I’m about to give my longest scripture text yet. You ready? It comes from Paul, my all-time favorite Bible author (I mean he was ‘bout it, humble, and full of such wisdom and understanding).
I honestly didn’t plan on including all of this, but when the scripture jumped out at me, I decided to read the scriptures around it and WOW! What a lesson to get out of this!
I mean seriously, I was going to write about praying throughout your house because where the Spirit is, there is nothing but Peace. No devil can reside where the Spirit is. I was also going to mention putting on the ‘shoes of Gospel of Peace’ (Ephesians 6:15) as you walk around declaring and decreeing (we are royalty aren’t we?) blessings within your dwelling, but I’m going to go a little deeper today.
So let’s go…if you have your Bible, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 3… LOL I’m just kidding, but we are going to look at this chapter in its near entirety.
He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit.
The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!
Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.
But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:6-18 (NLT)
The scripture I want to focus on is verse 17:
For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT)
When you think of peace, does freedom come to mind? Cause I can tell you, I’ve been living in peace since the day I was ‘freed’. I won’t get into what I was freed from right now, but let’s just say I am no longer in Egypt and if I return at God’s calling, it will be to set the captives free!
You recall Moses was an adopted prince who fell into murder after he learned he was ‘found’, he ran and stayed in the desert for 40 years, and God told him to go back to Egypt to set His people free. That’s the Moses Paul is referring to here.
After setting the people free, he eventually went up the mountain for a meeting with God. When he came down, his face had to be covered because the glory of God on him was so bright, and he came down with a few laws written on stone, which were to govern the people.
Turn to Deuteronomy 28. Here we find the ‘oh so famous’ blessings and curses. If you obey the law, the blessings are mentioned through verse 14. But if you did not keep these laws, the curses are so numerous, you might as well ask God to take you right then. I believe that is why Paul said the old covenant ended in death.
Recall the parable about the rich man asking how to get into Heaven? Matthew 19:1-26. The rich man wanted to know how to get into Heaven because the rich often were guaranteed a passage to Heaven by the priest. The rich could afford to pay the priests' prices for sacrifices on the alter, ‘guaranteeing’ them a spot. So Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The rich man claimed he had kept them but Jesus told him he needed to be perfect (in a round-about-way) and to basically give up all he had and follow Jesus. This rich man, not willing to make the sacrifice, opted out and went on about his way.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!” Matthew 19:23-24 (NLT)
Astonished, the disciples ask how anyone could make it to Heaven if the rich could not. And this is the point I want to get to: it is impossible under the law to make it to heaven. The law is a death sentence.
Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26 (NLT)
So where is the peace in all this?? There are a ton of curses under the law if you disobey them. It is humanly impossible to keep the law. And the law is a death sentence!
The old covenant was pre-Christ, the law from Moses, who covered his face because the glory of God on him was so bright. Under the new covenant, post-Christ’s death, we don’t have to cover our faces. We can remove the veil. We can live in peace. We can turn to the Christ and reveal who he is in us. As we remove the veil (letting His glory shine) and become more and more like Christ, we become just as glorious as He is. And if Christ is the Prince of Peace and we are like him, then we too can be princes of peace. Basking in peace, day in, day out. For where the Spirit is, there is liberty! This liberty is all inclusive.
So in a nutshell, we live in peace by removing the veil. Leaning on God. Trusting Him. Becoming more like Him. Allowing the new covenant to give us life, and life more abundantly. It’s not about having the abundant, but having life more abundantly, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world!
Live peacefully, y,all!
Always,
Keiyia JOYet George
Living peacefully is not so hard, although it does take practice. What steps have you taken to live peacefully?