A Different Kind of Peace
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
“Ask me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets about what is going to happen here.” ~ Jeremiah 33:3
I asked God to show me the future – what I should be believing for and working toward.
The first thing I saw was a company of people walking in unity. They were Peacemakers – men, women, and children who were not tied in any way, shape, or form to the world's system. They had lost their hunger and thirst for power, control, money, etc. Instead, they hungered and thirsted for righteousness.
Everywhere they walked it was like a Dawn coming to the earth as darkness disappeared. They ruled, even in the midst of their enemies.
The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Your enemies." – Psalm 110:2
In meekness, they turned enemies into friends. Walls went down. No more political and religious factions. No more racism or cultural and social barriers. They were like soldiers, but they warred from a place of rest. They advanced by retreating.
Papa, how do we begin?
“When troubles come, bringing worries, doubts, and fears, learn to war from the place of rest. I say these troubles are just small practice runs! Learn to stand your ground in peace and to fight and advance in rest.”
Papa, what do we need most?
I have given my peace to each soldier and with it they establish peace. Continue building the wall of righteousness. Where faith abounds, love abounds still more. Is there anything stronger than love? ‘Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest is love.’
Righteousness will be restored, addictions broken.
Values will be established in the local schools. It will be a system of righteousness. Righteousness, joy, and peace will prevail.
There will be unity. Renew your hearts and minds. As you think and believe, so it will be. Simply believe and unite in prayer – you can have whatever you ask for.
Will you ask me for big things? Will you humble yourselves, forgiving each other from your hearts so that the true unity may be your weapon of righteousness? Or will you lose this opportunity to wage war against the enemy of your souls?
I believe it is your choice – the destiny of the earth, not just your city and country, is in your hands. If my people will humble themselves and pray there’s nothing that will be impossible for them. But when I come will I find faith, or fear?”
Papa, there are so many of us who don't know who to trust. Where do we begin?
It's a surprise, Little One! But here's a sneak preview:
“When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him… the soldiers also mocked Him… one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him…. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit My spirit.’….”
Death came to take Him, but the curse was reversed and Jesus took the keys of Death and set all captives free.
I see Papa! There is going to be a Great Reversal! Even as we feel we are dying daily, even when the nails pierce our limbs and our ragged breath sears our lungs, it's not the end. It's only a new beginning!
So Papa, this great company of people are the ones who are, right now, going through death, is that it? We have been surrounded on all sides by wolves. We have been terrorized by our own people, our own families and friends. Some of us have been left for dead. We've been accused, lied about, abandoned, and forsaken.
Stripped, beaten, and left for dead. But we have not given up. We still believe in Kindness and desire Truth!
There are small bands of us here and there. Survivors. Victims for a short time. But we are learning to rise up. Our Bridegroom – Christ Jesus himself – is calling us to rise up, like Lazarus out of the grave clothes.
We are using God's Word and Promises to establish his rule, even in the midst of our enemies. We are each learning to do this in our own lives. We rule in the midst of our enemies.
> > > Writing Prompt: How can what you write today cause you to rule, even in the midst of your enemies. Which enemy is glaring you in the face today? Is it lack? Is it poverty? Is it failing health? Is it persecution? Name your adversary. And then turn your face to heaven and write what Heaven is telling you. Use the four questions of the wisdom compass to help you. Decree God's Word until it manifests, even knowing that the full manifestation may appear in your children's generation.
Moses never entered the Promised Land, but he saw it and he led his people. Some of us are like Moses, in our generation. We are climbing the mountain and seeking His presence, decreeing what we see and hear. We are passing these truths to the next generation. Some of us are like Joshua and Caleb who boldly led a new generation, post-slavery, into the New Age of peace.
Slavery in 19th century America didn't end in a single generation but there did come a day of liberation. What God has been showing me is that there is a divine acceleration as freedom is fought through the generations in various ways. I believe I will see whole cities set free in a day. I am also believing for nations to be free.
I am a peacemaker, and for right now that means conflict as the last bit of darkness resists the advancement of Light. My weapon is God's word, and mighty double-edged sword it is, for I have first had to fight the enemy within me before I could see victories around me. Some of the answers to how I did this are found in the comment section below.
For more info on what this company of people look like, sound like, and act, their way of life is described by Jesus in Matthew 5-7
My Full Story What I Believe Contact Me
With all my love,
Sue
Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate to freedom and fullness.
Today Susan helps people write their life stories, unearthing the treasures of their past and sowing them into their future, creating new family legacies.
Copyright © 2010 to 2016 Team Family Online, All rights reserved. For reprint permission or for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I am calling you, My people, to a higher level of living, to a higher place of believing–a place in which you will be trained to rule and reign with Me over the nations, over those things that are to come. So, I encourage you to begin today by ruling over your own life, over your own situations and circumstances. Exercise your kingship today over the arenas that I have placed you in so that your habitations become the habitation of Christ. And, let those habitations become anointed. May it happen today, says the Lord.
"Life driven by our desire for security, pleasure, and power dims the Light within and introduces unnecessary mental and emotioivinal sufferings, which are often misconstrued as spiritual trials or the inevitable growth pains of life in the Spirit. This is erroneous discernment. They are born of our own will, not the will of God. The anxious striving for security, the vehement pursuit of physical and spiritual pleasure, and the desperate bid for power banish peace and joy, serenity and self-possession, gentleness, patience, and the other fruits of the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ promises no relief, deliverance, or fulfillment for these self-inflicted maladies apart from full submission to the mind of Christ. They must be surgically uprooted in their very center, and the power to perform the operation is ours. It is not the stuff of circumstances that steals our Promethean fire but our incessant addictions, needs, and desires.
In his book Inner Healing, Michael Scanlan says:
Frequently, people have others pray for them, asking for tranquility, calmness, stability, understanding, tolerance, joy, freedom from anxiety, resentments, or guilt but nothing appears to happen. People are naturally inclined to seek after such desirable goods the way they would academic deprees, business success, or physical development with the additional point that they seek through God rather than through other {people}. This is not the way to inner healing by the Lord. The Lord has his gift for us and we must adjust to accepting his gift. We don't determine what we want and how we will attain it. We decide to accept the Lord's gift and do whatever is necessary so that we will receive and retain it.
The journey to transparency requires that we humbly acknowledge, before God, that we are inordinately preoccupied with security, pleasure, and power. It requires genuine compassion for others when we see them acting out their addictions and emotion-backed demands; it is our inner solidarity in darkness that reduces self-righteousness and irritability and makes compassion possible. The journey to transparency begins with an honest confrontation with the truth, wihch is not something we acquire, but Someone." – Brennan Manning, in The Importance of Being Foolish
The Gospel of Christ paints a reality that far surpasses the kind of world peace we commonly consider desireable. It's a peace that requires armor, action, and agape love. Christ didn't come to bring peace to this world, but war. He told us to take up our swords.
But at the same time, in Matthew 5-7, he tell us "If someone s one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."
"If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have you cloak as well."
"Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you."
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Our response to Christ is wholehearted – giving our all. But most of us will not, because we are addicted to security, pleasure, and control.
What does that look like to me? To you?
Abandonment to God. First class citizenship in heaven begins with abandonment to God.
Oswald Chambers has this to say about abandonment:
I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go. —Jeremiah 45:5
This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him– “I will give your life to you….” What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. “…your life…as a prize…” means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go– the life that “is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life? Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, “Well, what about this?” Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, “What about this?” you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, “I will give your life to you as a prize….” The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything— they have not been given their life “as a prize.” The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth. God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough. – My Utmost for His Highest
For the one who has asked the question, "How did you retrain your brain"?
I've had many mentors, and the ones mentioned on this page have helped me the most: Brennan Manning and Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highers), among many others.
Brennan has written many books, including "The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think like Jesus" which is mentioned in a quote on this page.s joy, It's for those of us who need to reconsider our addictions to security, pleasure, and power and trade them for contagious joy, self-love, awe, gratitude, and transparency.
I call it living "Naked and Unashamed".
17 Sep 12
We are people of the day! Yes, there's a dawning, and we carry light everywhere we go. And everywhere we go the light is with us. (Ps 139 even in hell/sheol)
As this two days of Rosh Hashannah is celebrated and the year of 5773 begins, I have great hope for this mighty company of believers! WE WILL see great and wonderous things that we could not even have imagined just a week ago! (Jer. 33:3!!!!!)
He who sows in peace (a peacemaker) reaps a harvest of righteousness!
Wow, Linda…. how are you celebrating Rosh Hashannah… I have wanted to, but I'm not around people who do. I know it's a time to re-examine our lives and to be sure we're right with God, but I'm sure there must be so much more. I really long to be a part of a community who celebrates the feasts! thanks so much for sharing these encouraging words – great verses!!!
Love it, when it's dawn we can see that the light and we know that change is coming, but we don't know what is really there. The lighter it gets, the better we see and know what it all looks like….you are right that we called to be peacemakers and not peacekeepers; big difference.