Because He Lives

You Can Have Peace

“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)

One lady said, “The best time to live was around 1850. The telephone was invented in 1875. The bathtub was invented in 1850. In 1850, you could have taken a bath for 25 years without being interrupted with the phone ringing! Isn’t that real peace?”

In John 14:27, before Jesus ascended back to heaven, He promised His disciples biblical “peace.” The Greek word for peace literally means to bind together or to weave together. Peace does not simply mean the absence of trouble, it means peace that is everything good. Peace is the idea of that which makes for the good of man. When someone says, “Peace to you”, it doesn’t mean I hope you don’t get into any trouble, it means I hope you have all the highest good coming your way.  It’s a positive word.

In Ecuador and Bolivia, there is a tribe of Indians called The Keetua Indians. They describe peace this way; to sit down in one’s heart. Instead of running around in the midst of constant anxieties of life, peace to the Keetua Indian is just to sit down and be comfortable with himself. The Kecktian Indians of Guatemala define peace as, and this is a beautiful definition, quiet goodness. In other words, it is an active thing. It is not just quiet rest at peace in your own heart, it is quiet goodness. It is the goodness of life. It is a positive rather than just a negative.

Reflection

Most people in our world don’t have any idea about the positive aspect of peace. They’re having enough trouble just trying to find the negative aspect, that is they’re trying to find a place where there’s no trouble. They’re trying to just find the absence of trouble let alone the positive good that is the true meaning of the word peace. Have you found the positive aspects of peace that Jesus offers?

Praise

Thank God for the positive aspects of peace that He brings into your life. Pray about any areas where you are currently lacking His peace.

Two Types of Peace

“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)

At the beginning of a new year, a high school principal decided to post his teachers’ New Year’s resolutions on the bulletin board. As the teachers gathered around the bulletin board, a great commotion started. One of the teachers was complaining, “Why weren’t my resolutions posted?” She was throwing such a temper tantrum that the principal hurried to his office to see if he had overlooked her resolutions. Sure enough, he had mislaid them on his desk. As he read her resolutions, he was astounded. This teacher’s first resolution was not to let little things upset her in the New Year.

It’s so easy to let the little things in life upset us. In the New Testament, there are two types of peace. One is objective and the other is subjective. One has to do with your standing before God, the other has to do with your experience or your living. One of them has to do with your relation to God and the other has to do with your relation to life as a believer. And you never have the second subjective peace in life until you have the first objective peace with God.

Reflection

We have peace with God because of the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:1). Then we have a ministry of reconciliation and helping others find peace with God (2 Corinthians 5:18).

 Praise

Thank God for the promise of Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

You Can Have God’s Peace

“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)

A woman lay dying. A minister sat beside her and tried to break the news as gently as he could. He said, “They think your time is short.” “Yes,” she said, “I know it.” “Have you made your peace with God.” “No,” she replied, “I haven’t made my peace with God.” “Then you are not afraid to die?” “No.” “Do you realize that in a few hours you must meet God?” “Yes.” “And you have not made your peace with God?” “No, and I’m not going to.”

There was a strange light of perfect peace in the woman’s eyes, and the minister realized that there was something back of it all. He said, “What do you mean?” She said, “Listen! I know I am dying, yet I have no fear of meeting God. I am resting in the peace which Jesus Christ made in His atoning death upon the cross, and I don’t have to make my peace with God for I am resting in the peace which Jesus Christ has already made.” (Evangelical Visitor)

In John 14:27, Jesus said, “My peace I give to you” and this is really the key to the supernatural aspect of it, it is His own personal peace. It is the same deep, rich, peace that stilled His heart in the midst of mockers, haters, murderers, traitors, and everything else that Christ faced. It is the very personal peace of Jesus Christ Himself that He gives to us.

Reflection

1 Corinthians 14:33 teaches, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” Is your life characterized by confusion or the peace of God? We can’t manufacture the peace of God in our lives. We simply receive God’s peace in our lives when we receive Jesus and meditate on His truth.

 Praise

Praise Jesus as the Prince of Peace. Thank Him for His peaceful reign in your life.

What Peace is Not

“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)

A man consulted a doctor, “I’ve been misbehaving, Doc, and my conscience is troubling me,” he complained. “And you want something that will strengthen your willpower?” asked the doctor. “Well, no,” said the fellow. “I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.”

Most of the peace the world offers is about weakening the conscience or avoidance. Jesus promises to give us a peace that is different from what the world offers. “By world”, the Bible means trying to find peace without or apart from God. Most of what the world can offer us is temporary like material things, relationships, philosophy, or approval. Thomas Kempis wrote, “All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.”

Reflection

Isaiah 55:2 asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” What are things that people spend time and energy on trying to find satisfaction but leave them feeling empty? What is your own greatest source of peace and satisfaction in life?

 Praise

Praise God for His unchanging nature. Thank Him for satisfying the eternal thirst of our souls.

Troubled hearts

“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)

In 1885, three Christian boys shed their blood for Christ in Uganda. The king had ordered the arrest of these boys in an effort to stamp out Christianity. The eldest was fifteen and the youngest was eleven-year-old Yusufu. They held fast their faith and staked their lives on it, though people were weeping and their parents were pleading with them. At the place of execution, they sent a message to the king: “Tell his majesty that he has put our bodies in the fire, but we won’t be long in the fire. Soon we shall be with Jesus, which is much better. But ask him to repent and change his mind, or he will land in a place of eternal fire and desolation.” They sang a song that is now well-loved in Uganda as the “Martyr’s Song.” One verse says, “O that I had wings like the angels. I would fly away and be with Jesus!” Forty adults came to Jesus the day the boys died. This was a new kind of life, which fire and torture could not control. There is a memorial near Kampala where these youngsters are remembered as the first Christian martyrs of Uganda. By 1887, the end of the first decade of the church, hundreds had died.

These boys lived out the words of Jesus in John 14:27. They did not let their hearts be troubled and they did not fear. This is truly a peace that passes understanding that only God can give. In John 14, Jesus was about to ascend back into heaven and storms of persecution were coming. But Jesus left His followers with incredible peace.

Reflection

God does not grant us exemption from the storms of life but promises us the power and the peace to weather any storm. J. Oswald Sanders wrote, “Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God.”

Praise

Thank God for calming your heart in the middle of your storms. Thank Him that the trials of this world are temporary but our heavenly rewards are eternal.

Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 KJV)