31 Days of Devotions Day 5: Peace

 

Day 5 Peace

2 Thessalonians 3:16 “Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.”

John 16:33“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Matthew 5:9 ”Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

Romans 12:18“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

 

Throughout the Scriptures, we see the theme of peace sprinkled everywhere. Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” We find this in the “Beatitudes” in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. The apostle Paul also urges us above in Romans 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

What does this mean? Let’s look at the most significant example of peacemaking. In Romans 5:8, Paul states: “But God commandeth His love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners (God’s enemies, because God cannot tolerate sin) Christ died for us.” Talk about the ultimate peacemaker! Sin requires payment. God is a God of justice; this isn’t fairness. What would be fair is the penalty of death for sin. That is what God told Adam and Eve would happen if they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit from the tree. Death does occur due to that. But before that, it is evident that death was not part of the plan. Death entered the world through the sin of disobedience, which stems from the sin of Pride (this was the original sin in the Bible, remember in Isaiah when it talks about Lucifer and the angels that followed him, their fall was due to his pride and wanting to elevate himself to the status of God. “I will be like the Most High,” he said. He then tempted man in the garden, paraphrasing here: "God knows that in the day you eat of it, you will be like God… sounds pretty similar, huh?"

There are two types of death. Physical death was never part of God’s plan, nor was sickness; these are the consequences of sin. But there is also eternal death. God intended us to live forever with Him. Eternal death is the ultimate death. You will be alive for eternity either way, but eternal death is complete separation from God and everything and everyone you love. Forever. God offered us another way to attain life eternal because while we were His enemies, God, in the form of Jesus, stepped down and lived sinlessly, although He was tempted in every way we were as humans, and took the penalty of sin away. He died (and then rose again, conquering death, hell, and sin) so that if we repent and choose to follow Him, we can be at one with the Father. He At-Oned us with the Father. Peacemaking requires looking for commonalities (common ground) and building on them. This is NOT the same as Peacekeeping, or keeping the peace at any cost (often to your own detriment). Not that peacekeeping isn’t essential, it is, but you must be careful with Peacekeeping to not become a “Doormat”.

 

Questions to reflect on:

1.     Am I at peace with God, or am I still His enemy? If you aren’t sure, think about the prayer at the end of this section and pray it. You can be at peace (At-One with God) through Jesus' perfect sacrifice. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.  How can I find common ground with my “enemies”? What are some things that I can use to build on that have value to each of us? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

3.    Am I willing to commit to being a “Peacemaker” as described in Romans 5:8 and 12:18 so that I can be a “Child of God” as described in Matthew 5:9? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Prayer:

Dear Father God, please help me to be a peacemaker and at peace with all men. But firstly, I desire peace with you. I thank you for the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. I repent of my sin and ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of my life. Help me follow Jesus more and more each day so that people will see the love and peace you bring, know that I am a child of God, see the difference between me and the world, and ask me how to get what you have given me. In Jesus' name, Amen.