The Prince of Peace - Part II

In the last post, I described the peace the Lord brings in to the world.  It is a peace far different from mere personal comfort or even the absence of war.  God's peace is shalom, a wholeness that only our Creator can provide for us, because we need to be made whole, but cannot heal ourselves.

I don't know about you, but I want to experience that kind of peace.  And I believe the Bible tells us three ways to do so: becoming a Christian, daily placing our faith in Christ, and sharing God's peace by living God's way.

Placing all your faith in Christ - establishing a restored relationship with God by receiving His gift of forgiveness of all your sin - is the first step to know true peace.  This is what we call "becoming a Christian."  So the big question is, do you know Jesus as your very own Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace?  He came for one purpose, to go to the cross to die for our sins, so we could be restored to right relationship with God.  The angel told Joseph, You shall give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.  (Matthew 1:21)  And Isaiah prophesied, But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (53:5)

Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

Believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Savior and Lord is the first step to embracing the peace you long for.

Receive the best Christmas gift this Christmas!

You may be well aware of step one, so let's move to number two.  I think this is where many of us lose our way and say, "I am a Christian, but I'm not feeling the peace you're talking about."  To experience the peace God alone can give, you must keep placing your faith in Christ day by day.  Daily, the believer must remember the Lord and trust in Him.  Isaiah said, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  (26:3)  And Paul says to the Philippians, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.   We experience God's peace and are protected by His peace as we keep our hearts and minds focused on Him, the peace-giver.  I like to think about it as a daily throwing all of my eggs in God's basket.  Trusting the Lord is  throwing all your eggs in His basket!  Every day.  Sun up to sun down.  This is the only path to peace that passes all understanding.

Throw all your eggs in God's basket!

The final way to experience God's peace is to share the peace of Christ by living for the Lord!  Again, our prophet-pal Isaiah has a good word: And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. (32:17)  Living the way God directs us to live (i.e. righteously) gives us peace in our hearts and our trust in Him increases as we see Him work in our lives.  We will know God's peace more as we obey Him, which leads us to peace with others - an increase of peace on earth.  We can be an epicenter of peace when we know Christ as our Savior and follow Him as our Lord.

Be an epicenter of peace because you know the Prince of Peace.

I hope you have gathered that the three "steps" above are not a checklist to peace, but rather a way of life that pursues, embraces, and reflects the peace offered by the Prince of Peace.  Until we live eternally with our Prince of Peace, we cannot do this perfectly.  But while we wait, let's be people of contrite and humble hearts who acknowledge our need for our Prince by surrendering to Him and living for Him, and, thus, be people who know peace and share it with a dying world.

Of the Isaiah nine passage one commentator says, "In Christ peace has come!"

Indeed!

Jesus said to His disciples, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.  Let not your hearts be trouble, neither let them be afraid.   To modernize, He said something like this, "Hey guys, I'm giving you my peace, real true shalom that satisfies your souls.  Don't be afraid!"  The real peace we're looking for that makes us right with God and satisfies our souls, even in the midst of trial and tribulation, is found in Christ, the Prince of peace.  This peace (shalom) is a comfort to us.  We are comforted to know and experience the peace that passes all understanding.  This peace is also a challenge to us.  We are challenged to bear out this peace in the world, living at peace with all men.

Peace is not sentimental.  Peace is a person and a reality we can know in Christ.  The prince of peace is and ever shall be the Prince of Peace!  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.

Peace is not about warm fuzzies or a neat, conflict-free life.  Peace is about salvation and transformation - our deepest needs being met by the Prince of Peace: our lives being changed, our world influenced.

May this Peace be yours this Christmas!

The Prince of Peace - Part I

Sunday evening I was invited to be the speaker at a service our church hosts once a month at a local continuing care retirement community.  There's a group of church members who regularly facilitate the service, providing musical accompaniment and structure for the time, but individuals rotate in to give a message.  I don't post much here these days, but since I have the content all typed up anyway, I thought I'd share it with you.

The Lord directed me to speak about peace, specifically the Prince of Peace.  How did He direct exactly?  Well, it went something like me thinking one morning, God, what should I talk to these people about?  I am feeling clueless and have no specific direction other than thinking it's December, so it should be Christmasy or Adventy or something.  Then later as I was praying (I journal my prayers, by the way, because, well, focus, you know), I called God the Prince of Peace, and it was like a light bulb went on.  I felt 100% positive that was the trail I was supposed to follow for the folks at St. Andrews.  Fancy, right?  Ask God for direction and He gives it.  And yet, I am still always amazed He does.  Grace upon grace!

Aaaaaanyway.

Christmas is a time when we think a lot about peace.  We long for "peace on earth" and receive Christmas cards with the phrase, and probably an image like the one above, maybe with an outline of the world, as well.  I have a Peace decoration I put above my kitchen sink this time of year, in fact.  But what the heck is peace?  I mean, what are we talking about, and do we all think of the same thing?

The dictionary defines peace as:

• freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility
• freedom from or cessation of war or fighting

That sounds good, right?  A life free of disturbance and a world free from war.  Sign me up!  I really, really hate conflict.

But the Bible calls Jesus the Prince of Peace, which makes me think that maybe peace is something more that mere tranquility and the absence of war.  Maybe peace is not about my personal comfort, my plans coming to fruition without difficulty, or all nations and peoples getting along, but rather about something deeper - soul deep - a reconciliation and a comfort that we all long for, but can't create for ourselves.

Speaking of, the peace that we try to create always has an end, doesn't it?  There's often that uncomfortable feeling when things are going well that perhaps something terrible is lurking just beyond the next sunrise.  The peace we long for cannot be offered to us by the world in which we live, the governments ruling over us, or the protections and plans we put in place.

That brings me to Isaiah 9:6:

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
    there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
    to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
    from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

The Bible tells us that the Prince of Peace will usher in a government and peace that will have no end.  Peace with NO END?!  God was doing something BIG when he sent the Prince of Peace!  (By the way, the Prince of Peace is more commonly known as Christ Jesus.)

In Hebrew, peace is the word shalom, which means completeness, soundness, or well-being.  The angels announced peace to the shepherds.  Jesus spoke of His peace, a peace different than the world gives,  to His disciples as he was nearing His crucifixion and ascension.  Paul taught that when we have been justified by faith in Christ we have peace with God.  I don't know about you, but I want to experience that kind of peace!

But since this post as gotten long enough, I'll save the details of how to experience the peace offered to us by the Prince of Peace in a subsequent post.  Advent is all about waiting, right?

Till next post, grace and peace,

Heather