Peace is Possible

I have spent a lifetime reading the news and seeing images of Arabs and Israelis fighting. From the Munich kidnapping and killing of Israeli athletes to the 50 innocent men women and children killed in a Mosque by a Jewish radical there has been bloodshed everywhere. We have grown immune to hope almost as if this is something we must expect…but we do not!

Where in the Bible is it written that this is God’s plan? Peace is possible. Even if everyone else in the world laughs at the hope of an accord we as Christians are required by God to pray for the impossible. We may forget that at Camp David in August of 1978 Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. Why not today between Israeli and Palestinian leaders? To really pray as God commands us for the peace of Jerusalem someone must begin to believe it is possible. Who knows what God can do? The giant of hatred and death who has terrorized generations of children can be defeated by a single stone of hope.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 NIV

I Want My Lawyer!

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

What does Jesus mean when He says He doesn’t give us a peace like the world’s peace? Try thinking of a scene from whatever is your favorite crime show. There inevitably comes a climactic moment when  the bad guy is arrested. Then just as the good guys begin to question him he shouts, “I’m not saying anything until I have my lawyer!”

Lawyers are also our greatest hope when we are in trouble. If you look back at the previous verse you will see that Jesus is telling us that He will send us the Holy Spirit; as our advocate (Lawyer).  That is because you, I and everyone else who ever was born has been put under arrest and faces the death penalty because of sin. The only hope we have in the sentencing portion of our trial is to have a good lawyer. Jesus is promising us the best in the universe; if we will put our faith in Him.

So we walk into the courtroom with the Holy Spirit by our side. When the evidence is presented proving our guilt He tells the judge that the prosecution has entered into a plea bargain with the defense. We have agreed by faith to repent, confess our sin and put our faith in Jesus. In exchange the penalty we faced now will fall on: Jesus Christ The Holy Son of God. The judge listens carefully then before the hushed heavenly courtroom He brings down His gavel and says “Not Guilty!” Then He steps down from the bench, opens his arms and embraces us crying; “Welcome home child!”

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Now if that isn’t peace I don’t know what is. That is because our everlasting peace is a person not a feeling. What a gift we have been given. What a peace we have. It is a peace that the world cannot give and that no one can  take away!