Have you ever wondered how to multiply your peace?
Peter seemed confident of how and where to find more peace when He wrote this:
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you, in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him.” 2 Peter 1:2
The measure of grace and peace we experience each day cannot consistently multiply, as Peter prays, if our understanding of grace and peace is based on our circumstances.
Read that scripture from 1 Peter again, s.l.o.w.l.y. See a repeated word? Repeated words are usually a good indicator of something worthy of our more of our attention. In this case, the repeated words are the key to more peace.
Yep, you saw it too? Our peace is multiplied IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM.
Grace and peace multiply according to the knowledge of God in our daily lives, not just in our church services. Not a “heady” or academic or text-book knowing, but a spirit knowing. A closeness. A confidence. An inner calm and connection that comes from the secret places of intimacy with God.
It’s not about a “religious ritual”, although from the outside reading scripture, praying and worshiping may appear to be ritual-like. It’s getting so connected to Him that Your heart gets lost in the endless folds of His love that wrap around you, surrounding you with familiar yet new waves of mercy each time you step closer.
It’s finding ourselves in Him. He is the One who made us, knows us and loves us. It only makes sense that in knowing Him, we find the peace we were created for.
It’s the (not so) secret of the secret place.
When I was in high school, I had scriptures taped to nearly every bare surface of my life. Mirrors, desks, doors, lamps, my car dashboard, journals, and notebooks. I recently found stacks in index cards that were wrapped neatly in rubber bands and put in a box from years of Him exciting my heart with TRUTH and LOVE. I just had to write them down as they jumped off the pages of the Bible and into my heart so not to forget, so to allow them to be written not just on the pages, but on the tablets of my heart.
It was the way God wooed me to Himself. He showed me His love, His nature and His heart as I spent TIME WITH HIM and He revealed Himself through scripture. He showed me that His is worthy of my trust. Not because I understood everything in the Bible. But because He met me and spoke to me as I sought Him. He made Himself real to me in the most tangible way I can imagine. He transformed my mind with truth as He washed me with His word. (Romans 12:2; Eph. 2:6)
Psalms 63 was one of the first psalms I ever memorized during high school. Read it slowly and make it the prayer of your heart:
“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek you; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise you. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”
That’s the secret of the secret place. That’s the secret of finding peace.
My prayer today and for the rest of your days, is that you KNOW HIM, and as a result, grace and peace are multiplied in your life and extended to those around you.
Grace and peace. In the knowledge of Him.