" Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:7) Peace has been defined as a state of tranquility, or freedom from disturbance. Now this may sound cheap and commonplace. It may seem like something that is easy to come by. But I assure you friend that peace is the major ingredient lacking in the world today, even in the church. Peace was one of Jesus' favourite words and virtues. Today, as we study the place of peace in our lives we discover how God uses His peace to empower our lives..
Our society is in shamble today. There is tribal wars, inter-ethnic wars, inter-religious wars, even inter-personal wars. Disagreements and chaos are the order of the day. Nothing seems to work smoothly anymore. Nations live in constant fear of each other. Even our so called treaties are a mirage of what peace is because they are usually built on lies, deception, manipulation and strong arming techniques. The world has become a survival-of-the-fittest contest. No wonder we need peace.
I found out from the scriptures that Jesus was so concerned with our peace. At every point in time He will say to the disciples "I give you peace, or peace be still". He never said "I give you love, or I give you joy, or I give you faith" Even when they came to Him asking for faith, He referred them to the scriptures. But He never waited for them to ask for peace, He just gave them His peace - times without number.
My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth! Jesus pointed out that there is a form of peace existing out there. The peace that doesn't really bring freedom. The peace that requires compromises and sacrifising of one's belief. The peace that talks of religious convergence - one world religion. The peace that wants us to accept that every religion is right and is a way of getting right with God. The peace that suggest that nobody should preach the gospel. The peace that makes law asking us to worship our God without telling anybody about it. The peace that suggests that churches should not mount their speakers outside to avoid "noise" pollution. The peace that suggests we should compromise our faith in order to be acceptable by the society. The peace that says we should bring in some worldly practices into the church to make it "modern". Jesus said that type of peace is deadly - He called it the Peace of the World; and He promised that He has given us a different kind of peace.
My aim today is to open your eyes to understand that God has deposited a costly commodity in you - His peace. When it seems that all is going haywire, log into your peace, and cruise into divine communion with God.
Tomorrow, we continue this teaching by exploring what God's peace is, and why it is given to us. Shalom!