Today’s Devotional: “Peace With God

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Jesus contrasts worldly peace with God’s peace. The peace the world offers is the cessation of war and an end to hostilities. It calls for peace pacts, peace accords, and peace agreements, but these are short-lived.

No place is safe from conflict. It’s tragic to hear people wanting to move somewhere else to find peace. The problem is that they’re looking in all the wrong places.

Jesus brings peace, but not in the way many would like or even want. Right now, He doesn’t bring peace to this world; rather, He brings peace with God, which is far more important. This is because He came first to rule over our hearts as the Prince of Peace. When He returns, He will bring peace to this world because He’ll be ruling over the world as its King.

There is no real peace outside a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Paul says to the church in Rome.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

Only those who place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and have their sins forgiven can be made righteous in God’s eyes. Only then can they have peace with God.

To the church in Colossae, Paul said, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20)

The prophet Isaiah said, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)