Peace with God part 2
Peace isn't something to chase. Because peace comes from within. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). Its HIS peace. Being at peace with God is being at peace with peace. He IS our peace. And notice that Jesus said He left it with us. He gave it to us. We don't need to "get" peace because we already HAVE peace. I think the key is found in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." And I think "called," to me, is more "identified." People will KNOW us as the Son(s) of God because there is peace wherever we are. But you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. You can't make peace for others unless you have peace for yourself. That's the whole receiving and releasing dynamic. Let's what inside flow out as we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. And we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with simply by believing. By knowing and believing that its in there. Jesus gave us His peace. His Spirit. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. When we know we are loved, we are at peace. Period. And when we have that love issue settled, when we are rooted and grounded in His love for us, that's when everything else can flow. Its not a struggle. Its not even "fake it 'til you make it." Its just the children of God being who we really are. Praying without ceasing. Living a lifestyle of praise and worship. Loving God (back, because He first loved us) by loving each other. Whatever we do unto the least of them we do unto the King, right? How we treat others is how we feel about ourselves. Hurting people hurt people. But loved people love people. And how we feel about ourselves is how we feel about God. Because, as Jesus said, I and my Father are one. There's no separation between God and man because God lives IN man. No separation between LOVE and man because LOVE lives in man! And living isn't about sitting around not doing anything. You can't walk by faith without walking. Charity is love in action. Faith without works is dead. So having the peace of God is just step one, if I can say it that way. What we do with what we have is what's important. Making peace is how people will call us, or identify us, as the Son(s) of God. Jesus said in yet another place, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Our love is what identifies us. And, really, I'd rather people say, "Tom's nice," than, "Tom's a Christian." Because at this point (unfortunately) "Christian" is almost a dirty word. People think hypocrite. Judgmental. Mean. Bully. And whether its true or not, that's not very peaceful. And I mean, people act like that when they're unsettled. When they don't know who they are. When they think they're lacking something, or missing something. But when you know you are are, when you know what you have, you can rest. When you're at peace with God--and you ARE at peace with God--you can make peace. You can be peaceful!