Give Peace a Chance
Whooooa, man...we're gonna, like, continue on the topic of the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. Today's totally far-out topic is Peace, man...
Ok, so I'm not going to talk like a hippie throughout this entire post (Thank God, right?)...but the funny thing is, whenever I think of peace, the first thing I think of is a hippie. When you look up peace, you get the typical definitions: freedom from war, mutual harmony between people or groups, public order and security, etc. All this is well and good, of course...peace among people should be a goal we should all strive for. Today we like to throw around the word peace, particularly in light of the war; I'm not going to take any political stance, but it's funny to see how some people want peace and are using such vitriolic speech to express it. Sorry, but that's not peace...it's anger under the guise of wanting peace. I hate to be a bummer here, but total peace (as in no wars, people being all lovey will not be coming any time soon, just read Matthew 24:3-14, particularly verse 6, which says, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass.." Now don't get me wrong here: should we pray for our troops? Yes. Should we pray for our leaders? Yes. Should we pray our brave soldiers come home safe? Yes! Is it OK to be anti-war? Yes...who likes war anyway? Is it OK to have political views about wars and conflict? Absolutely. But the reality, as evidenced in the Bible, is that the world is just going to get worse...so we should focus on reaching the lost souls before Christ returns!
What I'm getting at the most, though, is characterized by this definition of peace, "Freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity." Ah....THAT peace! Remember that bumper sticker that said, "No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace"? Well...it's true! This is the kind of peace, I think, that is meant in the Word...an inner peace, even when everything around you is going nuts. That peace is a product of our faith and relationship with Christ. A great example is that great story in Mark 4:35-40: Jesus went out to sea with the disciples and he fell asleep in the boat. A great storm arose and the disciples feared for their lives and awoke Jesus, basically saying, "Don't you care that we're gonna die?!" Here's the awesome part, Matthew 4:39, "Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' And the wind ceased and there was a great calm." Whoa. Jesus said "Peace" and the sea was tranquil...and He can do the same in our lives. We all know this truth: we will all see storms in our lives...that's a guarantee. But God send His Son to die for us so that we can have that peace...but we need to have faith in order to have peace. When Christ rebuked the storm, he turned to the disciples and asked "Have you no faith?" When Jesus walked on the water and Peter wanted to join Him, Peter succeeded for a bit...he HAD to have peace in order to do that...but when he became frightened of the choppy water, he began to sink...Jesus' reply: "Ye of little faith."
In John 14:27, Jesus says, " 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' " So there's the promise...Jesus has given us that peace, but picture it like a treasure chest that needs a key. The key is faith. It's hard to have faith sometimes when things start to pile up on you and get extremely difficult, but hold fast to God, because he's promised to get you through it all by Christ's sacrifice: John 16:33 says, " 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' " I absolutely love this verse because it's so powerful and clear: Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has conquered sin, death, and all the troubles we can ever have in our lives! Praise the Lord! So when trouble comes, remember that Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you, and Jesus is WAY bigger than any of your problems. He will provide and you just have to believe in it! Always pray in times of trouble and ask for peace from the Lord...then you will be the person who is always calm when everything seems to be falling apart.
Ok, so I'm not going to talk like a hippie throughout this entire post (Thank God, right?)...but the funny thing is, whenever I think of peace, the first thing I think of is a hippie. When you look up peace, you get the typical definitions: freedom from war, mutual harmony between people or groups, public order and security, etc. All this is well and good, of course...peace among people should be a goal we should all strive for. Today we like to throw around the word peace, particularly in light of the war; I'm not going to take any political stance, but it's funny to see how some people want peace and are using such vitriolic speech to express it. Sorry, but that's not peace...it's anger under the guise of wanting peace. I hate to be a bummer here, but total peace (as in no wars, people being all lovey will not be coming any time soon, just read Matthew 24:3-14, particularly verse 6, which says, "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass.." Now don't get me wrong here: should we pray for our troops? Yes. Should we pray for our leaders? Yes. Should we pray our brave soldiers come home safe? Yes! Is it OK to be anti-war? Yes...who likes war anyway? Is it OK to have political views about wars and conflict? Absolutely. But the reality, as evidenced in the Bible, is that the world is just going to get worse...so we should focus on reaching the lost souls before Christ returns!
What I'm getting at the most, though, is characterized by this definition of peace, "Freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity." Ah....THAT peace! Remember that bumper sticker that said, "No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace"? Well...it's true! This is the kind of peace, I think, that is meant in the Word...an inner peace, even when everything around you is going nuts. That peace is a product of our faith and relationship with Christ. A great example is that great story in Mark 4:35-40: Jesus went out to sea with the disciples and he fell asleep in the boat. A great storm arose and the disciples feared for their lives and awoke Jesus, basically saying, "Don't you care that we're gonna die?!" Here's the awesome part, Matthew 4:39, "Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' And the wind ceased and there was a great calm." Whoa. Jesus said "Peace" and the sea was tranquil...and He can do the same in our lives. We all know this truth: we will all see storms in our lives...that's a guarantee. But God send His Son to die for us so that we can have that peace...but we need to have faith in order to have peace. When Christ rebuked the storm, he turned to the disciples and asked "Have you no faith?" When Jesus walked on the water and Peter wanted to join Him, Peter succeeded for a bit...he HAD to have peace in order to do that...but when he became frightened of the choppy water, he began to sink...Jesus' reply: "Ye of little faith."
In John 14:27, Jesus says, " 'Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' " So there's the promise...Jesus has given us that peace, but picture it like a treasure chest that needs a key. The key is faith. It's hard to have faith sometimes when things start to pile up on you and get extremely difficult, but hold fast to God, because he's promised to get you through it all by Christ's sacrifice: John 16:33 says, " 'These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' " I absolutely love this verse because it's so powerful and clear: Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has conquered sin, death, and all the troubles we can ever have in our lives! Praise the Lord! So when trouble comes, remember that Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you, and Jesus is WAY bigger than any of your problems. He will provide and you just have to believe in it! Always pray in times of trouble and ask for peace from the Lord...then you will be the person who is always calm when everything seems to be falling apart.
Labels: Bible, Christianity, Fruit of the Spirit, Jesus, peace
posted by Chris Perez @ 7:40 AM
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