Peace

As I am reading the Bible in English instead of Swedish certain wordings stick out to me in a new way. This morning as I was reading First John, I found a number of "This is how..." statements and one in particular stuck out to me: This is how (...) we set our hearts at rest in His presence.

The following verse is very well known to me but I somehow had missed the connection between verse 19 and 20.

If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

1 John 3:20

To be at rest in his presence, to really know that there is no condemnation for me when I am in Christ (Rom 8:1), to have peace of mind - it has everything to do with my relationship with the Father. We know that he is not angry, upset or disappointed with us. He sees us, as he sees his Son. Jesus said, as one of the last things he was sharing with his disciples before his death, that he left them with peace as a gift. "My peace I give you" (John 14:27). It is not just peace in general, peace and quiet, a peaceful life, happy circumstances. Actually, he did not promise any of that, quite the opposite, but he promised us the peace of Jesus Christ, that kind of relationship with the Father. Or not just that kind of relationship but we actually enter into their perfect relationship, we are in Christ, included. We have the mind of Christ, the peace of mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16).

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

1 John 4:13,16

The peace of God will guard my mind and this happens in our relationship, when I focus on him instead of myself or my circumstances, when I trust him, when I pour out my heart to him in prayer and praise and present my requests to him boldly (Phil 4:6). My restless thoughts can find rest if I direct my thoughts to him instead of worrying. I have to take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to the love of Christ (2 Cor 10:5), knowing at all times that I am loved, unconditionally, limitless, complete, no matter what. And that brings peace. Such peace, or conviction of righteousness, also moves me into action. It makes me focus outwardly rather than questioning my heart, asking if I am okay all the time. This peace is like a pair of shoes of readiness and willingness that equip me and prepare me to move forward, stand upright and kick butt in the spiritual war we are in (Eph 6:15).