John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Peace I leave, my peace I give.. Peace….peace like none we have known, and none that we can bestow or receive from another human. It is not the weak peace offering that we offer to each other. As if any of us can truly grant peace to another individual. The peace we offer is one that is only temporary at best. It might keep one issue at bay, or quell one fear or the other, but I have yet to meet the man, woman, or child that can give all-encompassing life sustaining peace. Look how Christ conveyed this offering. HE left it, and He offered it. It is here, it is yours for the taking, yet Christ leaves it very open, even to those who are closest to Him. Here it is, take it if you will. That my friends is true peace, a promise that is freely given, and yours to freely take. No strings, no gimmicks, no fine print. If you would like peace, then simply take it.
Christ furthers his point by saying not as the world gives, yes When Christ gives anything it is on a much larger scale that anything the world can give, but not just that. When the world gives, the world decides how long you get to keep it. With Christ, the choice to take it is yours, the choice to keep it is yours as well. The Lord does not give as the world gives. So do not be troubled, and do not be afraid. There is always a hard part isn’t there? You see now we are tasked with the hardest part, trust Him. That is hard to do sometimes isn’t it? If we are honest it is hard to do a lot of the times. We have been taught to NOT trust, or as I like to think of it “trust, but verify” which is a really nice way of saying “I don’t trust you” Yet here is Christ telling us….you need it? I have it. You can have it, here I give it to you….now trust me. While it seems too good to be true…….it is true, if it seems like the deal of a lifetime…..well….it is.
The peace is yours to take, and it is yours to wrap yourself in, yet without the trust, it will not do much good. So what do we do? We trust, we take that leap, we make that choice. Let me ask you something, we have all done something in our lives at least once where we had to depend on someone else, right? What was that for you? I am not talking about something little, I mean we trusted someone with something so big, that our lives would have been changed had that person not come through for us….and they did. They came through just like they said they would. Remember how that feels? Have you trusted Christ with anything near as important as that? Better yet, had you trusted that friend in your moment of need, then at the last second rushed in, and tried to do it yourself, or handle the situation on your own, how would that have turned out? not well, right? You would not have been where you needed to be, because you did not trust your friend to be where they were supposed to be. As a result the outcome would have been very different. What is keeping you from trusting Christ? How is it we are willing to trust another human, who even on their best day might cave and not follow through, yet we deny Christ the opportunity to do what he has PROMISED He will do for us?
It comes down to putting yourself out there, extending the trust to Christ that He will be where He needs to be, when He needs to be there. He has made the promise, will you allow Him to keep it? He has given the gift, will you accept it? Give Him your trust, and see if your life does not change for the better, just as promised. Tell Him just as you did that friend, I need you. I can’t do this without you. You said you would be there, you said I should not be afraid, you promised me peace. Without you in this, I am done for. Christ will be there, He will give you the peace, the assurance, the strength, and the power to do what needs to be done, and then He will take care of the rest of it. Give Him the opportunity, give Him the chance, He died for it you know….just for the chance to save your life, if you thought that deal you trusted your friend with was life changing, I can promise you it pales in comparison to what changes will take place if you trust in Christ. Do not live in fear, or uncertainty. Choose to accept this promise of peace, and trust…. so that you do not need to be afraid.
God Bless,
Brian Thetford C.T.B.
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