A Peice on Peace

Here we are at our third day of fruit! Peace is our fruit of the Spirit today.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Let's break this down and take a look at this verse:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you" - I like how Jesus says that He is leaving us His peace. Not just any peace, but His peace. I really don't want to know any other peace but the kind that Jesus gives. Right before Jesus spoke these words He was telling the disciples about how the Holy Spirit would be sent to them since Jesus would be leaving them. I think it is interesting how Jesus chose to focus on the fruit of peace when he discussed the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples did not want to think about not having Jesus around. So, when Jesus mentioned his departure, the disciples began to worry and fret. Jesus knew how to ease their hearts and minds by focusing on the peace that He promised them.

"I do not give to you as the world gives." - The world cannot offer true peace. That is a simple fact and I will tell you why. The world can only offer peace on a conditional basis that is based purely on circumstances. Come on, think about it...the world says that peace comes through money, relationships, family, status, jobs, etc... The peace that Jesus gives us is there no matter what our circumstances are. Some of you may say, "Now hang on, I have Jesus in my heart but I don't have peace all the time." Well, that is probably true, but that is not Jesus' fault. That is our own fault that we do not exercise and lean on the peace that Jesus died to give us every moment of our life. This all goes back to the fact that our Spiritual fruit (peace) is in us when we have salvation but we have to make it grow or it never gets used.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - We were all children at one time and our parents have all said the word "don't" at some point to us. I say "don't" to my kids all the time. "Don't push your sisters"..."Don't pull out your hairbow"..."Don't stick playdough in your nose." When I am saying "don't" I expect my kids to listen and not do it anymore. When they continue disobeying my command it makes me not so happy. Well, how do you think Jesus feels when he has told us not to do something but we just keep on. Jesus himself is directly telling us don't be troubled or afraid because He knows that doing those things steals our peace. There is a purpose for His command and the purpose is beneficial to us.

Go be a peacemaker...you know why!