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"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace..."
(Galatians 5:22a)
One of my favorite songs last year was "Here I Am" by JWLKRS Worship featuring Ashley Hess. You can listen to the song here. The song starts this way:
Still, help me be still
Help me turn down the noise
And tune in Your will
Peace, You are my peace
At the sound of Your voice
I've got all that I need
And I've tried my own way
But it only led me to You.
To be at peace and then a peacemaker is a wonderful way to sojourn in this life on earth. It does take effort, and one must exert energy to help bring about peace. To do this, one has to be poor in spirit, mourning over their sin and sins committed against them, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, and pure in heart. To me, the beatitudes seem to ascend in levels of difficulty, and one of the more difficult of the beatitudes is for us to be persons of peace who help bring about peace.
Before we get into what it means to be a peacemaker, I want to share with you a statement of Jesus that seems on the surface to contradict this beatitude. In Matthew 10:34 Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Taken in its context, in verses 34-39, you realize what He meant. He is indeed the Prince of Peace, as Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 9:6. But not everyone receives Him as the Messiah. Even within one's house there are both those who believe in Christ and their lives change radically, but also those who reject Christ, and as a result, there is tension. Jesus died and rose from the dead and offers forgiveness to all. Those who receive Him are saved, and those who do not are lost for eternity. Tension between the two is inevitable.
One of the great verses in the Bible that teaches the purpose of the death of Jesus to bring about everlasting peace is Colossians 1:20: "And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."
Are you enjoying this fruit of the Spirit: peace? The one true living God invites you to come to Him and receive His peace and forgiveness provided by Christ His Son. Surrender your life to Christ and allow Him to flood your life with His perfect peace.
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