As we saw last week peace with God, the foundation stone of real peace, has been obtained for us by Christ Jesus. Now we not only have peace with God but we are given access to “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, (and) will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:7. That means it transcends all our human imagination; this is beautifully illustrated in the story of several artists that were commissioned to paint a picture depicting peace. Two of them painted calm tranquil quiet scenes which would seem very peaceful; the other painted a raging storm in the midst of which a bird sat on the limb of a tree that was wildly swaying back and forth in the wind, contented with apparently no concern of harm. It was that picture that won the prize! The Bible never teaches that we will not face storms, or that we will be oblivious to the conditions around us. But it does teach that we can have peace in the midst of those storms! Jesus said “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; (which means pressure, oppression, stress, anguish, tribulation, adversity, affliction, crushing squeezing, and distress) but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” John 16:33. In John 14:27 He said “Peace (which can also be translated as quietness or rest) I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This fruit is different from that of the world in that it is not dependent on the surrounding circumstances; rather it is in spite of them, it is the peace of God within us through Jesus the giver of peace, there is no other way to obtain this peace; just call upon Him today (cf. Luke 8:24; John 6:21).
The peace of Jesus
By Rose Hill
A troubled heart is not for me,
Jesus said afraid I should not be.
In the world there is much to fear,
But Jesus promised to be near.
He gives to me a peace that’s real.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.