Glory Seed Devotionals, 2015: Year of Promise
Jesus IS our PEACE…
Here comes that verse again, it’s the verse I can’t get out of my mind or my life even if I wanted to (and I don’t). “I give you peace, THE KIND OF PEACE THAT ONLY I CAN GIVE. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.” (John 14:27, CEV, emphasis mine) Do you have a bible verse that has been superglued on your heart like mine?
Consider this: There is peace and there is PEACE. One exists in a conflict free environment, the other exists in every environment known to humankind. One is a feeling, the other is an experience. One is subject to time, the other is timeless. One needs your support, the other support you. One the world gives us, the other only the Holy Spirit gives us. I am sure none of that is new to you after all if you think hard enough you’ll get reacquainted with times when you’ve had feelings of peace and when you’ve experienced PEACE.
Lately I’ve been wrestling with the term “peacemaker” and MY role as a peacemaker. My dilemma is this: How can I make something created by Jesus and has been in place since his return to heaven, and why would I? To do so would be like buying a multi-million house then putting up a pup tent in the backyard and living in that leaving the house empty.
For me the problem is further complicated because I don’t know how to make PEACE. Sure I’ve made peace in the past and in so doing enemies have become friends, health issues have gone from sources of depression to sources of spiritual growth. But how do I make a life threatening storm powerless? How do I calm my fear of the dark, of death? Of all the times I’ve gone from peace to PEACE the one that standouts one happened on September 13, 2013 at St. Johns Providence Hospital when a doctor stopped my heart in order to repair it. Sure I was “out cold” while the procedure was going on but I was awake and at PEACE the entire morning and the days after as well. Looking back on it now it was almost as if Jesus stood at the foot of my bed that morning and said, “PEACE, be still!” I believe it is out of our relationship with Jesus PEACE will come.
I know I may be “splitting hairs” about my role as peacemaker but what if my role in PEACE is to create a Jesus rich environment (which includes peace) where PEACE comes out of a relationship with Jesus? It is my prayer and goal these Glory Seeds will help in further opening up your Jesus rich environment.
Believe! Anticipate! Experience! Be transformed!
Grace and PEACE, Amen!
Gary
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“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT)
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“Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.”
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