Kenneth and Gloria Copeland walked into a church sanctuary one Sunday morning just as the pastor welcomed everyone and said, “Isn’t it wonderful to be in the house of God today?”
As soon as Mrs. Copeland heard those words, her immediate response was:
“Isn’t it wonderful to be the house of God today?”
For most of their lives, the Copelands have lived in a powerful awareness of Proverbs 18:10 (NKJV):
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe [set on high].”
The Name of Jesus, the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit have been their go-to for decades. Whether it was raising a family, building a ministry or making it through the latest world crisis, they knew who and where to run to for help.
All of us—no matter our walk of life or level of faith—need a safe haven, a safe harbor, a safe house we can run to. We need a place where we don’t just feel secure, but one where we know without a doubt we have a vantage point above all the stress, pressure, uncertainty and chaos the world can throw at us day after day.
What Kenneth and Gloria Copeland came to understand was: What if you didn’t have to go to a place to find that kind of protection and peace of mind? What if you could take your very own “strong tower” with you everywhere you went, with 24/7 access?
Well, good news—done, done and done!
Jesus assures us that even at the threat of “wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6, NKJV), there’s a way we can maintain a constant peace of mind. But to do that, it’s going to require some work on our part. It’s going to require us to do some tearing down, as well as some building up.
So, if it’s an uncommon state of peace you’re looking for—for your kids, your elderly parents, in your home, on the job, throughout your day—press in and apply this easy-to-follow, three-step process that’s based on God’s Word and backed by His power.
These 3 Simple Steps To Secure Your Peace of Mind in a World of Chaos are designed to take you from having to find a plan B to escape in life, to walking in God’s plan-A of everyday peace of mind!
Step No. 1: Clear Your Head
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” –(John 14:27)
The first simple step to secure your peace of mind in a world of chaos is to clear your head of the world’s ways of thinking. The peace of mind Jesus offers is a gift to you, and not something you can get from the world. So, when the world seems to have gone crazy, you can have peace of mind and not be troubled or afraid.
Wondering how that’s even possible? Let’s taker closer look at what God says about it.
Under the old covenant—God’s promises to Abraham, Moses and the people of Israel—God’s offer of peace carried with it more of a sense of a physical place, a safe location where God’s presence manifested. In Moses’ day it was the “Tent of Meeting” (Exodus 33:7). In King Solomon’s day it was the “Temple” (2 Chronicles 7).
But as we see in Isaiah 26:1-3, God was quite clear from the beginning that the peace He extended to mankind was far more than a physical fortress for us to run to and hide in:
“Our city is strong! We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation. Open the gates to all who are righteous; allow the faithful to enter. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
God’s thinking is that our having peace of mind while on this earth is just as necessary as the sense of peace that comes from physical safety. In fact, to Him, true peace has always been a matter of the mind.
For us who now live under the new covenant, the apostle Paul expounds on that truth:
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV).
Paul’s revelation to us is that peace of mind doesn’t just happen. It’s a battle. We have to fight for it—only, this is a fight in our heads.
Just before Jesus left the earth, He met with His disciples and told them, “Peace be with you” (John 20:21). Then He “breathed on them” and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (verse 22). He imparted God’s Spirit into theirs—which is what happens to us when we are born again. Now, empowered with the Holy Spirit, we can tear down bad strongholds in our lives—strongholds like worry, fear, depression, anger and resentment.
With God’s Spirit living inside us, we are the “tent of meeting,” the “temple of God.” We no longer have to go find a “strong tower”—we are the strong tower. And the more space we give the Holy Spirit by clearing our heads of the world’s way of thinking, the more peace we will enjoy, no matter what’s going on around us.
Step No. 2: Build Yourself Up
“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple…. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.” –(1 Peter 2:4-5)
Scripture proves out that God is all into rocks and building…
- “The LORD God is the eternal Rock” (Isaiah 26:4)
- “Be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24, NASB)
- “Upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18).
You may not realize it, but you’re in a construction zone while you’re on this earth. And, if you want a complete peace-of-mind experience, it won’t be enough to deconstruct any bad strongholds the devil has cleverly lodged in your brain over time. While you’re busy tearing down the bad ones, you also need to be building up the good. That’s why the second simple step to secure your peace of mind in a world of chaos is to build yourself up.
We Christ followers are “living stones” (like Jesus). We are God’s very own personal building project, and His plans for us are nowhere but up from here!
The challenge is that too many believers are not clued in to God’s good intentions.
Once while Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, He encountered a woman who was bent over from a disease and had not been able to stand up straight for 18 years. When
He saw her, He called her out of the crowd and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity” (Luke 13:12, NIV). Then He touched her, and she immediately stood up.
Sadly, this woman’s physical condition on the outside is a picture of what many Christians look like on the inside, in their souls—bent over, beat down and oppressed.
Then, along comes Jesus!
In this case, the problem was that Jesus healed the woman on the Sabbath, which was against religious rules of the day. The religious leaders’ thinking was, He worked! And He wasn’t supposed to, so they called Him out on it.
Bad stronghold, right? And Jesus’ response?
“This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?” (verse 16).
In that moment, Jesus tore down a bad stronghold and built up a good one. He literally stripped the devil of his oppression and built up the woman’s body. He tore down deceived religious mindsets, and established the truth of God’s heart for all mankind.
The Apostle Peter once summed up Jesus’ ministry in these words:
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38, NKJV).
In other words, Jesus went about demonstrating God’s intentions for us by tearing down bad strongholds and building up good ones.
We live under a new covenant that went into effect the moment God raised Jesus raised from the dead. At that moment you were forgiven. At that moment you were saved. At that moment every benefit of becoming a daughter or son of God became yours!
Finally, the peace of mind your heavenly Father intended for you to have all along was available to you. Jesus freed you from all the enemy’s oppression, just like He freed that woman.
Now, all that’s left for you to do is—get busy building your new “strong tower”!
Step No. 3: Get Comfortable Speaking to Things
“[Jesus] got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm…. [The disciples] were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” –(Mark 4:39, 41, HCSB)
When all the world, including the devil, seems bent on putting you down, pulling you down, holding you down—even sinking your boat—that’s especially the time to stand up, tell the turmoil to shut up, and then build yourself up. It’s the only way you’ll ever gain and maintain any peace of mind.
When King David found himself at low points in his life or in times of intense distress, the Bible tells us he “encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord” (1 Samuel 30:6, AMPC).
How did he do that? Just take a look at the book of Psalms (he wrote half of it).
He started thinking, writing, praying, speaking, singing. Mostly, he got busy opening his mind AND his mouth, making them both line up with God’s Word, God’s promises, and God’s truth about himself and whatever he was facing…
“Bless the LORD, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, my soul, and do not forget any of His benefits” (Psalm 103:1-2, NASB).
In short, he told his head and his mouth what to think and say!
There comes a time when you have to speak to things. Take Jesus, for example: Apart from speaking to wind and waves, He also…
- Rebuked the fever in Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-39)
- Spoke from a great distance and a servant was healed (Matthew 8:5-13)
- Commanded evil spirits and the sick were healed (Matthew 8:16)
- Spoke to a tree and it died (Mark 11:14, 20)
- Encouraged speaking to mountains (Mark 11:23).
Really, more than anyone or anything else, you’d do well to start speaking to yourself—you already do, anyway.
Recent medical findings tell us that our words physically resonate down through every nerve in our body. So all those things you’ve been telling yourself—in your head and with your mouth—are greatly impacting you and your world.
Maybe it’s time to do yourself a favor, and speak more intentionally and purposefully. Take a scripture like 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV), and begin telling yourself:
I’m chosen…I’m royalty…I stand before God and minister to Him…I’m set apart, special to God, even possessed by Him…my primary task in life is declaring His goodness…I’m no longer in the dark about anything…God’s called me, personally, to be with Him.
Do that for a week, a month, a year. Then see what your peace-of-mind level is like.
When you apply these 3 Simple Steps to Secure Your Peace of Mind in a World of Chaos, you’ll experience peace that surpasses all understanding. Just remember, in this world, peace at any level isn’t a given. We have to fight for it. But with Jesus’ words and the Holy Spirit’s power, you have more than a fighting chance—you have God-backed certainty that you are a “strong tower” going somewhere to happen!
Related Articles:
A Prayer to Live In Total Peace
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