Video Transcript: The Peacefire Triangle

In this lecture, I want to talk to you about a triangle.   Two triangles actually.  

The first triangle we're talking about is the Fire triangle.   In any fire, three elements are required for a fire to ignite: oxygen, heat, and a fuel source.  As a way of helping you remember the principles, three important principles of the Peacefire we have created a Peacefire triangle that I want to introduce to you to help you remember three things about seeking the Lord at the Peacefire that enable you to put yourself in a position to experience the Lord's peace in the midst of every conflict you encounter.   

Remember our theme scripture for this course, Isaiah 26:3-4.    We just reviewed it at the end of the last session, “You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in You.   Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” 

Well, there are three elements to the Peacefire triangle, three principles that we're going to discuss in this session, and then unpack in future sessions that will empower you to connect with the Lord Jesus Christ at the Peacefire to understand what he's doing to seek Him for wisdom and understanding and direction, the power to carry it out.   And all that happens in His presence.   So the three legs of the Peacefire triangle are presence, purpose, and power.  

You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, focusing on Jesus Christ getting in His presence, seeking Him in prayer and worship in His word.   Because he trusts in You, trusting in the Lord's purpose in the midst of conflict, and not just our own, seeking him at the Peacefire to get His wisdom, His understanding, so that we can pursue His purpose rather than just our desired outcome in the conflict.  

Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord God is an everlasting rock, power.   Our power for experiencing His transforming peace in the midst of conflict is found at the Peacefire, it is found in His presence.   So I want to briefly introduce each of these sections to you, each of these principles.  And the first one I want to talk about is pursuing God's purpose in the midst of conflict.   

Pursuing God's purpose in the midst of conflict will change your priorities when you respond to conflict.   I want to say that, again:  pursuing God's purpose in the midst of conflict, will change your priorities in responding to that conflict.  The Lord promises to protect and provide for those who pursue His purpose ahead of their own.  

In Matthew 6:33 we read, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

And in Romans 8:28.   “And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  As we seek the Lord, and ask Him for His purpose, in the conflicts that we face, He reveals His purpose to us and our priorities will change.   If I'm just pursuing the lantern, the thing I desire, and I'm going to ask the Lord to bless me to help me get that desired outcome, I'm pursuing my purpose.  But if I know what His purpose is, and maybe His purpose does or doesn't include my getting the lantern, if I know the Lord wants me to do something, it's going to change my priorities in how I respond to that situation.  And every conflict is different.  Which is why it's important to seek the Lord in every conflict, and not presume that we know His purpose.   

The more time we spend in His Word, the more comfortable we get in studying the Scripture, the more likely we are to fall prey to presumption.  If you study the Scripture long enough, you know that if there is a result you have in mind in a conflict, if there's a desire you have in the conflict, you can find a scripture to support your position.  And I want to give you a healthy and loving warning about presuming to know God's purpose in a conflict, because every conflict is different.  The people in every conflict are different.  And what the Lord is doing in every conflict is different. 

Psalm 19:13, says, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me.  Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great turns transgressions”.   

Seeking God's purpose, asking the Lord to reveal His purpose to you in a conflict is essential to experiencing the Lord is transforming peace in the midst of that conflict.  And once He reveals His purpose to you, it will change your priorities and how you respond.   

God's purpose will never contradict His word.   As an attorney, I've had many clients who have come to me and sought counsel about their marriage.   

The first time I had a Christian brother come to my office to talk about his marriage, I got pretty excited.  I was a young attorney and I received a call from this, this brother, he was a Deacon at his church.  And he called me said, Brian, I want to come in and talk to you about my marriage.   And I said okay, look forward to having you come in, we set an appointment, and I prepared for the meeting, pulled some information together for him, pull some scriptures together, I was going to encourage his brother in his marriage relationship; some of the things that I had looked forward to doing as an attorney when I was in law school.

As he came in and sat down in my office at our table, and we started to talk and I began to share some of the things I had prepared for him he turned to me after about five to ten minutes, and he said this.   He said, Brian, I appreciate what you're trying to do and the conversation we're having, but you know, this really isn't about my marriage, this is about my money.   And he proceeded to tell me that he had decided to get a divorce and wanted to know how to preserve money for himself.   He was consumed in a Wildfire, and was looking at all the things in the Wildfire, and wanting to preserve for himself get his desired outcome.   

We've all been there.  I'm not criticizing that brother.  We all find ourselves in wildfires. We all find ourselves trying to protect and preserve what we have, sometimes at the expense of others.   But the Lord has a purpose in those relationships; the Lord has a purpose in those conflicts.  And by seeking Him and spending time with him and asking him to reveal His purpose to us, we can find that our priorities are out of line, that maybe we're pursuing things that we want, that perhaps the Lord doesn't want for us.  And as we spend time with the Peacefire of the Lord can change us, give us perspective, reveal His purpose to us, and get us pointed back in the right direction.   

The second principle, the second leg of the Peacefire triangle, is God's power.  With God's power available to us, it changes your possibilities in responding to conflict.  I want to say that again. With God's power, it changes your possibilities, in responding to conflict.  We may know God's purpose but if we do not appropriate God's power and accomplishing His purpose, we will not experience His peace.  Let me explain.  

At the peace, fire, the Lord reveals His purpose.   When He reveals His purpose to you, that means He's going to do that.  This is what He wants to do.  And he's going to provide the power to do it.  He doesn't rely on us to accomplish His purpose, with our power.  He provides the power.  When we step out, and understand God's purpose, and try to accomplish it in our own strength, we will fall short.   

In John 15:5, Jesus said, “I am the vine you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I am you, you will bear much fruit.  Here this apart from me, you can do nothing.”

In Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us.”

And Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.  Nothing is too hard for you.”

When the Lord reveals His purpose to you at the Peacefire, you may think it's impossible to forgive, to confess, to love, to reconcile, to restore  relationship but the power that is available in Jesus Christ is endless and boundless and as powerful to accomplish the thing as the Lord wants to have done.  And as we make those faith choices to respond to him at the Peacefire rather than to what's happening in the Wildfire, He will show Himself strong on your behalf.   

The third principle of the Peacefire triangle is the presence leg of the triangle.  Seeking God's presence will change your perspective on a conflict.   God's purpose changes your priorities,    God's power changes your opportunities, and God’s presence will change your perspective.   

In Joshua Chapter 5 we find the story of Joshua and the nation of Israel have crossed over the Jordan and they're just about to take the city of Jericho.  Joshua was out, whether he's surveying the situation, surveying the land and the opportunity, they have to take the city, he comes upon a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus Christ.  With his sword drawn.  And Joshua asked him a question and he says, “Are you for us or are you for our enemies?” 

Now we would expect the Lord to say to Joshua, well, Joshua, I’m here for you, we're going to take Jericho, let's go.  But that's not what He said.  Here's what He said.  In response to Joshua's question are you for us or are you for our enemies, and in Joshua 5:14 He said, “Neither, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.”  And Joshua fell face down to the ground and reverence and asked him, “What message does my lord have for his servant?”  That's a great example for us, of what it means to come into the presence of the Lord.   

Jesus Christ comes to you in the midst of conflict with a sword drawn.  He's got a purpose in every conflict you face.  There isn’t any conflict in your life is too great or too small for His attention.  And He comes with that sword which represents the Word of God and says I have a purpose for you in this conflict.  

We come to him and we say, Lord, you're on my side.  I know you're on my side.  Lord, I just know you're on my side.  I'm a good guy.  I have good motives here.   I just want what's mine, and I want my desired outcome.  And Lord, will you help me get it? Aren't you on my side, Lord? And the Lord says No.   

Ian Thomas put it this way.  He said that Jesus Christ doesn't come to take sides in a conflict.   He comes to take over.  And when we let Him take over, He will do astonishing things in our midst, astonishing things in your life, astonishing things in your conflicts.  And as He comes to take over, there's just one thing He asked you and I to do.  Let him.  Let him.  It’s what Joshua did.  Joshua fell on his face and he said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Seeking the Lord's presence will change your perspective on the conflict.

What's unrecorded, in the book of Joshua is how the Lord communicated to Joshua.  They were going to take the city of Jericho.  And can you imagine that conversation?  I want you to circle the city once a day for six days and then on the seventh day, we're going to go around seven times we're going to shout and the walls are going to fall down.  And that sounds just ludicrous, doesn't it? 

But the Lord's presence changed Joshua's perspective on the situation.  Understanding the Lord's purpose, changed their priorities in taking the city of Jericho and Lord's power changed their possibilities of achieving victory, of achieving the outcome not that they desired, but that the Lord had desired for them.  And it's true and every conflict of yours.  Seek the Lord's presence.  He'll change your perspective on what's happening because as you spend time in His presence, He reminds you of the grace and the mercy that He's shown to you and He’s going to ask you to show it to others.  He's going to reveal His purpose of what He's doing in your life, of what He wants to change in you, as much as He wants to impact the lives of the people that you're in conflict with.  And then He's going to provide the power for you to walk it out in obedience.  It's an awesome way of responding to conflict.  I look forward to unpacking each of those sections with you as we move forward.   

God bless you.   We'll see you next time.