Perfect Peace | Russ Kalenberg
Recap
Guest minister Russ Kalenberg preached a message entitled, “Perfect Peace.” He introduced his message by sharing a declaration he made that changed his life. He said, “On December 22, 2022, I was driving home, thinking how in just a few days, it would be Christmas. And I was thinking about Jesus, how He brought ‘peace on earth and good will toward men.’ At that moment, I declared, “I will live in the peace of God for the rest of my life, like never before.” He said, “Our life follows our words.” He then shared with us what he has learned about peace since making that declaration.
Dive Deeper
Text for the message was Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”
From this scripture, we see three key words: Perfect. Peace. Mind.
The word “perfect”
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You…” The word perfect means, “as good as it can possibly be.” In our world, people use the word perfect a lot. It’s overused, no doubt.
The reason “perfect” is as good as it can possibly be is because of the price that Jesus paid for us. With His own life, He paid the price for us to live in perfect peace. Our relationship with God is as good as it can possibly be because of the price that Jesus paid.
Perfect also means “free from flaw or defect.” There’s no defect in our relationship with the Lord Jesus. It is perfect in quality and condition.
The word “peace”
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You…” Peace means He will keep us in everything, in health, in happiness… The only place where true health and happiness can be found is in Him… wellbeing, rest, contentment, wholeness… nothing missing, nothing broken.
The word “mind”
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You…” The definition of the word mind here is not limited to our thought life. The word mind here means “creative imagination.” God has given every single one of us a creative imagination.
Pastor Russ said, “When I fell short of perfect peace, it was because I was allowing my creative imagination to drift away from the Word of God, to drift away from the redemptive price and the victory for which Jesus has already paid.”
We can’t help thoughts from coming, but we can arrest them when they come.
Words create images. Image is found in the word imagination. Every word carries an image with it. For instance, if someone says, “cat,” you don’t see the letters C A T in your mind. You see a picture of a cat.
When people begin to understand this, they will take heed to what they hear.
Even though we’re living in a time of chaos, confusion, and crazy, we can still experience perfect peace.
We’re living in a day where everything that can be shaken will be shaken. And the only things that will remain are those things that cannot be shaken.
In this final hour, at the end of the church age, we can live in perfect peace.
Read About It
Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”
2nd Corinthians 10:3–5, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”
1st Peter 5:5, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Discussion Questions
Have you ever experienced a time when your life was in turmoil, yet your mind was filled with peace?
Can you connect a time when negative thoughts destroyed your peace of mind?
Do you see how controlling your thoughts is dependent upon the whether you experience perfect peace?