“KINGDOM PEACE STORY”

Janee Hawks

Lord, we ask you today for real peace! Peace is “freedom.”  Webster says peace is freedom from war, violence, and all disturbances that would keep you from quiet tranquility or mental calm and serenity. 

Peace is a heavenly commodity that has to come to earth through the kingdom of God. It is His gift to us who believe and see Christ Jesus for who He is. Jesus said when he went away, I will not leave you comfortless but I will give you another in My place. He will be My peace in you.  Peace I leave with you, it is My gift to you, and it is not the same as the peace the world gives. This peace that is so beyond our understanding is found in communion with the Holy Spirit who Jesus has given to His own. 

I want to share one experience that has made this truth a reality that lives in me.  In 1970 I experienced a peace that I knew was supernatural and would always be with me.  My three-year-old son died after five days in a hospital struggling to live due to a tonsillectomy. Respiratory complications existed in recovery room and he was not able to regain the damage done.  I leaned into Jesus who I was just getting to know. He graced me with a holy peace and wrapped His arms of strength around me. The strength of His peace gave me a sense of security. Even though there was the shock of crisis and the deep grief of loss I was able to function in a calm state of serenity. In the weeks, months and years to follow I was to learn about His peace and His great faithfulness in the midst of the worst crisis I could imagine.

 In the midst of this particular lengthy life-storm I was divinely kept in a state of freedom from damage and despair. It was real peace. The peace rested faithfully in my heart and mind. It was not dependent on what difficulties I had to face going through a funeral, or telling his two sisters why he was no longer with us. It was not dependent on the rough days ahead for me of missing his smile and giggles, or his hugs and kisses. When I had to remove his clothes and toys from his room my tears flowed like a river but it felt that they were being kept and used to wash away my grief.  When I had to set the table without my little son’s plate my aching heart struggled in desperation for comfort and I found it in a divine person who knew pain and heartache beyond any man. Jesus shared His comfort with me and now I know how to share comfort with others.  This Peace had His strength in it that enabled me to do what I would have never believed I could do. I found a part of me that I did not know existed. There were times of grieving that I felt so life-less and despondent but as I leaned into Jesus it would change. Looking back the best description of what I experienced is it seemed like a liquid healing ointment would touch me and was being smeared on my heart. I know now it was the love of God. You see this became Jesus revealed to me. This touch was a person; it was Jesus, who has been my faithful redeemer and friend now for 38 years. And it was Holy Spirit; Who Jesus gave as His gift to be in me and with me. And through every trial of life I am still learning to lean into His Peace more and more. 

You do not find real peace when your bank account is full, or when your job is secure, or your health insurance is paying the doctor bills. You don’t find real peace when life is handing you all sunshine and roses. You find real peace that passes all human understanding in great trials, impossible challenges, and the raging storms of life. His treasures are found in dark lonely places of emptiness, pain and brokenness. He is very near in times of trouble and so ready to show us who He is for us. He is always there to give His peace.

Today this country is facing a storm of great velocity that will shake the lives of many, including believers. People need the Lord. This world cannot find this kind of peace until the King of peace returns again to the earth. His Kingdom is peace. Jesus Christ is real peace personified. He gives Himself to us in the gift of the Holy Spirit Who will forever be with us and in us regardless of the worst circumstances. Holy Spirit is comfort and much more.

Lord, again, we ask you today for real peace! There is hardly a nation, a family or a person who is not in need of this real peace today.

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. “Peace I leave with you; My [own] Peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] John 14:26-27 Amplified

“THE CHRISTMAS BABY “

HE SAID YES!

 What is the depth of meaning in Christmas and a baby Jesus in a manger? The story began in eternity past as God the Word, being of the Triune God head, said yes to do what it would take to save mankind and earth. You see He was called the Word. He said yes to becoming flesh. He said yes to leaving all the glory of Heaven and His place beside the Father to be born like a human as a baby. He said yes to humble Himself as the most vulnerable human, a baby. He said yes to become just like us, with all the human experiences, feelings, pain, trials, & temptations. He said Yes, to encounter all it meant to be a human in a world that had been stolen by the Angel called Lucifer. They called him Jesus because He was sent to save. He said yes to giving his life, shedding His blood to cleanse all the rebellion or revolt against Heaven and mankind. He experienced everything in life that any of us would and died the most horrific death known to man on a cross after severe beatings and cruel persecutions.

Think a moment of what I just said and put yourself in this picture. What kind of love is this? What kind of love would completely give everything, your life, position, peace, your whole state of being; becoming something else in order to save your enemies who were lost in a rebellion.  That is the depth of meaning to this Christmas baby who said yes. This baby, the son of God, was the Word who became flesh, a man, yet 100% God. He said yes to experience in every way what we experience, to feel everything we feel and to be persecuted his whole life for who he was, and finally to go the cross for every one of us to be able to say yes to Him and His plan of salvation. The whole creation groans in Lucifers domination over earth but because of this Love that said yes, the title deed to the earth has been redeemed back to the Father God. This Christmas baby grew, lived, and died and now reigns as a resurrected man who is 100% God, called the King of Kings, The Lord of Lords. He will return to bring the earth into the light of His peace, joy, and the greatest of all His love.  What kind of Love is this? It actually can live in you and me. This is the reason for the Christmas baby that said YES! Will you say that kind of YES to Him?                                                                                                                        Janee Hawks

“ For our light affliction which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding weight of glory” 2 Corinthians 4:17

There is a weight you want to gain if you are living your life for Jesus Christ.

Trials, temptations, hardships, tests, and various afflictions are a part of the true believers lives. The key is that all we face in this life is working for us a transformation into the Image of Christ. But we must keep the faith that all things are working together to conform us into the image of Christ, even if we don’t feel it or see it at the time. (Romans 8:28-29; 8:18)

The bible says many are the afflictions (pain and suffering) of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver them from them all. (Psalm 34:19) The key here is in spite of all of the hardships in life Holy Spirit will always cause us to triumph in victory when we stay abiding in Jesus. (2 Corinthians 2:14) Jesus completely conquered the revolt; He won all the battles first for us. And now he gives us a chance to own the same triumphant victory by giving us His own empowerment to overcome everything this life has for us. He gave us His authority to release His powerful Victory in everything.

Holy Spirit is doing something valuable and eternal deep within us every time we overcome in life and continue to walk in the victory. We are “gaining the eternal weight” of the very presence of Christ Jesus Himself growing in us. We are gaining glory with every affliction. It is weighty because it is the exceeding (always increasing, progressive) eternal glory of God. However this weight of glory will enable us to see the invisible, to see the eternal value of things, to understand that we have such a great treasure of power in our earthen vessel. Love for Him will cause it to shine outward to give God all the glory and not us.

The glory helps us to live in the Rest of the Lord.’ (Hebrews 4:10) It also makes what we do for the Lord easier because it is His power, His wisdom, and His love that empowers from our inner man outward to whatever assignment we are given. This is why we can count it all joy when hardships and trials come our way for it is working in us the glorious weight of Christ Himself, who is our Glory. I pray many times, “Fill me so full of you, Lord Jesus, that you can do whatever you desire through me; just make me Your clothes.  If Jesus is lifted up and if the Excellency of power moving through us is seen to be God and not us, then many are drawn heavenward to Father God.

This is a weight I want to gain as long as I live on this earth. The glory of God is the Lord Jesus Christ fully alive in you and fully present with you wherever you go and in whatever you do.  It works out of a pure heart of love that causes all you do to follow His way a narrow path but not a grievous or fearful one. This should become our greatest pursuit; it is a process of climbing every single day, and pressing on to reach the Prize of being possessed by the One you love, Christ Jesus our Lord. To know Him who gave His life in your place is the greatest thing in the entire world. So rejoice in Him and gain this weight, the eternal weight of Glory.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with    the glory, which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

For our light affliction which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding weight of glory” 2 Corinth 4:17

                                                                                                            janeehawks.com                                       

God is NEVER against us.  He is NEVER working against us. His dealings with us are always for our Good. It does not matter what the situations or hardships, or prayers delayed, or even in a crisis, God will always work the very best for us in the midst of it all. He will always be there with us in the midst of our trials. He NEVER leaves us or forsakes us. In the good times and in the bad times God is always working in us and for us, but NEVER against us. God is on our side!

When life has given you the darkest hour, when you can’t hear God or feel His presence, or see and understand what is happening then is the time to go deep into Jesus and just KNOW, without doubt, that God is working for you, NOT against you.  We just have to call upon Him and fall utterly dependent into His love and amazing empowerment called GRACE. God is always for you, never against you. Many times my heart is grieved when I hear others blame God for every bad thing that happens in the world or for the hard times’ life brings them. God is the Father of light and the giver of every good gift. He is not the one who steals, kills or destroys, rather He gives life and abundance but it must be found in the person of His Son, The Lord Jesus.

When my 3-year-old son left earth and went to heaven I saw God move for me in marvelous miraculous ways. He touched me so strongly with comfort and revelation of Himself that I came through it knowing our Great God cannot do wrong, He is ALWAYS JUST in all His ways. He is All-Knowing, Righteous and Merciful. He is Comfort and Love beyond our human understanding. He is Faithful and does not show favoritism. It is His Faithfulness every time that gives me access through the door into His presence. This is Who God is. May we “never blame our God” who loves us enough to let His only begotten Son pay the price for all mankind’s fallen sinful state.

^“And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”Romans 8:30-32  (NLT)

 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and His ways! For who can know the Lords’ thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given Him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever. Amen  Ro.11:33-36                                             Janee                         

“God will be limited in our lives by our will. If we chose to give that will up to Him completely every day then the possibilities in our life will be Limitless!” 

God has given mankind a free will, imparting His likeness only to mankind. We have the life-changing power of choice. In doing this God took a risk in that even our creator would be limited by our choices. The amazing truth is when a believer chooses to give up His own will for God ‘s will then all limitations are off. Then God will move mightily and much faster in a person’s life without limits to perform the purpose or destiny of that believer. Nothing in this life will be as fulfilling as living in your personal destiny, which is your purpose for being on this earth.

This sounds easy but it sometimes takes a lifetime and a lot of trials and tribulations to understand that you still have more of your will to lose to God’s will. Jesus said, “Unless you lose your life you will never find it.” He also said few find it. Surrender is not easy but necessary to live the best life in Jesus, one that is truly full of grace and glory.

I have wondered many times how many destinies have gone to the grave never to be fulfilled. How many lives have been so robbed of their true identity? That identity can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid a brutal price with His own body and blood to buy mankind back from their fallen state of revolt against God. Now we have a choice to lay our lives down so we can truly find real life that is eternal. I believe the Lord that what He has planned for His own is far beyond our greatest imaginations or thoughts. God is forever and He made us forever. Lord, give us the grace to make our choices count for eternity. 

“God will be limited in our lives by our will. If we chose to give that will up to Him completely every day then the possibilities in our life will be Limitless!”

 Janee

Have you ever noticed the key in this promise from God to empower his people with supernatural strength? I believe it is not a coincidence that Holy Spirit writes how our God never grows weak or weary and then says we have access to the same strength. Here is the key; Holy Spirit writes first“If you will (continually) wait on the Lord until you mount up or soar with Him like an eagle”, spirit to spirit, THEN He will give this strength to you and you may run this race without growing weary; you will walk great distances and never faint. If you will mount up with wings into the realm of God’s presence, you will outrun and out walk even the youth and young men; and might I say regardless of age. In the natural, we would think to walk, then run, then mount up with wings, but that is not how it works. This really reveals to us that our spirit must become stronger than our body or soul.

 I believe the Lord is saying it is “Wings First”.Develop wings first in your spirit man to soar above all your personal struggles and all the matters in this world. Then you will find the pleasures of knowing a dynamic relationship with a Triune God. We soar to know and see a greater revelation of His heavenly kingdom. Remember Jesus said to pray His Kingdom would come to earth, as it is in Heaven so let it be on earth. We have been given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, not only to enjoy God but also to live in such a way every day that we are releasing the virtue of Jesus on the earth. The Kingdom of God is within you and that is where the power to soar begins. We encounter God as we soar through the Open Door, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only Door. He is the only way, the truth, and the life.

Father, in Jesus Name, we want our faith to take wings as we learn to develop strong spirit wings to soar with You. Help us stay fully alive in Your Spirit. We trust, waiting on You that we will never grow weary in running our race. We trust, waiting on you that we can walk through anything without fainting or growing weak. We desire to fulfill our purpose and finish well. We humbly ask for your “amazing enabling grace” to see this promise manifest fully in us for without You we cannot do anything. Help us mount up with  “Wings first” soaring into your presence every day.

. Isaiah 40: 28-31 NLV Have you never heard? Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

NKJ  But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

AMP But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired.                                                        Janee

We must operate in God’s love for it has great power but not without Gods truth. They walk together! They are married. If you capsule His truth in a spirit of pure love, that alone will make it digestible. It is only in God’s truth wrapped in His love that people can find real freedom to become all they are destined to be.

Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16) Jesus said in John 8:32 that if we abide in His word we will know the truth and the truth will make us free. Truth is Jesus Christ, all He says and all He reveals through the Holy Scriptures.

 Truth is not the many opinions of any man but rather it is the Bible revealed by Holy Spirit who wrote it. The Bible is absolutely the whole and complete word of God. Truth is a resurrected man, the Lord Jesus Christ. “UNFAILING LOVE AND TRUTH HAVE MET TOGETHER. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE HAVE KISSED! “PSALM 85:10

Today in the Christian circle, I fear, truth is perverted and mixed with lies, with man’s traditions, and with the” idol of personal opinion.”  The only “eternal absolute” in this world is God’s word, which is revealed by Holy Spirit. Believers must return to seeking God alone and build their relationship with a real Triune God who loves perfectly. The Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit want an intimate relationship with His own. You will first learn to hear the voice of God through seeking Him in the Scriptures. We must never forsake the Bible replacing it for the teachings and writings of men. It is our only safe place. It is the living Word of God.

The greatest move of God on the earth is coming quickly and it will flow mightily where He sees the “Spirit of Holiness”.God is holy and dwells only with the ones in which He sees the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ. As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be Holy, for I am holy.”  I Peter 1:15-16                                                           Janee