Let The Peace Of God Rule In Your Heart

Praise the Lord. I am truly glad you decided to view this message. This is a testimony that I want to share with you. I taught this lesson on a Saturday afternoon during this assembly that night around 11:30 p.m. my only sistered died. I really didn’t understand what God was doing in my life while I was teaching this lesson; however, that night I knew what it really meant to Let the Peace of God rule in your heart. I pray that this lesson is a blessing to all those that read it and apply it to your life. Whatever you do Let the peace of God rule in your Heart. Elder Melvin L, Maughmer, Jr.

“Let the Peace of God rule in your Heart”

by

Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

Many people will say that we need to have peace with others, peace with ourselves, and most of all peace with God. The term “Peace of God” is often times passively tossed around in conversations as an informal gesture of good-bye. Some people will say may the peace of God be with you until the next time, but do they really understand the meaning or has it like so many others just become a phrase. Everyone talks about peace. Countries want it, Armies fight for it, and Political figures promise it. The alcoholic searches in the bottle to find it, the drug addict experiments hoping to reach it, and the prostitute sells her body dreaming to catch it. However, they never grasp hold of peace. There is the anticipation for world peace, everyone strives to achieve personal peace, there is the desire to acquire peace with relationships, but do we really know what peace is. Many different ideas of peace exist in the world today. Someone may say as long as I have money I have peace. Someone else may say as long as I have family I have peace. Someone else may say as long as I have health I have peace. These are wonderful explanations of peace; nevertheless, theses illustrations of peace are all examples of imperfect peace. Man often will try to find peace in many different avenues only to find that they are chasing something that they will never apprehend without God.

There is a story of a puppy and a big dog. The puppy said to the big dog I have mastered philosophy. I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness and that happiness is my tail. Therefore I am chasing it and when I catch it, I shall have it! The older, bigger, and wiser dog replied, “I too have judged that happiness is a marvelous thing for a dog, and that happiness indeed resides in my tail. But I have noticed that when I chase it, it keeps running away from me; but when I go about my business, it comes after me.” People oftentimes are like this puppy pursuing after peace for they misunderstand the meaning of the scripture in Psalms 34:14 “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it”. This doesn’t mean that we chase after peace like the puppy after its tail, but we pursue to be at peace with others and to be peacemakers. The Bible says in Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the sons of God.”

What is a Peacemaker? Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God: - Many people have a misunderstanding of this particular beatitude because they believe that it is referring to be peaceable or the keepers of peace; however, it is talking about the ones that brings peace to an un-peaceable situation. Understand that a peacemaker is not a characteristic but a responsible activity belonging to every Christian.

The Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 5:18-20 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God”. This is the ministry that every Christian has and that is reconciliation. Reconciliation is - to restore to friendship or harmony.

The Bible says in Mark 2:17 “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Our job of reconciliation is to lead the lost souls back to God. When we lead the lost souls, sinners, back to Christ, then their souls are no longer suffer to be reconciled back to that status they had before the fall of man, this is the concept of a peacemaker.