The Peace of Christ

December 9, 2014

The Peace of Christ

May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.

Jude 1:2

The word peace is used almost one hundred times in the NT. We encounter this word quite often in the Advent and Christmas seasons. We are taught that we have peace with God because of what Christ has done. We are taught to live in peace with one another. We are taught that we can cast our anxieties onto God, and receive in exchange the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. Recently I came across a statement that made me realize I have much yet to accomplish in plumbing the depths of what God wants us to understand and experience in His peace.

The statement I read is this: “Nothing discourages me, not even discouragement” (Eugène Ionesco). This observation points to the truth of God’s purpose for our lives, that we overcome despair by living in the reality of His peace, love and wholeness. Ionesco’s observation also points to the dichotomy in the Christian life. When the scriptures speak of a peace that surpasses all understanding, they are also speaking of a peace that far too few Christians actually experience. After all, Ionesco was a poet, so perhaps he was taking a rather large poetic license in his observation.

Or perhaps he was actually pointing to the experience of peace God desperately wants all of His children to know. We can reach out for this peace by first remembering that God always does the heavy lifting for us. When we are in that place where faith seems well beyond our measure, we can recall the words of Jesus: “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God” (Mark 10:27). After all, Jesus may have died on the cross, but he didn’t stay dead.

When I begin to think that Ionesco’s observation may be just pie in the sky, I recall the words of Miles Stanford: “To be disappointed is to have believed in yourself.” If that is true, and I believe it is, then it is also just as true that to be discouraged is to have believed in yourself. Perhaps if I take seriously the advice of another passage of scripture, I can take a nice bite of Ionesco’s pie in the sky. Instead of trying so hard to believe in myself, I can “fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.” (Hebrews 12:2 AMK).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.