John 14:27, ‘Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful’.
NLT Version, ‘27“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid’.
John 14:1, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me’.
Holy Spirit is showing us that, ‘the wonderful, precious gift that our Lord Jesus is giving to His children is, ‘His peace, through the troubles and fears’ – He says, ‘do not let your hearts be troubled nor let it be fearful’.
We know that we have troubles, difficulties and problems are there in this life, in this world. Holy Spirit is encouraging us that in the midst of all these difficulties, we can experience His peace. We need to live in His peace through the difficulties and problems we face.
Matthew 6:34, ‘“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own’.
Holy Spirit is saying, each day we are having trouble/problem of its own. This is the reality of our lives, but on the other side, Jesus is saying, ‘My peace, I give it to you and you have to live in that peace’. This is the wonderful and precious New covenant gift that God had established to His Children – ‘His Peace – The real Peace!’. This is God’s will for us. Our Lord Jesus is the ‘Prince of Peace’, ‘The only source of Peace’. Only His children can experience His peace, not the world. His Peace is independent of any external things, our hearts can experience His peace through the troubles. ‘In the midst of any circumstance, a child of God can experience the real Peace of God’.
2 Thessalonians 3:16, ‘Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!’
Hebrews 10:34, ‘For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one’.
Holy Spirit says, they were able to experience God’s peace and so they joyfully accepted the seizure of their property, knowing that they have a better possession and a lasting one. We see here, that their minds were not set on the things of the Earth but on the things of the heaven! They were able to accept joyfully, their situation as they were having the ‘Peace’ of God. We can also face all our situations joyfully, having the peace of God.
Habakkuk 3:17 – 19, ‘17Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, 18Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation’.
How can Habakkuk exult in the Lord, in the midst of these circumstances? Only by the Peace He got from the Lord!
When things are not going according to our plan, our expectations, we can still praise the Lord, no matter what happens, as that is what having ‘real peace’ means. The world cannot give us this peace nor it can understand it. His children can experience and live in His peace! This is the true Gospel of hope and of Peace, that God gives.
We as a Church, are one body of Christ. We all need to experience His peace and His peace should rule our hearts always. Apostle Paul says to the Colossian Church.
Colossians 3:15, ‘Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful’.
The purpose and the calling of the ‘body of Christ’ is that, the ‘peace of Christ should rule in our hearts’. We are called to live in Peace.
NLT, ‘15And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful’.
When the things (problems, anxieties, worries about our future) tend to overwhelm us, let the peace of Christ rule our hearts!
Satan, the enemy always tries to steal and rob us of our peace. We should not let him steal our peace. Let us always live in the ‘peace of Christ’ as it is God’s will for us.
We see the two pictures of God’s peace in the Bible.
1. In the midst of the storm, Jesus is sleeping at the back of a boat with His head on a cushion.
Mark 4:35-38, ‘35As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.38Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
2. Matthew 6:26, ‘Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?’
There was a drawing competition of ‘Peace’. The picture that was selected was, a day with very dark clouds and thunders, lightning, having a black sky and is raining! and there was a rock, there was a bird inside it, and was singing happily. These are the pictures of life, having peace of God. The problems, troubles are everywhere, at home, at workplace, when we are dealing with others, but a child of God can live in peace! Praise God.
God dwells in a house where there is peace.
Luke 10:5,6, ‘5“Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ 6If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you’.
World may say there is peace in money, health and wealth – this is not the real peace. The real peace comes only through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How do we experience this real peace in our lives?
1. John 16:33, ‘I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Jesus is encouraging His disciples, in conclusion before going to the cross, He says, ‘In me you have peace’. Only in Jesus we have peace. We need to abide continuously in Him.
John 15:4, ‘Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me’. Abide in His love, His Words, His Living Word, that comfort us, that gives us peace, then we can bear fruits. We can bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the fruits is ‘Peace’. Our Sovereign God is in control. Abide in Him, in His love.
Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose’ All things work out for good not for bad, for those who love God. All the difficulties, problems, situations all work together for our good. Let us abide in Him and bear fruits.
Psalms 119:165, ‘Those who love Your law have great peace’, Those who abide and love His Word, can experience greater peace.
2. Philippians 4:6,7, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’.
By Prayer, the wonderful gift of God, the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension and understanding, will guard us and protects our hearts and minds from all situations in Christ Jesus. May we all experience and live in this peace all our lives.
Jesus was encouraging His disciples before going to the cross, ‘to take heart for I have overcome the world’. John 16:33, ‘I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
After Jesus was resurrected, when His disciples were living in fear, we see the compassion of God, His mercy, love and care for His disciples.
John 20:19, ‘19So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.”
We see the love of Jesus towards His disciples, when they were locked down, due to the fear of the Jews, did not know what to do, because Jesus died and they were troubled. Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and was encouraging them, ‘Peace be with you’!
‘20And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.’
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord alive! Jesus is alive!
‘21So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Our Father sent Jesus to the world. We are also sent into this world. This is our calling in this world. Holy Spirit is encouraging us, let us have an ear to hear – ‘Peace be with you, I am Alive!’ Let us be encouraged by the heart of Jesus, the love of God to His disciples. Whether we are at home or at workplace or when dealing with others at the difficult times, Jesus says, ‘I am alive, Peace be with you!’ Let us experience His peace- the real treasure and the kingdom of God, in our hearts and also be peacemakers for others and to bless others. This is God’s calling for us. As Jesus said, when He was washing His disciples’ feet in,
John 13:7, ’Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”
We will know everything why things are happening later. Let us trust God that all things work for our good not for our bad, to those who Love Him. May God bless us and help us experience His wonderful gift – Real Peace is given only to His children through Jesus. May God make each one of us into a peacemaker and bless everyone around us. May God help us.
