How to Find Inner Peace [Learn to Heal the Aching Heart]
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Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:19–21
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Peace Be With You
Jesus taught His disciples how to find inner peace through Him. The first thing He said to them after His resurrection was “Peace be with you.” He said it twice. This is subtle yet very profound. Of all the things that the Lord could have said, why did He talk about peace and repeat Himself?
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It is because Jesus knows that people everywhere, since the beginning of time, are seeking peace, but looking for it in all the wrong places. True peace only comes from God and a right relationship with Him by doing His will and bringing glory to His name.
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Jesus had to go to the cross to bring us peace, and once He had finally accomplished His mission He proclaimed that peace was now available from Him, saying “Peace to you!”
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No Inner Peace
Before I was a Christian, I looked for peace from everything and everyone but God. None of my achievements, possessions, or experiences ever brought me what I thought they would. I had tried to fill my heart with hobbies: running, triathlons, wine, and mountain biking; possessions: sports cars, large home, jewelry, clothing, watches, and stereo equipment; entertainment: movies, vacations, and fine restaurants; people: parties, cultural status, and many friends.
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Each of these satisfied temporarily, but their allure and attraction always faded quickly, sometimes almost overnight or even during the experience. I spent many years running from one thing to the next in the “dating game” of my heart. Simply put, I did not know how to find inner peace.
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Depression and the Peace Mirage
Depression began to set in when my heart realized there wasn’t much left to try. I was hungry but couldn’t be filled. I was thirsty but never quenched. The more my heart ate and drank, the worse it got!
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I reached a point where I dreaded the next “thing” because I already knew it wasn’t going to give me what I was hoping it would. Peace was a mirage that always disappeared when I got close to drinking it.
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The Peace that Surpasses Understanding
Once I became a true born again Christian, with the Holy Spirit living in me, I found peace with God through Jesus Christ that brought the peace of God into my heart as I began to grow, know Him, and let Him change me.
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The peace I had always been hopelessly searching for was a blessing or fruit of knowing, obeying, and following the God Who created me.
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But the fruit of the Spirit is love: joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22–24
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I learned that the fruit that I was seeking comes from a continual relationship with Jesus:
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5
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How to find Inner Peace
Peace results from an abiding relationship WITH Jesus, our soul’s thirst. I realized that knowing Jesus and discovering His plan for my life was the proper focus of my new Christian life. The peace that resulted from this, however, was an amazing blessing and incentive to go deeper and keep searching after Him.
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An inner peace, a sense of serenity, contentment, joy, and the need for nothing but Christ is truly precious and liberating! I had spent so much time and energy trying to get people and things to bring me peace, that I was now set free from this never ending treadmill that brought me nowhere and left me empty, frustrated, and unfulfilled.
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Living with Inner Peace
Now that I have been a Christian for thirteen years I have learned the hard way I can still fall into this trap if I am not careful! I need to put God first in my life and search for His will and presence every day through prayer, worship, and reading the Word of God (Bible). It is easy to get lazy and start letting other things get in the way of my relationship with Jesus. The warning sign is a loss of peace.
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This is not the only cause but it is the most common. Whenever I lose my sense of peace more times than not my relationship with God is out of kilter from either sin, a lack of attention to Him and His Word, or disobedience to His will. In this way the peace of God can be an internal monitor to protect my relationship with God.
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What about you?
Do you have the peace of God that “transcends understanding?” Are you looking for things, people, and experiences to fulfill your life and bring you meaning? What you are really seeking is God whether you realize it or not. Seek Him. Know Him. Talk to Him. Read His Word (Bible) and let Him give you the peace that you are craving.
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If you are a Christian then remember, repent, and repeat the things you did when you were first saved.
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If you are not a Christian, then let Jesus save your soul and bring you the peace that comes from forgiveness, salvation, and the hope of eternal life. Do it now and learn the truth of how to find inner peace.
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