LIVING AT PEACE
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Scripture Reading: Romans 12:9-21
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18
The Society of International Law in London recently reported a startling statistic: the world has been at peace for less than 8 percent of its history. The study stated that in the past 3,530 years, there have been only 286 years of peace. Over the same time period, more than 8,000 peace treaties have been made—and broken.
Another quality of the spiritual fruit of love is “peace” (Galatians 5:22). In the midst of a world where conflict and disagreements are common, the Holy Spirit wants to develop peace in us. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, urged us to express that quality by working hard to “live at peace with everyone.”
The most important peace we can know is peace with God, our Creator and Savior.
The Bible makes clear that when we have faith in God’s Son, Jesus, we are welcomed into God’s family (Ephesians 2:19), we become God’s children (John 1:12), and we have peace with God now and forever (Romans 5:1-2). And once we have experienced peace with God, we need to extend that peace to others.
Living at peace with others doesn’t simply mean avoiding issues or grievances that you might have with someone else. Rather, genuine peace is experienced when someone begins working toward genuine reconciliation and resolution wherever there is hurt.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for the peace we can experience in you. May your Holy Spirit develop peace in us so that we may also live at peace with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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GET TODAY
My niece, Ellen, my brother Bill’s oldest daughter, is “getting married” today,
or to say it properly, is entering the state of holy matrimony. Her fiance’s name
is Dan. Today’s devotional is one that I will share with them. I hope I can find a
copy somehow this morning. I want to tell you that my wife, Liz and I, are members
of Madison Square Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids. I also want to tell
the Rev. Brix that I think this devotional is very good, and I hope to share it in our
particular circumstances today. This devotional says a lot of our human fallenness
and depravity. I have been blessed with a life of peace, but a battle of war goes on
in my heart most every day. May the peace of Christ be with us today, in this “cold,
cruel world, and lead to eternal peace in heaven someday. This reminds me of the
Billy Graham book, peace with God. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus we
would not have peace with God. Thank you again, the Holy Spirit’s using this