August 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27).

Devotional

Peace is another fruit of spiritual-mindedness. What peace of conscience that individual possesses whose mind is stayed upon God (Isa. 2:3)! It is as much the reward as it is the effect of his cultivated heavenliness.

The existence of this precious blessing, however, supposes that the spiritual mind is exposed to much that has a tendency to ruffle and disturb its tranquility and calm. The Christian is far from being exempt from those vexations and disquietudes which seem inseparable from human life. There are the brooding anxieties common to all, arising from external things—life's ups and downs, changes, and disappointments. To these there are added what are peculiar to the child of God, the internal things that distract—the cloudings of guilt, the agitations of doubt, the corrodings of fear, the mourning of penitence, the discipline of love.

But through all this there flows a river whose streams make glad the city of God (Ps. 46:4). It is the peace of the heavenly mind—the peace that Jesus procured, that God imparts, and that the Holy Spirit seals.

A heavenly mind soars above a poor dying world. It does not depend upon a creature's love or smile. It casts its daily need upon the heart of a kind Providence. It is anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving makes known its requests to God (Phil. 4:6). It is indifferent to the turmoil, vexations, and checkered scenes of worldly life, and lives in simple faith and holy pleasing on Christ. Thus detached from earth, and moving heavenwards by the attractions of its placid coast, it realizes a peace which surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7).

And if this is the present of the heavenly mind, what will be its future in heaven? Heaven is the abode of perfect peace. There are no cloudings of guilt, no tossings of grief, no agitations of fear, no corrodings of anxiety there. It is the peace of perfect purity. It is the repose of complete satisfaction. It is not so much the entire absence of all sorrow, as it is the actual presence of all holiness, that constitutes the charm and the bliss of future glory.

The season of sorrow is frequently converted into that of secret joy—Christ makes our very griefs to sing. But the occasion of sin is always that of bitter grief—our backslidings often, like scorpions, entwine around our hearts. Were there even—as most assuredly there will not be—sadness in heaven, there might still be the accompaniment of happiness. But were there sin in heaven—the shadow of a shade of guilt—it would becloud and embitter all. Thus, then, as heaven is the abode of perfect peace, he who on earth has his conversation most in heaven approximates in his feelings the nearest to the heavenly state.

Oh that our hearts were more yielding to the sweet, holy, and powerful attractions of the heavenly world! Then our conversation would be more in heaven.

I am weak, but thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I'll be satisfied as long
as I walk, let me walk close to thee.

(Refrain:)
Just a closer walk with thee,
grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
daily walking close to thee,
let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares,
if I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.

(unknown author)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2011.