Peace. Peace is the perpetual goal of mankind, but peace cannot be attained apart from the Prince of Peace. Today the world realizes more than ever before the desirability of peace among the nations. But the world is doomed to failure. There can be no peace for the wicked.

The present is filled and the future will be filled with wars and rumors of wars. There is no possibility it can be otherwise. As long as Satan is allowed to work on the earth, as long as men choose Satan over Christ, there will be wars and fighting. War, hatred, revenge, quarreling, bickering, strife, covetousness, jealousy, envy, malice, are all in Satan's personality.

Light cannot abide in darkness. As we walk in the Spirit of God, the Spirit wars against all of Satan that is in us. Little by little the darkness is driven out of us. As victory is won, peace results. When there is no sin in us we have peace—God's peace. This is the only true and lasting peace. To have the peace of God rule in our hearts is to possess one of the most priceless of all possessions. Eternal peace is the image of the Lord God of Heaven.

Satan is the personification of hate, misery, and unrest. His servants are hateful, miserable, and frantic. Hell is an area of turmoil, being filled with the screams of the frustrated, the covetous, the murderous, the lecherous, the jealous, the fearful. The Kingdom of God is an area of peace, being filled with love, joy, peace, and righteousness.

Patience. God is patient. The true saint reveals in himself the patience of the Spirit of God. Christ is waiting patiently for His enemies to be made His footstool. The way of the cross, of the Kingdom of God, is the way of patience.

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:3,4)

God waits patiently until His image, which is patience, is developed in us by His Spirit. The reader, as he reflects on his own life at this point, will observe there are areas of pain. He or she is being tested in the area of the patient bearing of pain. It is the case with every true cross-carrying saint of God. God is patient. Those who would bear His image must learn patience.

If Adam and Eve had waited patiently for God they eventually would have been given to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for the knowledge of good and evil is the mark of maturity (Hebrews 5:14).

The persons who bear Satan's image are impatient. War, murder, confusion, and every other evil work spring from impatience. Satan is impatient, being filled always with pain and frustration. Satan's followers also reveal in themselves this same murderous impatience. "Give me what I want now," they scream.

The true saint bears his cross without complaining, waiting patiently for God to grant his desires.

To be continued.