Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?”—2 Kings 9:22
I stopped here in my reading today in 2 Kings. Truly, there is no peace when sin abounds and the wicked rule.
I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.—Isaiah 57:19–21
This is not only true for the wicked but even the heart of a believer can churn and become troubled. One of the reasons for this could be that we have unconfessed sin in our lives. Beloved, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace. The cure for a lack of peace is to keep a short account of our sin by confessing them to our God. 1 John 1 says this: The emphasis placed on verse 9 is mine.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.—1 John 1:5-9: 2:1-2
Beloved…I so desire this fellowship with God that 1 John speaks to, but ironically even now as I write this I can feel an unrest in my spirit. My flesh wants to finish this devotional so I can get to the “rest” of my day. This is not an attitude that reflects a surrendered heart. My time is in the hands of my God. He will make my way straight and redeem my time. He will perfect that which concerns me. God doesn’t care if I write a devotional. He wants ME…He wants MY HEART. In obedience then I will bring my double-minded and faithless heart to Him and confess my sin to the One who is filled with mercy and grace and desires only good for me.
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.—Proverbs 4:23
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.—Jude 20-21
