CHRISTIAN PEACE suit only in shattering peace. Isaiah 26:3 merely reinforces this idea, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." In the Old Testament peace is based upon a commitment to God's way. Do you want honor? Do you want a lot of money? Do you want a nice home? Do you want all of the things so many equate with satisfaction? Keep in mind, it does not necessarily follow that you will have peace. Peace is not hav ing the American way of life. If your priorities are not set right, you will always be in conflict. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). Peace is the result of living the way God wants us to live (Galatians 5:16). We are to walk in the Spirit so that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Is your peace shattered because of the way in which you are living? If you will submit yourself to Christ, and claim Him as your personal Savior, you will have the founda tion of peace. Then, if you will base your life upon a complete commitment to God's way, accept ing His priorities, you will find many of the conflicts in your life resolved and peace will prosper. Christian peace is more than ac cepting Jesus Christ as Savior and then praying or witnessing. His peace has many dimensions. To experience fully this peace we must apply to our lives all of God's principles. As an example, do you think that you can have peace and at the same time fight? Do squab bles with other people enable you to retain tranquillity of mind? You see, it is one thing to have peace
with God because our sins are for given, and yet another thing to live in peace because we are ap propriating some of the principles of Scripture. On the foundation of our life in Christ, we can build a life that ex tends the benefits of peace to other areas of our lives. Peace can then exist despite problems, sorrows or turmoils that are beyond our con trol. God only asks us to control that which is within our power. Christian peace is really multi faceted. Although initially the gift of God, peace becomes fully pos sible only as we take action. Con sider those helpful verses in Phil- ippians 4:6-9. We are not to be anxious but rather with prayer and supplication, coupled with thanks giving, we are to let our requests be made known unto God. The Lord wants us to burden Him with all our concerns. Anything that dominates your thought life is a concern or a care. Paul reminds us that we should not be tied up in knots over such things. Some of our requests may even be the rea son for our problems. The Apostle Paul at one time asked the Lord to get rid of his physical ailment. God told him, "No." He promised, "My grace is sufficient for thee." There was a lesson he was to learn. Let us make certain that in interces sion we are not praying just to get our own way. Such is directly con trary to Scripture (James 4:1-4). Philippians 4:6-7 says to turn all your requests over to the Lord — all of them. Some will be selfish, some unwise, but share them with the Lord. Only by leaving such concerns in His hands can we be gin to focus in on top priority items for our life. If money, hate,
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