TAT 132 Peace
After Christ ascended and sat down at the right hand of God the Father He began to write letters to us. In the very first one He wrote His opening line was, and still is:
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of you faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete,, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4) Not what I would have written if I were trying to gain members and build a massive religious system. But that was the first thing He wrote back to us and it frames much, if not all, of the New Testament.
He also went on and wrote:
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. (Jn. 15:18), and Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; (1 Pet. 4:12). God does not “pull” His punches, He lands them with full force. He tells us that the god of this world is not Jesus Christ (2 Cor.4:3–4). He tells us that the world hates us (John 15:18). He tells us that people will do bad things to us (Heb. 13:6). But He also tells us that we are not to fear all this suffering (Heb. 13:6). For those who are physically and earthly minded none of this suffering makes any sense.
If we don’t know God’s eternal plan and understand our present place in His eternal plan we will not understand our sufferings and might even become disappointed or even agitated with God. So let me remind us ONCE MORE of God’s eternal plan: For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself . . . I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. (Col. 1:19–20). God’s eternal plan is to bring His entire creation back under His rulership. That was, and is, God’s eternal goal and the eternal reason why He sent His Son to this earth (Col. 1:19–20)
Now, let me agitate you a little more with what’s on my heart and the reason I wrote this TAT.
Are you absolutely, positively, 100% sure God is in full control of His plan and that you are in your proper place in His eternal plan? If you are not sure – the simple question below will likely give you your answer.
Are you filled with the joy of knowing God and experiencing a life of perfect inner peace?