"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' " - Luke 2:13-14
One of the things that just grieves me is when I think about how we picture the nativity scene. I mean how we picture the people there with glowing faces and embroidered clothing. That is so NOT the way it was. Those people were under pressure! Jesus came to regular people overwhelmed by challenging and difficult circumstances and I believe that peace is the antidote to pressure.
So what makes me feel pressure? Has this ever happened to you? Do you feel like sometimes people are making decisions about your life and no one really checked with you? That's when I need peace, when stuff just comes suddenly out of nowhere.
That happened with Joseph for sure. Joseph must have been thinking, "What's some guy at the other end of the Mediterranean Sea doing? And right when my wife's getting ready to have a baby. Someone lost my reservation and there's nowhere to stay but some cold, nasty stable, and then Mary tells me that the baby is coming NOW." That's pressure. Joseph needed peace. So do we.
We need peace with God. That's the peace I feel when I feel conversion. Romans 5:1 says "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." You can't have any other peace until you have that - peace with God.
Peace from God is descriptive of a covenant relationship with Him. The Old Testament concept is shalom, it means peace, but is the complete state of wholeness and wellbeing. It's the sense that I'm living in a close, covenantal, relationship with God. It means great things about my life and future because of His grace toward me.
Then there's the peace of God. It's the calm assurance that what God is doing is best. It doesn't matter what comes in the mail today, it doesn't matter what the doctor says, it doesn't matter who rings my phone, it doesn't matter what comes my way today I have something guarding my heart.
You can get off the emotional rollercoaster and let this peace guard your heart. Nothing can penetrate that except that you open the door yourself. God's gonna take care of me. It's an awesome thing. And listen it's a real thing.
Peace with God, peace from God, peace of God. That's what the angels were talking about.
James MacDonald – Walk in the Word
In 2007, God called us from a fifteen year history in manufacturing to Life Action Ministries to help support the message of revival. It is our desire and passion to see personal revival transform lives in order that we may become a nationwide community of believers who are loving, Christ-like, and committed, so that Christ’s redemptive purposes can be accomplished in the world.
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