New Book - PACE to Peace

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This article consists of exerpts from the Introduction to the book entitled PACE to Peace: Finding Inner Rest in a World of Unrest.

This book is a tool to facilitate transformation of the inner person. Why is inner peace only possible through constant change? The an swer will become apparent as you read, study, and apply the truth found here. We will explore themes discussed in the Bible, especially the book of Hebrews that directly connects our relationship with God and the quality of the inner rest of our souls (see Hebrews 12:14-15, 3:1-12). Increasing the quality of our relationship with God requires constant realignment of our thoughts, actions, and patterns of behavior (Romans 12:1-2). Transformation and sanctification are processes of consistently reordering our old attitudes, beliefs, and standards of living to align with God’s.

 

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one  will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:14-15 NASB).

 

Looking at these verses in context of the book of Hebrews from the beginning of the chapter to the point where they appear, the sanctification of our soul emerges as a very dominant theme. Faith is defined in the previous chapter, Chapter 11, in the passage best known for introducing the “heroes of faith.” Chapter 12 offers specifics of how faith is lived out.

First, Jesus is the “founder” AND “perfecter” of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2, ESV). The Passion Translation (TPT) expresses it as, “Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection”—that is, completion. There is a beginning and a completion to faith in Christ. Believing in Jesus at a conversion experience begins a process of completing faith’s work the remainder of our lives.

Secondly, verses 4-11 speak of growing, as children grow in their Father’s (parents’) care. Growth involves change and stretching of what is, into what it needs to become. The growth process requires discipline. A commitment to this kind of change brings about joy and peace.

Now to verses 14-15, quoted above. Sanctification is explicitly mentioned “without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Without completion of faith in Jesus through the sanctification pro

cess (change and growth through discipline toward holiness), we have no faith at all. This ongoing change is to be pursued, intentionally sought, and not merely expected to happen on its own. Moreover, this process is intrinsically linked back to our conversion to faith in Christ, and forward to establishing the conditions for our inner peace.

 

Bible Says Much About Peace

 God’s purposes and plans for peace are far greater than our personal experiences of escaping the feelings of unrest inside. However, our inner life is very important to God. So important that he commands complete surrender of our ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving in exchange for his. The psalmist reflects, “Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble” (Psalm 119:165; NASB). God’s ways are superior to human ways. We are wise to accept this truth, “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:13,17 NASB).

Jesus himself had some things to say about peace. Jesus didn’t come into the world to chase away conflict (see Matthew 10:24). He came to deliver us from enslavement to conflict. First, the conflict that exists within our own soul, and the conflict that puts us at war (sometimes literally) with people around us. Without Christ, conflict is inevitable within, but with and through Christ conflict is, was, and will be an nihilated. Since the first sin of mankind, conflict within and conflict without (our environment) are built into the default nature of every human being. Putting our faith and trust in Jesus means we are yielding to his power to remove the grip of unrest in lost parts of our souls.

Often at the root of conflict is bitterness. Bitterness is created by the seeds of failed expectations, disappointments, regret, hurt, or offense. Roots of bitterness are specifically mentioned in these verses in Hebrews as destructive anti-growth agents. Bitter roots are weeds that will “defile” (reduce the productivity of the garden of our hearts). Bitter roots can take the form of ill-willed thoughts, envy, jealousy, malice, slander, and the like. The critical, condemning thoughts and opinions turn into blame, resentment, hatred and even sometimes revenge.

Our tendency to want to rule our own fate causes our failure to trust God to work all circumstances for good. God’s justice demands that only he can sit on the throne as Judge. Our demands to think and act as Judge create conflict. The rebellion against God at the core of this conflict is why the “Prince of Peace,” Messiah Jesus, came to this earth (see Isaiah 9:6).

 

Conversion AND Convergence

 This goes to the heart of the gospel message. Luke records Jesus as saying, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10 NKJV). Until recently, like most Christians, I thought of “lost” souls coming to faith in Jesus in a conversion experience as the full extent of interpreting the meaning of this statement in Luke 19.

However, God is challenging me with a deeper understanding. The inner peace stolen by the enemy of our soul with the entry of sin into the world is part of the loss that Jesus came to redeem. Through the transformation and sanctification process, the seeking and saving of the losses in our lives continues. Faith in Jesus makes us whole. All the broken parts of our soul still touched by the losses are being brought together into the wholeness God intends for us from the beginning. Is is a process of convergence.

Sanctification is God’s divine plan. Being made whole through holiness (set apart on the inside) yields the fruit of increasingly greater degrees of outwardly “holy” behavior. Becoming completely at peace with God’s plan in our innermost being begins at conversion and is fulfilled through a lifelong PACE. I call this a PACE, as each letter in the word corresponds to one of the four parts of this

book; Prepare, Accept, Cooperate, and Engage (described below);.

I grew up in the Christian church thinking the “salvation of souls” refers merely to the conversion of souls. However, the term salvation includes sanctification as well. It includes Jesus completing the faith he has begun. It includes the discipline of growing the faith into maturity. It includes the inner peace Hebrews calls the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” (see Hebrews 12:11).

 

Soul Harvest

 The “harvest” of souls includes all of the above. Let’s be clear that believing in Jesus is not just a decision of the mind to repent (turn around) from one way of life to another. It is a radical surrender to a process of heart transformation as well. For a Christian, seeking the sanctification of our soul is not an option. Responding to God and allowing him to change our heart from the inside out will yield greater

degrees of inner peace. Inner peace can be a gauge for measuring our progress. The more we surrender to God, the more peace we will have in our soul.

Inner change is difficult, but we can be at peace with the uncertainty change brings when we are trusting God through our faith in Jesus. An inner peace and assurance of what Jesus has accomplished

for us, AND what he continues to empower us to do, is foundational for facing the challenges of life. It’s all about his power, not ours.

In summary, I offer my paraphrase of the Hebrews 12:14-15 verses quoted at the beginning. “Pursue inner peace through reconciliation with God, for yourself, and seek this condition for every person you know. Practice surrendering your heart to God for the purpose of a holy being, until the day you see Jesus face to face. Make sure you are living the fullest of God’s purposes for your life by rooting out any bitterness that remains—i.e., admitting your critical judgments, surrendering all judgments to God, and releasing all demands for justice so your relationships (with God, others, and self) can be made whole.” This book is a tool to help guide and encourage you on the journey

 

 Four Parts to P-A-C-E

P-repare the Heart

A-ccept Our Broken Heart Condition

C-ooperate with God through Surrender

E-ngage Inner Change as a Lifestyle

 

Summary of the P-A-C-E

The journey through this book begins in Part One with preparing the heart. Recognizing what makes us “tick” (so to speak) is critical to making any kind of positive directional changes. Our heart is like a house. The center of all activities for a farm is the farmhouse. The farmer eats, rests, plays, plans, and finds shelter in the farmhouse. When the farmhouse functions well to meet the needs of the farmer, the foundation for the success of the mission of the farm is secure.

Part Two of this book is about accepting our broken-down heart condition. Without God, our farmhouse and therefore our entire farm is in disrepair and cannot be fixed on its own. Self-honesty about the true condition of our heart is key to taking first steps toward positive change. The humility to continue taking steps toward God is essential to grow out of our brokenness.

Part Three walks through cooperating with God to restore our heart so it can thrive once again. Surrender is a key. Gaining something new requires giving up the old. That’s easier said than done when it comes to old (familiar) patterns of thought and behavior. We must become “wholly” dissatisfied with our own ways to gain satisfaction with God’s “holy” ways (see Proverbs 14:11-12).

Part Four deals with engaging transformational growth as a lifestyle. Changing to be a better person is great, but God’s purposes are far beyond our imaginations and expectations. The only way to discover God’s greater purposes is to embrace inner change by drawing ever closer to God. This includes nurturing a healthy discontent with how far we’ve already come. The moment a farmer becomes too content with his farm’s productivity, conditions out of his control (e.g.,severe weather, pests, economy, thieves) will push things in a declining direction. We must remain vigilant in fighting our broken world’s declining tendencies. We must embrace our need for constant change from the inside out.

I provide some practical tools along the way, and in the appendices. Also in the back of the book are a group of questions for each chapter. The questions are designed to help the pace reader on their own journey to peace. I encourage writing out the answers for each chapter before going on to the next chapter.

Inner life change begins with a better understanding of our inner life. So why not get started now. If you don’t have a copy of the book yet, order the print or ebook version and dig in. Buy the book at: https://edwardhersh.com/pacetopeace .

See more articles at: https://edwardhersh.com

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Trading the Will for the Well

Perhaps the most common source of struggle and failure in a Christian’s life is a misunderstanding of the role of willpower in the transformation process.  The belief that spiritual maturity is chiefly dependent on exercising greater willpower to change into a better (more godly) person, is exactly the opposite of the truth.  If that statement is shocking to you, let me explain.  

            The reader may have heard the slogan “if it’s gonna be, it’s up to me.”  While there is an element of truth to the statement, it does not work spiritually speaking.  Clarifying the difference between, and contrasting the physical realm and the spiritual realm, helps to bring understanding.  The physical realm is identified by laws that govern how the natural world operates.  For example, our bodies are subject to the law of gravity.  Gravity keeps us from floating into outer space.  Gravity is also demonstrated if we step out of a window on the tenth floor of a building.  Our body will be injured in the fall, but this is to be expected.  Even flapping our arms will not cause us to fly.  Whether we believe in gravity or not, it is enforced on our physical body. 

The spiritual realm is equally real, and similarly governed by laws (moral principles).  God set in motion an orderly reality as revealed in the Bible.  His commandments identify a standard of righteousness to protect us and provide passage for our experiences to go well for us.  When we sin (disobey God), it can be painful because harmful consequences result when disrupting God’s order for the way things work.  As broken body parts show how misalignment with laws in the physical realm occur, brokenness in the spiritual realm separates us from God and mis-aligns us with his ways. 

The intersection of the physical and spiritual realms is called the soul of man.  This third realm of reality is called the psychological realm by author Ed Kurath in chapter two of his book, I Will Give You Rest (see http://divinelydesigned.com).  Kurath explains that it operates in accordance with our own powers and abilities.  Habit patterns, our intellect, and our own willpower are aspects of the psychological realm. Our willpower has been given to us as a tool to manage this psychological realm, and it only has authority there.   Kurath says,

“But we have made a huge mistake, because we have believed that our willpower also has authority in the spiritual realm. However, our willpower only has authority in the psychological realm. We cannot overcome or defy the physical laws or spiritual laws with our willpower.

Our willpower is impotent in defying the laws of the physical realm, and it was never given to us for this purpose. We cannot fly by flapping our arms. We cannot lift a 500 pound weight. We discover that no matter how much we want to lift it, we can't. We can will it, but we cannot perform it.

What is perhaps harder to understand is that our willpower is as impotent in the spiritual realm as it is in the physical realm. It was never given to us for the purpose of managing the spiritual realm. We discover this impotence when we try to do a spiritually impossible task, like obeying the laws of God. We discover that no matter how hard we want to do the good that we ought to, we cannot. We can "will" it, but we cannot perform it. O wretched man that I am (Romans 7:24). Our failure to do the good that we want to do is not due to a lack of willpower, it is due to our misunderstanding about reality. We are under the illusion that we ought to be able to "will" it and thus do it.”

Willpower can be used to our advantage for some things controlled by our intellect and reason.  If we have a bad habit, for example, of eating snacks instead of healthy food, we may be able to change the foods we eat with practice and repeating the good behavior.  But when a  bad behavior or habit is rooted in a spiritually poor condition (in the spiritual realm), spiritual laws take over. Trying to stop (or even interrupt) the operation of God’s spiritual laws is a bit like an ant in the middle of a highway telling a truck to stop as it is about to crush the ant. 

Many problems people face in life (eg. very destructive habits, addictions, generational transmissions, destructive relational conflicts, chronic mood swings, etc.) are perpetuated by a delusion that willpower alone will gain the victory.  Their failure is the result of "trying hard" to quit - making a decision with their intellect and relying on their willpower to bring it to pass.  They are doomed to failure because God's laws are his, not ours to uphold. This misunderstanding is a big problem, and it is widespread among Christ-followers.  The Bible makes very powerful statements regarding the illusion of our will.  It is a universal flaw in mankind to think we can manage our own life in our own strength.  It is so automatic, insidious, and covert that we don't even realize what we are doing.   (Note some of these spiritual laws like the laws of judgment are discussed in other articles; see The Unoffendable Heart http://authoredhersh.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-unoffendable-heart.html ).

            There is a power to super-cede willpower.  That power is well power.  Jesus is the well.  Jesus is the provision for obeying God’s commands.  Well power calls us to “be” like Jesus and not just “act” like Jesus.  Jesus invites us to drink from the well of living water.  A story recorded by the gospel of John about a woman drawing water at a well, says this, “Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again;  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). 

If someone is traveling in the desert, thirsty, and encounters a well, would they first try to dig another well beside the one that exists?  The course of action would be to recognize the problem of needing water, believe in the ability of the well to pump the water, decide to work the pump, and act by working the pump.   Similar to this physical world example, the spiritual realm works like it.  The deepest need for every soul is to re-connect with God through Jesus.  The steps to meet the need are to first recognize the need, believe in Jesus as the provision for meeting the need, use willpower to decide to activate the provision, and act by praying and waiting on God for further direction and strength. 

Leaders seem to have an especially hard time surrendering their will for the well.  One reason is the overly high expectations of perfection on the part of followers.  Leaders are expected to make things happen and implore others to make things happen (assuming willpower as the chief motivator).  By definition leaders lead.   Leaders are typically high energy, high achieving, highly will-driven catalysts, who perceive dependence on outside motivational resources as a sign of weakness.   Drinking from the well (with God as the source), can too easily become an after thought.  Whether parenting, pastoring, functioning as CEO, or just being a good friend to a neighbor in need, leadership requires first being good leaders of self. 

Like Jesus, good leaders must first be good followers of their Master.  All through the book of John in the Bible, we are told how Jesus did everything according to the will of his Father in heaven.  For all followers of Jesus this means that Jesus is the only way to eat spiritual bread and drink spiritual water.  “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:55-56).  This statement from Jesus is part of an explanation after one of the first miracles he performed.  Read it in John 6.  Jesus had thousands of people sit down on the grass and Jesus took a boy’s lunch box with 5 bread cakes and 2 fish, blessed and multiplied it, and fed the crowd to satisfaction.  After their bellies were full, they acknowledged him as the great Prophet (John 6:14).  But, by the end of this teaching people were ready to stone him to death (John 7:1), and very few disciples remained in the crowd. (John 6:60-61,66-67). 

So what made this such a difficult teaching to accept?  Jesus performed a miracle which physically fed thousands of people to demonstrate a spiritual law (truth).  God is the well.  God is the provider of eternal life, and there is no way for people to work their way to God on their own willpower.   They cannot even sustain their life on earth without his provision.   Jesus was directly challenging their self-will and self-righteous behaviors when,  “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:53-54).  Jesus is the only source of spiritual food and water that transforms our soul.  No good deed performed by a person’s will carries any significance in saving a soul--neither in conversion nor ongoing sanctification. 

We do well to ask (as did Jesus listeners in the story above), “What is our part in all this?”   Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work .., that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:29).  In sum, our “work” is to surrender to the process of transformation.  It can take much effort to change entrenched harmful “beliefs”--including false assumptions gathered, erroneous conclusions drawn, condemning judgments cast,  bad subconscious decisions made  (see other blog articles for more on this).  Sometimes I find myself (even on a daily basis) in a similar dilemma as Jesus followers in the story above.  Do I really want to change (toward God’s direction)?  Do I want to let God in control of the change?  What beliefs (assumptions, conclusions, judgments) are in the way of God working his change in me?  What ways of thinking need to change?   Our “work” is to believe by surrendering to God’s work of bringing things to our awareness, remitting the shortcomings we confess, forgiving the sins for which we repent, and giving us a future and hope for God’s name to be famed through it all.

 by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Revelation

The last book of the Bible is called Revelation.  As a Christian who has been around for a while, I’ve heard a verse from chapter 3 quoted many times. It reads like this, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20; NIV).  In Bibles that use red ink, these words are printed in red, signifying that Jesus Christ himself actually speaks these words.  When preachers or teachers quote this verse, they most often speak of this statement from Jesus as an invitation to the nonbeliever to take an initial step toward belief in Jesus as the Messiah who came to save all who believe and put their trust in Him.  

But there is so much more truth here to be grasped.

This statement is a daily invitation to have an on-going personal relationship with God that transforms your life beyond initial conversion.  Deeper love, greater peace, and unending happiness are not automatic for the Christ-follower.  Allowing God to change our hearts from the inside out on a continual basis is the primary message of, “I stand at the door and knock.”  Our inner person is the door keeper.  Our mind is used to hear his voice, and our heart is used to open the door.  Our thoughts control what we focus on, and our will determines our actions.  

In order to hear, we must learn how to listen.  To hear God’s voice, we must separate from distractions, and focus on listening (and not listen to other voices).  Hearing the right voice can be a challenge of its own, but that isn’t enough.  We must “open the door.”  Opening the door always involves some degree of surrender.  Surrendering thoughts, wishes, hopes, dreams, desires, judgments, etc., not begrudgingly, but as an exchange for the better food at the table of the Lord.  The Lord will “eat with that person,” who has heard his voice, and opened the door of welcome into his soul.  The food is great at the Lord’s table (see Psalm 23).  Picture yourself eating at the table with a king in his palace.  It doesn’t compare to the feast of the Lord.  No earthly feast can come close to what it means to eat in the presence of God.   Life with God takes us beyond our natural experience.  

This understanding of the Revelation 3:20 is made even clearer by reading several verses in context before it.  “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!   So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent” (Revelation 3:14-19).  Then it is said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20).  We have a stern warning here against thinking we are “rich.”  What is meant here is not so much in terms of rich in material resources, but the condition of mind and heart.  Rich may mean a wealth of knowlege.  Knowledge of the Bilbe, theology, and sound doctrine do not equate to ability in hearing the voice of the Lord and opening one’s heart to Him.  Hanging out with Christians or being raised in a Christian family also doesn’t qualify as rich in the kingdom of heaven.  Good works and community service also doesn’t count.  Nothing in terms of human effort with save us from our “wretched” condition.  Our assurance of victory over this condition can only be based in the work of God’s Son Jesus coming to earth as a man, dying on a Cross, ascending back into heaven, and leaving us with the Holy Spirit to live inside us.  The Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to hear God’s voice and open the door to nourishing meals of God’s blessings.  

God’s counsel is to “buy from me gold.”  That is, we must “buy into” (as the saying goes) God’s ways, and forsake our own.  Becoming poor may mean giving up some long held beliefs that simply aren’t true.  We all have blind spots to our own selfish ways.  Continually surrendering our thoughts, emotions, and actions to God is a refining process that burns away the impurities and results in a life more deeply devoted to seeing God glorified in the world.   Anything that keeps us from embracing this process of inner person change must be thrown into the fire.  Surrender to the flames the demand to control our own fate.   

Today, Jesus is saying, be honest and repent.  “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20).

The two verses following Revelation 3:20 read, “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:21-22).  It may seem a little backwards, but surrender is actually the way to victory.  And the more we surrender, the greater victory we have available.

Where might your “wealth” of knowledge, self-will, or accomplishments be keeping you from feasting more lavishly with God?  Are you hearing God’s voice?  What might be keeping you from hearing his voice more clearly than you are right now?  Have you opened the door?  Are you willing to leave the door open for him and give him unlimited access?  Do you want more of the King’s food in your diet?  My prayer is that you are able to feast and enjoy the table of the Lord in greater measure each day he has ordained for you on the earth.

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry