THE PEACE OF CHRIST GIVEN TO YOU

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid . . . These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace . . . Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ" (John 14:27,33; Rom 1:7))

Devotion 9 of 12

PEACE CAN BE TAKEN AWAY

It is not pleasant to think about this, but it is necessary to do so. If duly provoked, the same God WHO gives peace can take it away. We have Israel as an example of this. "For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies" (Jeremiah 16:5).

You must not allow such stern words to be offensive to you. There is too much in the Word of God on this matter. On one occasion, Israel pushed the Lord to such extremes that He said, "Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth" (Jer 15:1-4). Through Isaiah, the Lord dealt with a people who had forgotten Him, and trampled his Word under their feet. To them He said, "therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favor" (Isa 27:11).

Some will choose to contend that once peace is given to a person in Christ it can never be taken away. That peace, however, is experienced by faith, not by an irreversible Divine mandate (Rom 5:1). Truth governs our hearts to the degree that we allow it to do so. It has the nature of a dove, and will not run roughshod over us. That is why we are admonished, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful" (Col 3:15).

The realization of peace is a conditional thing. It depends on our faith in, and fellowship with, God through Jesus Christ. "And the work ("fruit," NIV) of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever" (Isaiah 32:17).

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace ("there is a future for the man of peace," NIV) (Psalms 37:37).

PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You for the peace that is given to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Grant me grace to allow it to rule my heart and mind.

-- TOMORROW: PEACE CAN COME IN ABUNDANT MEASURE --