War and Peace -- Part 2 (The 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 heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Peace is one of the last things that Christ left His disciples before ascending to heaven.  His peace is a position.  Worldly peace is the absence of strife, fear, war, doubt, worry, etc.  That peace cannot totally exist.

All throughout His earthly ministry Jesus faced opposition from rulers, religious leaders and people who did not agree with His message.  Yet, Jesus was always at peace.  

Before I became born-again, peace was the one thing i wanted most in my life.  No matter the day, hour or minute I was in a state of rage.  Until...I cried out unto the Lord to heal me and take away the anger.  Now I had peace within me.  I was in a place of peace.  

All during the church age men and women of the faith faced life and death situations in which they were asked to renounce Jesus as the Messiah or face death.  In fact the early church, because of persecution, was forced to flee their hometowns and in doing so took the gospel message to other cities and towns thereby spreading the gospel.  What if they had simply chosen to bow down to the pressure and stop telling the world about Jesus? 

I marvel at the feeling of exhilaration I get when telling someone about Jesus or answering questions about my faith.  A settled peace comes upon me because, this is what I want to do.  Thinking on it from that angle, this being what I want to do, now I see why Jesus was so at peace.

God's word provides me with great comfort because there are no mysteries.  If the Almighty says something is going to happen, well guess what?  It is going to happen.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should repent.  Has He said, and will He not do?  Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

WOW!!!  I could end it there.   G O D  I S  F A I T H F U L 

There a days when I struggle in my flesh to find peace in a world that does not know peace.  But, my inner man trusts in the One True God.  David sought the LORD when the Amalekites raided their village and took the families of the soldiers captive.  Despite David's own men wanting to stone him. 

First Samuel 30:6 tells me "David encouraged himself in the LORD."  

The world looks at Christians as divisive and uncooperative.  And that's ok.  We are set apart from the people and ideals of the world that go against biblical cannon.  Yet, the peace of God, flows through those who are called His own.  My souls longs to be in His permanent presence and when that day comes i shall finally understand the peace that surpasses all understanding and keeps my mind and heart in Christ Jesus.