6-26-2015

Good Morning All!!

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

     I have had a few people ask me why I end my devotions with the phrase “God’s Peace.”  Some want something a little “pithier” perhaps do it in Latin like “Pax Vobis” (peace to you) or “Ex Deo Pax” (From God, Peace).  Some think it should be wordier or perhaps a wittier postscript.  I guess I like it the way it is because it is simple, it is what I truly pray that you will have and because it is the one thing that God gives believers that unbelievers never have.

    In this world and in this life there will be trials and tribulations.  All people face pain, trouble and sorrows.  We face life altering and life ending situations.  The unbeliever faces these events with a fatalistic view of “this is it” there is nothing left, nothing greater, nothing beyond today.  So they face these most difficult times with no hope.  As they look at the trials of others, of their family members, or even their own troubles; they know no peace.  They worry all the way through even the good times.  This is what Solomon was writing about in Ecclesiastes.  Nothing in life was worth the effort.  Everything in life was vain and empty, like the mist of a fog early morning.  Without faith, everything is this vanity.

   Yet God shows us his love for us by using the truth of his forgiveness and the promise of eternal life to give us hope.  We have this hope, the certain guarantee of God’s promise and this promise is guaranteed.  No matter what we face, we know that God’s love is for us and this loving God controls all things.  We can take comfort in this; we can find peace in this.  We can find peace because God loves and promises us forgiveness and eternal life.  Nothing in this life, not even the ending of this life, can separate us from God’s love.  So we can have peace, the peace that comes from trusting in God’s love.  Peace that transcends the present because we have the certain promise of a blessed end.

   So we can have peace in this life because our future is secured.  We don’t have to worry about what happens in the end because we have the victory assured to us by God our Father.  We can always rest in peace because we rest in his unfailing love and mercy.  We can rest secure in his loving arms as we are protected from the pain of this world.  This world cannot defeat us, even death is no longer our master for we are the redeemed children of God and we live with the promise of life eternal.  There is nothing the devil or this world can do to destroy us.  We can face each day, each challenge, and each battle with the confidence that we have already won.  So rest in peace; rest in the peace that passes understanding.

Gracious Father you give us the peace that the world cannot give.  You give us peace as we face health scares and even the valley of the shadow of death.  It cannot overtake us.  Your mercy defends and protects me from all danger.  Guide me to live secure in this grace.  Guide me to know your peace as we trust in your most holy promise.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret