The Theology Of Fruitology: Chapter 2 - The Fruit Of Peace

THE FRUIT OF PEACE

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give i unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27.

In the above verse you just read, Jesus is telling you that peace is something that is given to you as a gift. You don’t acquire it like the world teaches. The world teaches that peace is acquired when you have huge amount of money in the bank, a well-paid job or business going for you, a palatial apartment/mansion, good food, good cars, a wife and children. But the opposite is the case in the kingdom of God. 

In this kingdom, Jesus Christ is your peace. Therefore, whether you have the things that the world counts as components of peace or not you are quite unperturbed. 

The peace of God is given to every believer, but it resides inside of you. Nobody knows that you have it and it doesn’t bring glory to God yet. But when times of troubles, trials and temptations come, then comes also a golden opportunity to manifest what you have on the inside, so that the name of the Lord will be glorified. If you fail to make use of such opportunities, then you are spiritually unfruitful and do not want to grow spiritually.

How did Jesus, the prince of peace manifest the fruit of peace to the glory of God? 

Mark 4:37-39 gives us a clue:

“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, master, care you not that we perish? And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm”.

Dearly beloved, if you are not calm, you cannot calm the storm. I’m talking from experience. Being calm implies having the peace of God inside of you and recognizing and taking advantage of the opportunities that God provides for you to manifest it outside of you, for God’s name to be glorified.

If you are not a believer you cannot be calm, neither can you calm the storm, because you can’t give what you don’t have. 

Jesus had the peace of God inside Him. That was why He could manifest it and calm the storm, because you can’t give what you don’t have. 

 The disciples were amazed and fearful, saying, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:41). 

Later on, the disciples were to manifest this peace of God, after Jesus had given it to them. 

Paul manifested this peace:

“But after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship” Acts 27: 21-22.

You too can manifest the fruit of peace if you believe. I have manifested this gift of peace on several occasions, to the glory of God. 

For example, when I was working as a security guard in Diamond Bank, Orji branch. I usually woke up around 4:00am in the morning in order to prepare for work and trek to the branch before 6.00am, to assume duty by 6:00am.

One day as I was trekking to work in the dark hours of the morning between 4:30am-5.00am, a huge, fierce foreign dog that was probably bigger than me rushed at me from across the road, barking as it came. I had no weapon to defend myself against this lion-like foe.

 The peace of God that was inside of me roared like a lion. And I said to the dog “Peace, be still in Jesus name”. 

The dog stopped only a few feet from me when I declared this word of peace to it and wouldn’t come near me. I continued declaring the word of peace to it until I had gone a safe distance, before I stopped speaking and continued my journey.

If you are a believer, I want you to know that God has deposited too much inside of you. It is your duty to manifest it through prayer and action (Is 60:1-2).

Don’t just disappoint Him.

Peace is simply the rest that a believer’s heart and mind enjoys based on the knowledge that all is well between the believer and God, resulting in freedom from anxiety. 

Now hear the master:

“Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

It is your believing that enables you to manifest the peace of God. 

There are some believers that have stopped believing, therefore they cannot manifest the fruit of peace. For you to manifest the fruit of peace, you must continue believing. Some people preach that once you’re saved, you’re always saved. But that is a lie from the pit of hell. Every believer must continue to believe, moving from believing to doing what they believe and finally graduate to becoming what they believe. 

I must confess that I haven’t yet become what God wants me to be. 

I am still in the school of doing, not becoming. Therefore, you must understand that I’m still in the race, and also learning from the Lord as I write what He wants me to write in this book. 

IN PEACE 

You have extended peace to them 

Like the waters of a river

And they swallow happiness 

Like camels full of thirst

They go leaping 

Like horses from the stall

And are full of rejoicing 

As when men

Gather in the harvest

Surely, You have smuggled peace

Into their country

Like contraband goods

From across the border

You have rebuked the devourer

For them

And with true peace their hearts 

Are aflame.

---Franklin Celestine.

When the peace of God in a believer is allowed to manifest, it is like a river that never dries. It continues to flow out because it brings glory to the name of the Lord. The fruit of peace makes a believer that is manifesting it, to feel full and contented even when he has nothing to eat. 

It makes you feel secure and also rebukes the devourer for you.

When you have the peace of God and manifest it, it makes you glow like a flame.

Now what do you think the storm came to do to the disciples?

It simply came to devour them.

A storm is a type of devourer that the marine kingdom employs to destroy souls at sea and to manipulate people into worshipping Satan via sacrifices to appease the gods of the seas. But if you have the peace of God and you manifest it, you do have authority to rebuke even the gods of the seas. 

“If it be possible, as much as lies in you, live peaceably with all men” Rom 12:18.

This verse is specifically talking about manifesting the peace of God that is within you on the outside where it affects your relationship with all men, thereby bringing glory to God.

The fruit of peace is one of the major spiritual fruits that enables a believer to fulfill the law. If you are at peace with all men, will you kill, rob or covet any man’s property? Peace keeps you on God's side (Heb 12:14).

Let me reveal to you something you may or may not know:

If you manifest the fruit of love, together with her eight siblings on the outside of you, you have fulfilled the requirements of the law and there is no law that can be enforced against you. 

Look at how the Lord puts it:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” Mat 22:37-40.

The fruit of peace is one of the foundational stones or building blocks that raises up the spiritual life of a believer and manifesting it makes you a child of God, as the Lord revealed in Matthew 5:9:

“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

Dearly beloved, you need to understand that this earth is like a laboratory. 

In this laboratory, there are three groups of chemicals taking part in a reaction at any given time. 

The first group is the “Thesis” group of chemicals made up of believers. 

The second group is the “Antithesis” group of chemicals made up of Satan, his demons and unbelievers.

The third group is the “Synthesis” group of chemicals made up of the Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son and the host of angels. 

What happens in this laboratory is that every second, minute, hour, day, week, month and year, reactions take place, usually initiated by the “Thesis" group or the "Antithesis” group. What the “Synthesis” group does is to create the conditions necessary for the transfer of chemicals from one group to another. 

The group that makes more input in the reaction gains from the end result of the reaction, while the group that made less input loses from the end result.

What this simply means is that if believers pray more, fast more and bear/manifest more good spiritual fruit, there will be a huge transfer of unbelievers from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God through the active assistance of the Holy Ghost, God the Father, God the Son and the host of angels; but if unbelievers pray to Lucifer more, fast more, bear more bad spiritual fruit above the efforts of believers, God will allow  even believers to backslide and even be transferred to the kingdom of darkness.

Why would He do that?

The reason is because He is a God of justice, equity and righteousness. 

God still respects the law of sacrifice and the law of seed time and harvest time. 

If unbelievers sow spiritual seeds into the grounds of the spirit realm more than believers, there is nothing preventing them from reaping a bountiful harvest into the kingdom of darkness. If all believers can pray more, fast more and bear more good spiritual fruit, we would capture the whole earth for the Lord. 

Jesus is not called “the Prince of Peace” for nothing. Therefore, if you’re a believer, now is the time to start manifesting the fruit of peace in a troubled world, so that unbelievers will run to the Prince of Peace and be saved. And God in turn will be glorified (Zech 8:20-23).