yourself for godliness, as 1 Timothy 4:8 said. And 2 Peter says:
2 Peter 3:14 (NLT)
14 . . . make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
Train yourself. Make every effort.
1 Peter 1:13 (NLT)
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control . . .
Train yourself. Make every effort. Prepare your mind for action. Exercise self-control. These are all words of disciplining yourself for godliness, and without this, you will always know about God’s peace, but you will very seldom experience it.
And now, you still want to ask, how don’t you? And I still want to give you the same answer; Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. And then you still want to say HOW? How do I let God transform me, specifically in the area of living in his peace? If that is your question, here is your answer; Focus all of your training, all of your discipline on allowing God to change the way you think, specifically in the area of living in his peace.
I know you’d like me to give you a much simpler answer and one that doesn’t sound like so much work. But Sylvester Stallone didn’t win the fight in “Rocky 13” without getting up and going to the gym – for thirteen years. What I am saying to you is if you want to learn to walk in God’s peace, you’ve got to get up and go to the spiritual gym every morning and start training yourself to think differently and react differently to the circumstances around you.
That might not be what you wanted to hear, but it is what you need to hear. And for those morning workout sessions, you’ll need at least one “personal trainer.” (Maybe two or three.) We’ve already made it clear; you cannot do this without the full power and involvement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your number one personal trainer. But you’re probably going to need some type of human “discipler.”
You’re going to need a DISCIPLER
To help you be DISCIPLINED
To allow God to TRANSFORM you
By changing the way that you THINK
In the specific area of walking in God’s PEACE
I promise you, if you will grasp what I’m saying here, it will radically transform your life far more than me delivering the single best sermon you could ever imagine hearing. If I can get you into the spiritual gym on a regular basis, you’ll come out supernaturally strong!
So now you’re saying, “Okay, I’ll do it! But what exactly are you asking me to do?
I am asking you to hit the spiritual gym on a regular basis to train yourself to walk in the peace of God.
I am asking you to get a training plan that’ll keep you focused on training yourself to walk in the peace of God.
I’m asking you to get a personal trainer to guide you and encourage you as you learn to walk in the peace of God.
I’m asking you to show up for your quiet time with God with a solid training plan and a good personal trainer.
If you will do that, with good guidance, I promise… I promise… you will experience the peace of God as we defined it last week.
Definition of the “Peace of God”: An inner resting of the soul that comes from experiencing God’s presence and does not fluctuate based on circumstances.
God has given us the power to do it IN Jesus Christ and THROUGH the Holy Spirit! All we have to do is train ourselves to live in it.
So, to close, get a pen out and write down these very practical suggestions. Remember, you’ve got to focus on your spiritual training, on the new life character trait that you need to develop. And so, if it’s living in the peace of God, then everything you do in your spiritual gym workout every morning.
So here are some specific recommendations (write them down, or for you listening, rewind).
If you write at all, get a journal to keep track of your spiritual growth in this area (and learn how to use it).
On the Church website (calvarynuevo.org) under Resources, download both Instructions and blank Daily Devotion Journal. Learn how we use the Daily Devotion Journals.
Study our series on this exact subject – The Fundamentals
Phone App (wordbymail)
Church website or wordbymail.com
Download the Series
There’re seven messages focusing on five spiritual disciplines, and we’re working on a final workbook for this series
1). Get a good relational daily devotional.
One that causes you to connect to Jesus. We recommend “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young or “Daily Light” with David Jeremiah
2). Read the book “Spiritual Disciplines for The Christian Life” by Donald Whitney
3). Get a DISCIPLER who will get you INTO this training
We have got to let God transform us by changing the way we think into the way he thinks. And the only way you’re going to change is to discipline yourself to think differently. To think Biblically. To think according to God’s truth, not your truth. To think according to the new life, not the old life. And if we will do that, then our lack of peace will be transformed into his supernatural peace.
Guys, Jesus Christ came to be our peace, both our peace with God and the supernatural peace of God in our lives. Remember from last week, Ephesians 2, verse 14 says:
Ephesians 2:14 (ESV)
14 For he himself is our peace . . .
This is probably one of a couple of the most important things we can learn about how to walk in peace. Peace is a Person. It’s not a plan; it’s not an approach. He’s a Person. His name is Jesus, and he exists as our peace. First, our peace with God, and Romans 5 really lays that out. I had to cut out a bunch of Romans 5 verses for time’s sake, so you study Romans 5. We were enemies of God. Our sin made us enemies of God, and Jesus died for us when we were enemies of God, and he made us right with God. He justified us in God’s sight by paying the full penalty of our sin on our behalf. That’s Romans Chapter 5, so study it, maybe, this week.
Jesus Christ is our peace with God, and He is the peace of God in our lives that allows us to walk in the midst of the storm in peace, which is defined as an inner rest that comes from experiencing the inner presence of God and does not change based on our circumstances. Last week we studied what the peace of God looks like in our lives, and I promised today we were going to spend the entire message time on the how. So many Christians know about peace. They know intellectually what the Bible says about the peace of God. Yet they’re living what we might call the opposite of the peace of God. They’re living in turmoil and stress and anxiety and worry and all that stuff. And so, the how is a huge question to me. How can we learn (notice – learn) to walk in (to live in) the supernatural peace of God no matter what is going on in our lives? That’s our goal today.
Alright, first, I gave you a homework challenge last week to look up the scriptures on peace on our website or phone app and spend some time with them. And if you actually did that, could you raise your hand? Because just like Sunday School, I promised candy to anyone who actually did their homework.
This is a critical part of the message. It’s not about “hear,” meaning having an auditory response to the word of God. We’re not saved because we “hear,” meaning the inner ear, the cochlear nerves vibrate, and we ascertain some type of sound in our ears. If we hear the gospel only that way, we are not changed. When the Bible says “hear,” it means “receive.” It means to “take to yourself.” And when we take the gospel to ourselves, we are saved. Today I’m going to be asking you, encouraging you, exhorting you, in a nice manner, to do something because the peace of God doesn’t come from hearing. The peace of God doesn’t come from the most eloquent sermon in the world, it comes from a lifestyle, a lifestyle that will allow you to walk in the supernatural peace of God, but it takes action.
The peace of God is such a critical part of the spiritual armor because the enemy does so much damage in our lives by keeping us out of God’s peace. I’ve experienced it in my own life, in the lives of those I love, and in you guys, whom I also love. So many anxieties, so much stress, so much turmoil, so much worry, so much fear, it just paralyzes us.
And I open the Bible, and I say, “Look, it says right here, Jesus Christ IS your peace, that he came to give you new life in peace. That you can have peace in the midst of the storm.”
And I hear, “I know, I know it says that. But here’s my problem. I’m really worried, and I’m afraid, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Yeah, but look what the Bible says.”
“Yeah, whatever… here’s my problem…”
And so, this question of how do we walk in the peace of God is a huge issue to me because I see so much teaching and resources on the peace of God, and so few Christians actually experience it. Now I realize none of us can always be living in the peace of God (I certainly can’t), but some of us have never experienced any of the peace of God, and we all need to experience it more (may even much more.)
So, there are two things we need to make clear before we even begin the how.
1). The peace of God is available only through a real experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let me just explain that word, “experiential.” Experiential means you are actually experiencing a real relationship with Jesus Christ. Meaning you have real interaction with him, relationship interaction. That’s different than saying you repeated a prayer at some point, and so you’re pretty sure you’re going to heaven. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is an actual relationship, which means there’s interaction with him. There’s give and take. You pour your heart out to him; you listen to him. You respond to him. You spend time with him. You worship him. It’s a relationship. And in order to have any hope of actually walking in peace, there must be a real relationship. So, first, the peace of God is available only through a real experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.
2). We must recognize that us living in the peace of God is fully dependent on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We cannot hope to experience a supernatural peace without acknowledging the role of the supernatural member of the Godhead who is living in us in order to be that peace. In John 14, we see Jesus say:
John 14:27 (NKJV)
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you…
It’s in the context of him giving us the Holy Spirit. And so, if we’re like, “Oh, I don’t want any of that Holy Spirit stuff, those people can get all ‘emotional.’” But God is like that. God is an emotional God. He loves to the immeasurable degree. He is wrathful to the immeasurable degree. He is funny. He’s creative. He has all these emotions. God desires to be relational. The Bible is full of emotion, and the Holy Spirit’s job is to be that in your life. One of those emotions is peace. It’s something you experience, not something you learn intellectually. And so, you can’t do it without the relationship of Christ; you can’t do it without knowing who the Holy Spirit is and what his role is in your life.
This is a huge problem because we have this natural tendency to try so hard to follow Jesus in our strength, and (as I used to say often) “There is not enough TRY in you!”
You couldn’t be saved in your own strength.
You can’t live for Jesus in your own strength.
You can’t experience the peace of God in your own strength.
Certainly, one of the largest overall schemes of the devil is to keep Christians trying to live for Christ in their own strength. Trying to live the Christian life in your own strength is a guaranteed way to become a notch on the enemy’s belt. It is the life of God in us, IN the Person of the Holy Spirit, that enables us to walk in the peace of God. We cannot even begin to hope that we will be able to experience the supernatural peace of God without first acknowledging the primary and crucial role of the Holy Spirit in this process.
So, we have to be really clear about these two things.
1). The peace of God is available only through a real experiential relationship with Jesus Christ.
2). Living in the peace of God is fully dependent on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
So, I asked a lot of Christians this week, what it takes to really experience the peace of God in their lives, and there’s one word that really sums up all the best answers. That is, after those two prerequisites, there’s one word that really sums up all the best answers to the question; “What does it take to live in the peace of God in your life?” and that one word is – DISCIPLINE. Not in the negative sense of chastisement but in the positive sense of “learning” or “training.” Discipline is the one word that can sum up what it takes to live in the peace of God in your life.
Definition of discipline: Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior.
You see, walking in the peace of God is:
A specific “New Life” character trait
A specific “New Life” Pattern of behavior
And if you desire to walk (live) in the supernatural PEACE of GOD, it is going to take some focused spiritual discipline which is training expected to produce a specific “New Life” character trait in you.
There is a two-part truth to your new life in Christ. There is a “positional” truth, and there is a “practical” truth. And so, Romans 6 and Ephesians 1 give us the positional truth; what Christ has done in you is positionally true. But then there is also a practical truth that pretty much the rest of the New Testament gives, especially Colossians 3; Ephesians 4, 5; Romans 7, 8. The practical side is not: are you a new creation positionally. The practical side is: does it show? Sure, you might be seated in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:6). You might have been raised to new life like Romans 6 says, but is it changing you? That’s the practical side. The thing that makes a difference between you having a positional truth and a practical truth is this word discipline.
Let’s turn over to 1 Timothy 4 and look at verses 7 and 8.
1 Timothy 4:7–8 (NLT)
7 . . . train (discipline) yourself to be godly (for godliness).
8 “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life (like the Peace of God) and (benefits) in the life to come.”
The word “train” can be translated: “Discipline yourself to Godliness.” (NASB) It means to train yourself to walk in the new life character trait.
The words “train” and “training” are GYMNAZO and GYMNASIA, from which we get our word GYMNASIUM. And if you want to experience the supernatural peace of God, you’re going to have to hit the spiritual gym on a regular basis.
The word “discipline” is a bit of a complicated word, and it has gotten even more complicated recently. So let me try to be very clear. When we use the phrase “Spiritual Disciplines,” we’re referring to the exclusively Biblical ways we train ourselves to walk in the new life Jesus Christ has given us.
Again, when we use the phrase “Spiritual Disciplines,” we’re referring to the exclusively Biblical way we train ourselves to walk in the new life Jesus Christ has given us.
The teaching of the spiritual disciplines has had a renewal in recent years. Unfortunately, some have gone far beyond God’s Word into teaching things that come from Eastern Mysticism and New Age Philosophy. I’m obviously not talking about those extremes. But the term is correct; when it is used correctly and when we use it, we are referring to the exclusively Biblical ways that we train ourselves to walk in the new life Jesus Christ has given us.
So, let me say again, if you desire to walk (live) in the peace of God, it’s going to take some focused spiritual discipline, which is training designed to produce a specific “New Life” character trait in you.
Romans Chapter 6 is a great chapter to study about us positionally owning a new life in Jesus Christ, meaning God has “positionally” given us new life in Christ.
Romans 6:4-5 (NLT)
4 . . . And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (the New Life)
Romans 6:11 (NLT)
11 So you also should consider (reckon) yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:13 (NLT)
13 . . . give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life . . .
You have new life in Jesus Christ, including the ability to walk in the supernatural peace of God. The problem is this new life is completely opposite of your old life, and you’ve gotten really good at living your old life. And even though the power to live this new life in Christ is fully and completely from God, through the Holy Spirit, you still must train yourself to walk in it. You have the position through Christ’s work. You have the power through the Holy Spirit. The only thing left is your choice. You have to choose to train yourself to think differently, to respond differently, and to react differently.
Romans 8, verse 6 says – it’s really an issue of mind control!
Romans 8:6 (NLT)
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace
We own it “positionally,” but we have to re-train our mind to allow the Spirit to control it instead of the flesh, and we’ve got to focus that re-retraining specifically on the “New Life” character trait you need to develop. So, training yourself to walk in the peace of God requires going to the spiritual gym and training until your mind thinks differently and until you react differently. Until you think according to your new life in Christ instead of according to your old life in the flesh. Until you react according to your new life in Christ instead of according to your old life in the flesh.
It’s not enough to learn “intellectually” about the peace of God. We’ve got to learn to experience the peace of God, and the only way we can learn to experience the peace of God is to train ourselves to think and act according to the new life. And the number one reason Christians are not experiencing the peace of God is because we are not “disciplining ourselves” to learn to walk in the peace of God. We’re not “training ourselves” to produce this “New Life” character trait in us.
Really, the entire “how to” process of the Spiritual Disciplines is found in Romans 12, verses 1-2. (These are the key verses to all transformation in the Christian life.)
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
All training starts with a breaking, whether it is military, sports, or spiritual. All training starts with a breaking, and Romans 12, verse 1, is a breaking.
Paul says I plead with you to give your bodies (totality of yourself) to God because of all he has done for you
The word “bodies” here is referring to your complete life; give all of your “self” to God. Let all of your “self” (all of your life) be a living and holy sacrifice – that he will find acceptable This is truly the way to worship him
This is full surrender to God (a complete breaking), and without it, you will never be able to actually live (in a practical way) in the “New Life” traits.
In one definition of spiritual discipline, Jack Hayford said: “Spiritual discipline can only be produced by a deliberate yielding to the Holy Spirit’s power”
First, we’ve got to have a “deliberate yielding to the Holy Spirit’s power in our life. Then Romans 12, verse 2 says:
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
In order to walk in the peace of God, we’ve got to stop thinking like the world thinks and stop acting like the world acts. Instead, let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. How does God transform you? (By changing the way you think.) What will the spiritual disciplines do for you? They will change the way you think. And when you allow God to change the way you think, what will happen? As Romans 12, verse 2 says, you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. And part of God’s will for you is for you to live in his supernatural peace (we established that last message), and you can learn to be transformed in this area by allowing God to change the way you think.
God wants to transform you by renewing your mind. Your part is “hitting the gym!” It’s Training yourself for godliness, as 1 Timothy 4:8 said. And 2 Peter says:
2 Peter 3:14 (NLT)
14 . . . make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
Train yourself. Make every effort.
1 Peter 1:13 (NLT)
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control . . .
Train yourself. Make every effort. Prepare your mind for action. Exercise self-control. These are all words of disciplining yourself for godliness, and without this, you will always know about God’s peace, but you will very seldom experience it.
And now, you still want to ask, how don’t you? And I still want to give you the same answer; Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. And then you still want to say HOW? How do I let God transform me, specifically in the area of living in his peace? If that is your question, here is your answer; Focus all of your training, all of your discipline on allowing God to change the way you think, specifically in the area of living in his peace.
I know you’d like me to give you a much simpler answer and one that doesn’t sound like so much work. But Sylvester Stallone didn’t win the fight in “Rocky 13” without getting up and going to the gym – for thirteen years. What I am saying to you is if you want to learn to walk in God’s peace, you’ve got to get up and go to the spiritual gym every morning and start training yourself to think differently and react differently to the circumstances around you.
That might not be what you wanted to hear, but it is what you need to hear. And for those morning workout sessions, you’ll need at least one “personal trainer.” (Maybe two or three.) We’ve already made it clear; you cannot do this without the full power and involvement of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your number one personal trainer. But you’re probably going to need some type of human “discipler.”
You’re going to need a DISCIPLER
To help you be DISCIPLINED
To allow God to TRANSFORM you
By changing the way that you THINK
In the specific area of walking in God’s PEACE
I promise you, if you will grasp what I’m saying here, it will radically transform your life far more than me delivering the single best sermon you could ever imagine hearing. If I can get you into the spiritual gym on a regular basis, you’ll come out supernaturally strong!
So now you’re saying, “Okay, I’ll do it! But what exactly are you asking me to do?
I am asking you to hit the spiritual gym on a regular basis to train yourself to walk in the peace of God.
I am asking you to get a training plan that’ll keep you focused on training yourself to walk in the peace of God.
I’m asking you to get a personal trainer to guide you and encourage you as you learn to walk in the peace of God.
I’m asking you to show up for your quiet time with God with a solid training plan and a good personal trainer.
If you will do that, with good guidance, I promise… I promise… you will experience the peace of God as we defined it last week.
Definition of the “Peace of God”: An inner resting of the soul that comes from experiencing God’s presence and does not fluctuate based on circumstances.
God has given us the power to do it IN Jesus Christ and THROUGH the Holy Spirit! All we have to do is train ourselves to live in it.
So, to close, get a pen out and write down these very practical suggestions. Remember, you’ve got to focus on your spiritual training, on the new life character trait that you need to develop. And so, if it’s living in the peace of God, then everything you do in your spiritual gym workout every morning.
So here are some specific recommendations (write them down, or for you listening, rewind).
If you write at all, get a journal to keep track of your spiritual growth in this area (and learn how to use it).
On the Church website (calvarynuevo.org) under Resources, download both Instructions and blank Daily Devotion Journal. Learn how we use the Daily Devotion Journals.
Study our series on this exact subject – The Fundamentals
Phone App (wordbymail)
Church website or wordbymail.com
Download the Series
There’re seven messages focusing on five spiritual disciplines, and we’re working on a final workbook for this series
1). Get a good relational daily devotional.
One that causes you to connect to Jesus. We recommend “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young or “Daily Light” with David Jeremiah
2). Read the book “Spiritual Disciplines for The Christian Life” by Donald Whitney
3). Get a DISCIPLER who will get you INTO this training
We have got to let God transform us by changing the way we think into the way he thinks. And the only way you’re going to change is to discipline yourself to think differently. To think Biblically. To think according to God’s truth, not your truth. To think according to the new life, not the old life. And if we will do that, then our lack of peace will be transformed into his supernatural peace.