The “Peace” within you
John 14:27-31
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. "Come now; let us leave.
Angelo Mosca aged 74 and Joe Kapp aged 73 are two old Canadian Football Leauge football stars who let an old feud from 1969 steal their opportunity to find peace recently and it all got caught on tape.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/story/2011/11/27/sp-cfl-mosca-kapp-fight.html
What a shame that such a thing happened but it happens to each one of us from time to time when we forget where our peace comes from. Fortunately there are no cameras to capture us when we loose our peace – but then again.
Hebrews 4:13
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Peace is appropriately recognized this week as our Second Advent candle. When I stop to think about the Christ-like virtues that we mark Advent with (Hope, Peace, Joy and Love) I am suddenly aware how important it is that we use candles.
A candle only gives off illumination when it is lit when fire has ignited it. Then once lit it begins to melt and will only last until all the wax has melted. Advent takes just a few short weeks of the Church calendar and these weeks do indeed seem to melt away quickly.
I was thinking this week about how I stand up against the heat of daily living when my peace is threatened. Sadly I have to confess that I begin to melt. Not because I am being used up to spread the light of peace but rather it is the fire or heat of daily living that so often melts my resolve for peace. It is my sinful self that is exposed.
I’m one of those people who can get all fired up about one thing or another and go off like a bon fire. It’s as if I have lost all control and out comes things I would never have imagined I was capable of. All this is wrapped up inside me until my peace cork pops.
I guess I have been using the wrong kind of cork to keep things bottled up.
How about you? Can you relate to this kind of melt down? Have the holidays brought one to your doorstep yet?
I think of the holiday movies where every once in a while you see some poor soul trying to get through the holidays by keeping a bottle close at hand. All too often the spirits kept in those kinds of bottles tend to loosen our cork rather than set it. No - that’s not a solution to avoiding a peace melt down. It will only make it harder to understand you when you slur your words as you pop your cork.
But praise God we do have a way to find and keep peace even when we find ourselves melting down from time to time. Jesus is our source for peace during Advent and every other day of the year as well. The thing is we have to learn to apply His peace to our everyday lives.
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God
Application only works if you follow the instructions. Applying “Preparation H” to a fat lip will not alleviate the symptoms - you have to follow the instructions and use the right remedy for the right problem.
Well it may be that the thing that has gotten swollen is your pride or your self esteem. What you need to do is to identify the reason why your peace has been stolen or threatened and figure out where and how to apply Jesus to the problem.
Do we apply Jesus as a topical ointment hoping that He will get through our thick skin or do we ingest Him and slowly absorb Him through the digestion?
Those methods may work but they will take time to remedy the lack of peace in our lives.
Jesus gives us the answer in verse 27. “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”.
We have to apply the peace that Jesus offers to our hearts so that it will enter our entire circulatory system and be pumped to every single cell of our body.
It is one thing to have head knowledge about the peace that Jesus gives but quite another to know it in our hearts. When it gets into our hearts then it can get into our entire life.
Our life at home, at work and the life we live when we are away from church and with people who are of the world like our non-church friends. You know the one’s we really have fun with?
Philippians Chapter 4 NKJV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
If we work out this scripture we can see that the peace of our hearts can be restored when we stop being anxious or fearful. When we exercise gentleness to others we will reap what we sow. We need to take everything to God in prayer with thankful hearts. Then the peace of God which Jesus provides will guard our hearts and minds.
So applying the peace that Jesus offers us to our hearts will keep us from blowing our tops or minds if you will.
This Advent let your search for peace bring you to Jesus. Apply Him to your heart and let the peace of God which surpasses all understanding leave you in a state of Grace rather than disgrace. – Amen.
