PERFECT PEACE

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MARCH 1, 2022

 

Philippians 4:6-7 

6Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 

Isaiah 26:3 

3You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

 

 John 14:27

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.

 

 

 PEACE, PEACE, GOD'S PEACE


Today is the final installment of a series of prayers and reflections on the theme of Preparing for God’s New Thing in our life.

The Bible reveals to us who God is, and one important aspect of His character is that the Lord loves peace and wants it to fill the earth.

Read Jesus’ promise in John’s gospel: 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. We also learn that the Lord is a “God of peace” in the following verses Romans 15:3; Philippians 4:9; I Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20. Of course we also know that Jesus is referred to as the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6.

In light of all this, when Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers” in Matthew 5:9 we can understand why: To be a peacemaker is to reflect the image of our God and Father—using our breath, energy, and creativity to sow peace wherever the Spirit takes us.

It all begins in our own hearts.


A PRAYER FOR PERSONAL PEACE

God,

Thank You for making it possible for me to always experience peace. Because You gave us Your Son, I always have a way to know and experience You. There is nothing that can separate me from Your loving presence. God, I know this, but sometimes I struggle to believe You could love someone like me.

When I don’t feel Your peace, please help me to rest in the confident assurance that You are still in control. And because You are still in control, I can approach each new day with joy and thankfulness.

There is nothing that is too hard for You to do. There is nothing broken that You cannot make new. So please help me to see the new things You are doing in this time in my life. Let my trust in You deepen and my faith in You flourish. For as my faith grows, so does my awareness of Your perfect love. And when Your love consumes me, there is no room for fear.

So transform me by Your love so that my life becomes an example of Your peace that surpasses understanding.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

________________________

As I write this devotion Ukraine and Russia are having talks on the border of Belarus. It is fitting that we continue to pray for the peace of our world. While the Russia/Ukraine conflict has been given wide coverage in the media there are also conflicts in Somalia, Yemen, and Syria. Here is a prayer we prayed at the opening of our worship service on Sunday that you may wish to pray or use as a guide of what to pray for our world.



A PRAYER FOR WORLD PEACE

God of the nations, whose sovereign rule brings
justice and peace,
have mercy on our broken and divided world.
Shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all
and banish from them the spirit that makes for war,
that all races and peoples may learn to live
as members of one family
and in obedience to your law,
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

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