It Starts with Peace in Your Heart...

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
When we have peace with God through faith in Christ, the door is open for the other spiritual blessings He wants to give us, like joy and hope.  We will be looking at those more in coming days, but in a sense, peace comes first. When we are at peace with God, others, and ourselves, that makes us able to take a serious look at our relationships and our own character, and work on life. So, do you have that peace?  

The Way of Peace

 “None is righteous, no, not one;
11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

(Romans 3:10-18)

Life is often described in scripture as a way or a path.  In our fallen state, we have a way of getting off the right path.  This includes straying away from peace.  It starts when we lose the fear of the LORD. Just ask Eve and Adam. When we begin to think we have a better way than He does, and make our own way curvy, bumpy, and downright scary, we begin to blame others. We have a tendency toward conflict instead of peace. Our words, actions and attitudes all make us a menace on the road.  There is a Way back to the way of peace. He is the Prince of Peace Who has been down the road and knows the way Home.  Get on the path of peace; trust in Him. 

When Peace Fills the Room

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you:Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

(Luke 24)

When Peace fills the room, silence is okay, not awkward.  Peace almost shouts in fear, excitement, and childlike questioning.   Peace makes our senses more alive: we see, hear, and even think more clearly.  Peace filling the room (or our lives) does not mean that things are surreal - that it is above or outside daily the things of daily life, but that daily life is transformed, because we know that all is well, as it should be, under control, because Christ is here with us.  May there be peace in the room, in our lives today, because He is here, we know it, and that affects how we do life.  

When Peace Passes By...

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.  (Luke 19)

It was a crowded city street with lots of noise and music - ever increasing as He went by on the donkey - people pressing in to lay out the road before Him. Yet, with all the background noise, He could be heard saying these words: Peace - right in front of your eyes - not in what you hear or do not hear, but in what you see, and know, and experience.  In all the background noise of life we can find peace - if we will look, listen, and trust in Him.  Don't let Him just pass by. 

Finding Peace in the Storm...

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

(Mark 4)

This is one of those passages that you have read so many times that you may, like I, have missed that little phrase "they took him along, JUST AS HE WAS." What does that mean? Sure, Jesus accepts us just as we are, but what does it mean that they took Him along just as He was?  He was no fisherman. He was of no apparent use to them fishing, or in a storm. Or was He? He did not even seem to care about the storm He was in. Or did He?  So what do we do to find Peace in the storms of life? Take Him along before they come up.  Even if it seems He does not care, He could be of no use - He does and He is. In fact, you don't want to enter a storm without Him. Without Him there is no peace.

Finding Peace

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”  (Luke 8:42-48)

One might say that Luke's Gospel is the Gospel of Peace.  It begins with the announcements to Mary and to the shepherds that Christ was coming to bring peace to earth, and ends with Jesus appearing to His disciples appearing to His disciples after the resurrection saying "Peace to You."  Peace is something men have always longed for. Even in Genesis, one of the blessings God promised to the patriarchs was peace in their land.  This past century has been a longing for peace in nations and in the human heart.  This woman came seeking not only a healing for her disease, but peace in her heart - she wanted to know that her illness was not because she was evil or God was powerless - that life was not out of control.  Christ is the great giver of peace. He call always is: stop striving - with each other and within yourselves; trust in Me and find peace. 

Rise, Remember Report

Luke 24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
For many people, this is the earliest Sunday of the year, as they rise early to go to Church. Hopefully you are among them. But why? To Remember the resurrection of Christ from the dead, just as He said He would do. Hopefully, as well, it is a reminder of the time when you came to realize His Resurrection makes a different for you - you have received new life through faith in Him. But that is not the end of the story. These women went on to report to others what they had seen and heard and experienced for themselves: the power of the risen Christ.  May we do the same.