Today, we're gonna take on a posture of peace
by leaning into the empowering presence
of Jesus in our lives.
Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale.
Posture is a podcast that serves a short,
audible fist bump to remind you that God is in everything.
Together, we're gonna be emboldened
to take a daily posture of perfect peace.
1 John 2, verses one through six says,
my little children, I am writing these things to you
so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not only for our sins,
but for the sins of the whole world.
And by this, we know that we have come to know him.
If we keep this in mind,
if we keep his commandments.
Whoever says I know him,
but does not keep his commandments is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word,
in him truly the love of God is perfected.
By this, we may know that we are in him.
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk
in the same way in which he walked.
Now you may be tempted to read a scripture like this
through the eyes of your old, dead, sinful nature,
and you might immediately think,
oh no, am I keeping all the commandments?
Am I a liar?
Am I really saved?
Or perhaps maybe even worse,
you take a scripture like this
and you just apply it to all the people in your life
and start accusing others of not living, right?
Or having a life together.
I'm gonna save that topic for another day.
We're gonna focus on you for a moment.
But when you read scripture as the new you
through the lens of Jesus, you will never find shame.
You will only find salvation.
Here's the beauty of this new covenant
that we now have through Jesus.
Every requirement of the old covenant
and the Old Testament was met through Jesus's death.
And through Jesus's resurrection,
we have received his empowering presence
to walk in all the commands and promises
in the new covenant with him.
Again, the Bible says we are hidden in Christ.
We are one with Christ and he is always with us.
So when we come across a command or a promise
like in Philippians 4 where it says,
be anxious for nothing.
Now we don't have to now read that
and be exasperated or frustrated and think,
man, God is asking too much.
He has no idea what my life is like.
No, we can say, thank you, Jesus,
that because of you, I now have what it takes
to be anxious for nothing.
Or when we read when Jesus said in Matthew 5,
love your enemies.
We don't have to be obsessed about or overwhelmed
by what may feel like an impossibility.
No, instead we can lean into the empowering presence
of Jesus and say, oh, hey, Jesus, you're here.
Teach me how to do this.
Teach me how to love my enemies.
We've talked a lot about Colossians 3 before.
The whole chapter, I would encourage you to read it today,
talks about our new self and it says things
like set your mind on things that are above.
It says put to death things like sexual immorality,
impurity, lust, evil desires, greed.
It says instead put on compassionate hearts,
kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
It also says let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
You've been empowered to not merely talk
about these things and idolize them,
but to actually walk in them in real life.
And what 1 John 2 illuminates is that
it's not the full truth to just talk about the truth.
We can and should actually live it.
And that gets me so excited because it means
we are not destined to live a punishing life,
knowing the truth but never accessing it.
No, instead we have been given by Jesus an empowered life.
Every command and promise in this precious book
isn't there to cause you dread of missing the mark.
That is how your old nature would respond
because your old nature did not have access
to Jesus's presence, but the old you is dead
and the new you is now one with Christ.
So every command and promise is an invitation for upgrade.
Today, you can put off sin and any of its residue,
things like mental torment or emotional trauma.
uncertainty or confusion and instead you can walk in the fullness of Christ.
The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3 and in Hebrew it is Shalom Shalom, meaning
complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken.
This is who you are in Jesus.
Let's declare this together.
Today I am kept in perfect peace.
With my whole heart I trust the Lord.
I am strong.
I am victorious.
I am whole.
Remember friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus' ultimate win.
Not because of anything you did, but because of what he did for you.
With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus' victory on display and Satan's defeat
on replay.