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Series: Peace
Sun am 23rd March 2014 – Hazel Swart
Ps. 37:37; Ps. 85:10; Prov. 3:1-2; Prov. 12:20; Isa. 9:6-7; Isa. 26:3; Isa. 52:7;
Isa. 55:12; Zech. 8:16-19; Mal. 2:5-6; Mark 4:39; Luke 10:5-6; Luke 24:36;
John 14:27; Acts 10:36; Rom. 5:1; Rom. 8:6-9; Rom. 14:7; 1 Cor. 14:33;
2 Cor. 13:11; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 2:14; Phil. 4:7; Col. 3:15; Matt. 5:9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:1). Let us focus on peace today. We are living in a time of turmoil and stress. People do not have time and are often too busy to pause. Peace can be tangible and something we can tap into at any time of the day. We are in the hands of the Prince of Peace; we have to be peaceful and be able to listen. Take a journey of peace with me through the Scriptures.
Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity (Ps. 37:37). To have posterity means to have succeeding generations. Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Ps. 85:10). This is a very intimate description of when right standing before God brings peace. Keeping His commandments, listening to Him and understanding what His will is, it is peaceable (Ps. 3:1-2). How will the world know peace and experience it if we are not the ones taking peace into the world? (Isa. 9:6-7).
Everything revolves around our trust in God (Isa. 26:3). Do you trust Him? Do you trust that He can handle whatever it is that you are struggling with? There is a peace that settles in your heart when you give it over to Him.
I want to say to the young people, relax in God, He knows the perfect person that you will meet and that will be there for you and suited to you. God always answers prayer. It’s not always the way we think it should be!
Being a happy person, having a happy life means you are not stressed knowing that God will provide (Isa. 52:7). Take the good news that He is a good saviour; be a happy Christian! For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Isa. 55:12)
When we do not have peace it is because we have taken our requests and petitions out of the hands of God and want to do it our own way and in our own strength. He is the Prince of Peace and He will give you the desires of your heart.
My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity (Mal. 2:5-6). Levi revered peace. We need to do the same; keep it holy, keep it special; keep it sacred; keep it close to your heart, so you never want to let it go. The will of God is enveloped in peace.
Jesus said to the storm, “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39). That is what He is saying to you today. There may be a storm raging in your life, He is saying, “Peace, be still.” Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you (Luke 10:5-6). Your peace will never be wasted; it will always come back to you. Search for the man of peace. Who is the man of peace in the city, where do people come to find peace? You can express your dissatisfaction in a peaceful way, you do not have to be a push-over, there is a way of saying what you feel, but peacefully. Jesus came to divide, yet he was the Prince of Peace. It was a true peace, not a shallow peace, not a surface peace. He is personified peace. On the road to Emmaus, they did not know He was in their midst, and when He said, “Peace be to you” (Luke 24:36), then they realized it was Him who had been in their midst.
The mind set on the spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6-9). For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).
When we feel depressed and miserable, we pray and bring it to God; then there is a peace that surpasses all the anxiety you experience. Pray, bring your request and allow the peace of God to course through you.
You cannot preach about peace, you have to experience it before you can pass it on to someone else. You have to exude peace when people come into your presence.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). We all want to be called sons of God. It is our whole aim and reason for being. The quickest way to get there is to be a peacemaker. Let His wisdom be upon you, the wisdom of God is peaceable (Jas. 3:17).