God’s Peace

His Peace

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

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

Notice in today’s verse Jesus didn’t tell us to be peaceful. He also did not ask us to find peace. Instead He comes saying, “I am giving you My peace.”  So what kind of peace belongs to Jesus?

First it is a peace that has nothing at all to do with our circumstances. Jesus was telling His disciples about this peace just hours before His betrayal and arrest. How could Jesus have peace? It was because He knew where He came from and He knew where He was going. That is what He offers us.

man and boy riding bumper car

Photo by Mariana Kurnyk on Pexels.com

Secondly Jesus gives us a peace differently than the world does. The world’s peace is like what I feel when I put the payment for our car in the mail. For a short moment I feel relief, but next month a new bill always shows up in my mailbox!

Last, Jesus giving us peace that doesn’t mean the battle is over, though some days I wish it were! “Perfect submission, all is at rest.” goes the second verse of Blessed Assurance. For me that offer of peace part but  the submission part…well not so much. But all through our struggles Jesus calmly waits. He has a peace to give that will stand guard like a sentry over our hearts that once we fully  trust Him in the driver’s seat of our life, He will take the wheel and leave us His peace that will carry us through any battle!

 

 

 

Peace is Possible

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

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