"My Peace I Give To You"

John 14:27 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus said,
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

At this time when the world is facing the Covid-19 Pandemic, peacefulness has been lost to stress, fear, uncertainty, and far too often hopelessness. Universally we are learning that governments of the world cannot deliver the solutions and confidence to overcome the stress and fear. This pandemic does not respect national boundaries or racial distinctions. As we see on the news reports, all the peoples of the world are battling the same enemy and facing the same challenges and losses. Death and illness is indiscriminate.

Jesus knew that we would have these kinds of challenges and attacks in our lives, so when He rose from death and took His place in heaven, He gave His Spirit to those who believe in Him. He promised that He would "never leave us nor fore sake us". By His Spirit, He walks beside us as we travel though the challenges and trials of life. His motivation is His Love for us all. Like this pandemic, His love crosses all national boundaries and all races. Jesus came to the world for the whole world.

If you call on Jesus and believe that He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you...forgiven of your sins and seeking His righteousness, He will live within you by His Spirit.

John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Book of Isaiah

We have been struggling with our study of the Book of Isaiah.  We are about 1/3 of the way through it and it has been a very laborious journey.  We finished chapter 23 and we had to pause and ask why these chapters are in the Bible.  Is God showing us how he could predict the future through His Prophet Isaiah.  It's easy to start to look at the historic evidence and stop there, but that same evidence can be found in other Books of the Bible.  This week, we asked how this can serve us today and we concluded, that through His Prophet we get to look through the eyes of God Himself and see the world as he sees it.

God, through Isaiah, pointed to all the nations surrounding Judah and warned the Jews of the judgment that was coming to all those nations.  He was warning the Jews not to adopt the ways of the world and turn their backs to God as the Northern tribes in Israel had done.  That same warning applies to us today.  God judges nations and therefore it is vitally important who the leaders of the nations are.  God tells us to submit to our government, so if we elect non-believers, people who do not acknowledge Jesus as Savior, Son of God, and Redeemer, then we are agreeing to follow leaders who will lead us away from God.

The Church must embrace the teachings of the Bible which will help us to see the temptations of the world for what they are, and to hear the warnings that God shares through His Spirit.  One other thing that has become evident through our study of Isaiah is that God is bigger that we can fathom and we fail to recognize His magnificence, His providence, and His love for us.  He will judge the world and He wants us to be judged in the righteousness of Christ.

"The voice of my Savior needs to be louder than the voice of my accuser!"...Pastor Ronnie Reid

Matthew 13 13; 16-17 (NKJV)  Jesus said, ^"But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

"The voice of my Savior needs to be louder than the voice of my accuser!".

When Pastor Reid said those words in his sermon, it really got my attention.  I knew immediately that God had a message for me in those words.  I am one of those people who follows news, politics,  sports...just about anything the world wants to throw at me.  Not only do I follow current events, but I also have opinions about most everything I hear (or see).  Now I have some very smart friends, as evidenced by the fact that most of them recognize the brilliance of my opinions and I know they would support me if I pursued a political office.  Full disclosure and confession....I want the acceptance and agreement of friends and family too much!  I'm quick to get their approval and honestly don't give much thought to the other side of arguments/ opinion when they don't line up with mine. 

Not only am I dismissive of others opinions, but honestly I'm dismissive of the people offering these opinions as well.  I see them as less intelligent, less informed, lacking enlightenment, and less caring and compassionate.  Full disclosure and confession...My pride is surfacing. 

With the words of Pastor Ronnie, I recognize that instead of listening for God to speak through the news, the debates, the chaos that the world bombards us with, I parrot the world.  It doesn't matter which side of issues you are on, the world supplies the talking points, the re-posts, the headlines, the photos to share.  

The Holy Spirit's "Still Small Voice" is available to us if we tune out the world and listen for and seek God's voice.  God's word will draw us to be more loving, more patient, kinder, more faithful and joyful.  We will discover that peace can be experienced not by winning the argument but by being right, and that only comes by giving God a voice.