Jesus Our Peace

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Scripture: John 14:25-27 (ESV)

25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid”.

Devotion:

                These days our culture has changed from one that at least tolerated Christians to one that is in many ways hostile to people of the Christian faith. We are instructed by the culture that our nation is irredeemably racist. There is also a relentless assault on our language. We see words change their meaning overnight. Some words are banned from public speech altogether. We look around at the changes that seem to come so fast, and we say with the psalmist David “

 3 When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3 (NIV)

          Even though almost everything we once held as truth is now considered to be oppressive or inappropriate, we can look to the scripture for hope and confidence to engage the culture. In the remainder of Psalm 11, David looks and sees that God is still on his throne and he will punish those who are destroying the foundations. We can know that God will ultimately have the victory over the evil world systems.

          Today’s scripture teaches us that we have received the Holy Spirit who will teach us the very words of Jesus. We have the record of those Spirit inspired words in the Bible. We must be faithful to study these words so that we will know the truth. For example, in Romans 8:1-2 (NIV) “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” In this scripture we know that we are God’s prize possessions. God will forgive all our sins through Jesus Christ finished work on earth. No person is beyond redemption. Jesus has secured our forgiveness, and no one can take that away from us.

          It is this same Jesus who promises to give us peace and lets us know that our hearts do not ever need to be troubled by what is going on in the world around us. We need not fear the world. The worst that the world can do to us has already been taken care of through Jesus’ defeat of death. His victory secures our future. Even death no longer holds any terror for one who has trusted in the Lord.

Prayer:

          O God of heaven hear us when we cry out to you because the times in which we are living are increasingly evil. Give us confidence to speak the truth of your word into a culture that isn’t receptive to it. Help us to live into the peace that Jesus promises us. Calm our anxious hearts. Do not let our fears control us. Do not let us become angry because we know that you are still on the throne and in control of everything that happens on the earth. Amen.

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