Peace Within and Peace With Others

           Peace With People

Mark 9:50 “…have peace with one another.”
Romans 12:18 ^“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men”
Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all people…”

In order to have peace with people, we must revisit the “Love Chapter” which is 1 Corinthians 13, specifically verses 4-7:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up. Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Here is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 from the Message translation:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Peace with people requires love. We must love God, love people, and love ourselves. We demonstrate this love by taking the form of a servant rather than a master.
(See Mark 9:35 “…If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”) We

humble ourselves, not forcing our opinions on others, nor despising the other’s opinions. Peace demands that we leave vengeance to God, who will right all wrongs in His time.

Romans 12:19 “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
It’s not our job to “set the record straight” or fight for what we think rightfully belongs to us. Unfortunately, the church is full of examples of the absence of peace. It’s not our job to judge the world; we’d do better to make sure that we as individuals are walking in a way that reflects the Holy Spirit. It is absolutely necessary that we forgive when we feel that we’ve been wronged. It is absolutely necessary that we refuse to find a scapegoat when things don’t go our way. There are things in life that aren’t going to go our way. Sometimes it’s our own fault and sometimes it is someone else’s fault. But in that case, we have to forgive them (and forgive ourselves) and move on.


The passage in Galatians 5 that describe the fruit of the spirit, begins with what is not of the spirit but of the “flesh” Note that although these verses speak of many things including sexual immorality and even murder, the emphasis is on the fact that these “works of the flesh” are the polar opposites of the Fruit of the Spirit listed in verses 22 and 23. This list in verses 19-21 includes hatred, contentions outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, and dissentions. Galatians 5 concludes with

“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

We’re to pursue peace, seek it, look for it, and find a way to maintain inner contentment and peace with other people. Obviously, if I’ve been working on controlling my temper, forgiving others of real or perceived injustices, refusing to hold a grudge, I can accomplish a certain amount of peace in my relationships with others. Romans 12:18 says “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

This verse indicates that there are times when it’s not possible and there are times that the situation doesn’t depend on just my own peaceful state. As good as the word “peace” sounds, it could end up being unattained, or perhaps attained in an unpeaceful way. When we see someone being taken advantage of, are we to ignore it just for the sake of peace? Peace is a fruit of the Spirit listed with love and goodness. Sometimes we actually have to work to ensure goodness for others. There’s a slogan often used in civil protests that says, “No justice, No peace.” There is no peace for a given society if portions of the society fell their rights are trampled upon. Remember what God said to His people:

Isaiah 58:6-7:

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?       
The people were so proud of themselves, bragging that they have observed their “fasts.”They followed a religious “practice” of abstaining from food for a period of time. God responded that the kind of “fast” He wants is for us to free those that are unjustly imprisoned, provide the poor with food, clothing housing and opportunities. In other words, He wants us to share. He wants us to treat people right. He gave us His peace when He gave us His own Son. We can spread His peace to others when we act in true justice.
    

Peace of God and Peace With God

Peace: an absence of hostilities, harmonious relations, inner contentment, serenity

 This present world is filled with hostilities and harmonious relations seem to only exist in an idealistic imagination of someone who’s never watched the news. There is a huge misunderstanding about peace and God’s kingdom of peace. God’s present “kingdom of peace” is inside of us as individuals. Anyone who’s ever heard of Christmas knows the verse Luke 2:14 that says, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” So if that was over 2,000 years ago, where is the peace? Unfortunately this verse has been misstated. Modern translations render this verse as  “peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” All those who have accepted the gift of faith are qualified to be included in those with whom God is pleased.

Luke 2:14 in The Message:

Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

 Luke 2:14 in the New International Version:

 Glory to God in the highest heaven,
 and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

 

Right now, God’s peace is inside of us as individuals. There will, however, be a time when this kingdom of peace will be an actual kingdom spoken of in Isaiah 9:6: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His Shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  This kingdom of peace, when “the government will be upon His shoulder,” doesn’t occur until after the Second Coming of the Messiah, however in this time, right now we can have the peace of God in our individual lives.
That being said, however, doesn’t mean that the individual who has accepted the peace of God through faith in the finished work at the cross is not concerned with the state of other human beings. In gratitude to God, as a response to His great love for as individuals, we are inspired to lift up others. The peace of God in our lives fills us with compassion to help those in need. It also fills us with the desire to help remediate the damage we’ve done to our planet. Unfortunately, it seems that what the world sees “Christians” doing is just going to church. We do see individuals risking their own safety and comfort and going out into the world feeding the hungry, digging wells, providing medical services and promoting justice. True peace for the individual causes him to want peace for others. Those of us who haven’t yet found our own inspiration as to how we will spread the peace of God, are trusting that He Himself will open our eyes to our own gift for spreading His peace.

Peace Began with God

1 Corinthians 14:33 ^“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…”

Philippians 4:9 “…the God of peace will be with you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ^“ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely…”

All throughout the bible we read, “the God of Peace, the Prince of Peace, the author of peace, which lets us know peace is an attribute of God Himself. In fact, every time Jesus greeted His disciples (especially after His resurrection,) He greeted them with the word “peace.” The Hebrew word “Shalom” which is usually translated as peace, actually means “wholeness.” It includes good health, provision, and total well-being.  The implication here is that when Jesus greeted His disciples with the word “peace” He greeted them with more than just, “have an absence of hostilities” or “have inner contentment.” Instead, His greeting included, “Don’t be afraid,” “Be well,” Be prosperous,” and “have inner contentment.” Peace is not the absence of trouble. Peace is our dependency of God to work it all out and protect us in spite of trouble.

 

God Provided a Way for us to Have peace with Him

1 John 4:18-19  ^“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.”

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:10 “ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

God gave us the opportunity to have peace with Him, to not be afraid of his wrath or punishment. Because He loves us with a perfect love, we have no need to fear. God punished our sins in the body of His own son. God demonstrated His great love for us by redeeming us from the penalty of sin and by declaring us righteous in His sight. If this sounds really simplistic, we must remember that a steep price was paid for this peace. Because we so often we hear the phrase, “Jesus died for our sins,” we’re almost tempted to treat this as a small thing. Jesus suffered public mocking and inhumane suffering even before He actually went to the cross. The prophet Isaiah told us what would happen to Him 700 years before the actual event. Isaiah 53:5-6  says “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; And the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

 

The book of Matthew describes the actual events leading up to the crucifixion itself. Matthew 26:37 says that even before His arrest, in the garden of Gethsemane, “He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” Luke 22:44 says “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”  Note how Jesus was first taken to the high priest, where he was abused by the temple guards there and then taken to the Roman governor, where he was mocked and beaten by the Roman guards in their private garrison, in addition to the public scourging:

Matthew 27:26-31 “Then they spat in His face and beat Him and other struck Him with the palms of their hands. (This describes His treatment at the hands of the temple guards, the servants of the religious leaders. Later, after Jesus had been turned over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate who repeatedly said he found no fault with Jesus, still had Jesus scourged. The Roman scourge was a short whip of three straps with scraps of metal knotted in. This instrument would tear off the person’s flesh with each lash and there would be excessive bleeding.)  27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium… 28. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand, And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30. Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.   

 

 

Having His Inner Peace

Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.”

Philippians 4:7 “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Inner Peace Gives us courage In addition to no longer having to fear of punishment for sin, inner peace includes freedom from fear of people or circumstances. Peace also includes contentment, and freedom from anxiety. This world is so full of people and circumstances that will cause us to live in constant fear. There’s the risk of getting killed by terrorists, the risk of contacting a fatal disease, the risk of losing our income, and the risk of losing those we love. In order to have relief from these fears, we have to accept the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace. We have to constantly remind ourselves that we belong to God. He’s the Creator of this entire universe and He loves us unconditionally. We also have to remember the promises in His word:

Psalm 91:5-7 “⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.”

Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” This is reiterated in the New Testament in Hebrews 13:6 “So we can boldly say: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Psalm 121:7-8 ^7 “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
⁸ The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.

Inner Peace Gives us Contentment

One of the things that rob us of peace is the idea that we have to have more things. God did promise us in Matthew 6:33 to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added unto us.” We know that “things” in this particular context, is referring to clothing, shelter, and food, since the previous verses in that chapter deal with how God feeds the birds of the air and how He clothes the grass with beautiful flowers.

^{Matthew 6:25} “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I have to admit that I have trouble with this idea of wanting. All day long, my thoughts play an ongoing recording of “I want new clothes, I want a new phone, I want a tablet, I want to update the bathroom. I want a Coach bag. And of course, I want a new car.” Every time that recording starts to play, I have to remind myself that “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The recording stops for that moment and then later it comes back. We live in a society that tells us that we have to have more. The commercials on television make us think that everyone has these particular things but us. If we’re walking in the fruit of the Spirit, we’re not supposed to give in to the idea that we need more and more things in order to be fulfilled. The Bible speaks to us about having contentment:

Philippians 4:11 “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”

^{Hebrews 13:5 “}Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

^{1 Timothy6:6 “}Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 6:10 “for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” is a verse that has been misconstrued and misquoted over many years. We need money to buy goods and services and we need money in order to give to the poor. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 10:19, Solomon said that “money answers everything.” What Paul wrote to Timothy about money has to do with greed. He points out that people’s “love of money” has caused them to basically ruin their own lives. Thinking about money all the time is truly a “peace destroyer.” The word “covetousness” is defined as inordinately or wrongly desirous of wealth or possessions; greedy. Jesus, in Mark 7: 22 listed covetousness as one of the things that defile people alongside things like thefts, deceit, lewdness, and blasphemy.  The Bible tells us that we are supposed to be fed, sheltered, clothed, and have money to donate to charities and to churches. However, we are not to love money and we’re certainly not to trade our peace for money. The Bible says that God’s grace (His unmerited favor towards us) will cause us to receive all we need and to have enough left over to help others.

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”



The Bible also tells us that if we have a need, we’re to ask God through prayer, being sure to give thanks, and that we will receive peace, His peace which passes all

understanding. Is the answer to our request “peacefulness while we wait” or is the answer God’s peace itself?

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; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showing God our love

   Showing God our love

Part of the definition of love involves caring about the well-being of another. We know that God’s well-being is already established, so a sensible interpretation of caring about God’s well-being is caring about pleasing Him. We know that God experiences pleasure. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that He “rejoices over us with singing.” One of the obvious ways we show our love to God is by praising Him. Hebrews 13:15 says, “…let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

 We must also accept His great love for us, which includes accepting and valuing ourselves.

If we ever question our own self-worth, we have to remember that according to Genesis 1: 26, “God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Further, He sent His own Son to redeem us from the condemnation which was the result of man’s disobedience. Romans 5:8 tells us that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And according to Ephesians 1:6 “He made us accepted in the Beloved.” Eugene H. Peterson expressed this concept so beautifully in The Message:

Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

We must rely on Him, the way a child relies on her parent. Jesus said that unless we became like little children we would not enter His kingdom. We have to humble ourselves before Him, seeking His will above our own.

There’s a verse in Psalm 34 that says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I always thought this meant that if I delighted in Him, He would give me whatever I wanted. However, I just learned that the desires He’ll give me are the desires He wants for me. In other words, He’ll change my mind about what I thought I wanted. His desire according to Matthew 6:33 is that I “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things would be added to me.”

Another way we show our love to God is by being grateful.

We show Him our love by trusting Him, believing what He said in His word and believing in His good plans that He has for us.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Keeping God’s Commandments as proof of our love for Him

I’ve heard many ministers say that the way we show our love to God is by keeping His commandments. Jesus said to His disciples many times “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keep them, it is he who loves Me…”

John 14:23 “…if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…”

John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love…”

John 15:12 “This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.”

 It’s important to remember what the most important commandment was the one given by Jesus before He went to the cross: love one another! The most important way we show God our love is by obeying His command that we love one another. In order to have and abide in the fruit of the Spirit is to first have the Holy Spirit inside. If we’re ruled by God’s Spirit, we will easily overcome the temptations to lie, cheat, steal, engage in idolatry, disobey our parents, etc. Remember when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, they were also given an out: they could present animals to the priest for sacrifice once a year to be cleansed from sin. Thank God that when Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for sin, was offered up, our sins are forever forgiven by the blood that He shed. Once accepting Christ into our hearts and being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are redeemed from the penalty of sin. The Bible says that the commandment to love each other is the fulfillment of all the earlier commandments.

Romans 13:9 “⁹ For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.