Today’s Daily Bread ~ Peace on Earth?

John 4:27 – “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

I had the absolute honor and pleasure of speaking to the ladies of Plymouth Park Baptist Church in Irving Tuesday night.  It was a beautiful event; a delicious catered Christmas dinner, a keynote speaker (lil ol’ me), and so many door prizes that just about everyone went home with something.

A lovely woman named Cheryl Davenport was in charge, and I had a conversation with her a few weeks ago so we could determine what I would talk about. 

She told me that she had “the gift” rattling around in her head, and that she’d been praying about it.  To be completely honest, I’d already had an idea for a topic, but I really hadn’t been able to get anywhere with it.  When she mentioned “the gift,” my ears perked up.

It made perfect sense.  It was a Christmas dinner, you exchange gifts at Christmas, and Jesus is the ultimate gift to us.  We agreed on the topic, and promised to touch base closer to the event.

As I took it to the Lord in prayer, I kept feeling as though He was steering me in a different direction.  Salvation through Jesus Christ is the most important gift we’ll ever receive, but I just felt as though God had something else in mind.  That’s when He led me to John 14:27.

When I read the words, “I am leaving you with a gift…” I felt everything click into place.  The gift of peace.  This is the time of year we say things like, “Let there be peace on earth” and “peace be with you,” but how many of us really and truly feel at peace?  I’ve read this verse countless times, and I’ve always taken a little bit of a “yea, right” attitude toward it.  “Sure, you’re leaving us with peace.  And when, by the way, does this peace arrive?”  That’s when I felt the Holy Spirit whisper, “You’re not paying attention, child.  Read those words again.  Meditate on them.  Now tell me what you see.”  And just like that, the Lord opened my eyes.

I reread the verse, and this time I stopped on the word gift.  Jesus says this peace is a gift.  What do we know about gifts?  According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, a gift is something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.  I paused once again, this time on compensation.  If something is truly a gift, then nothing can be done on the receiver’s part to get it, or else they would be earning it.  That doesn’t meet the qualifications of a gift.  The gift of peace is a gift to us, from God, given to us of His own free will.  We can’t do anything to get this gift other than simply receive it.

I read the verse again – “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives…”  Again, I paused.  Those words reminded me of something Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, sitting, in chains, inside of a Roman cell.  I quickly flipped through my Bible to Philippians 4:6-7 – Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.  If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

I started to piece (no pun intended) things together.  Jesus promises us peace.  He told His disciples that His peace “isn’t like the peace the world gives.”  Paul told the Philippians that God’s peace “is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”  This is where we get tripped up, my friends.  We struggle with peace, first of all, because we are trying to attain it.  But peace as Jesus gives it can’t be attained, it can only be received.  How do we put ourselves in position to receive it?

In football, a wide receiver has one job – catch the football.  If he’s going to catch the ball, he needs to be where the quarterback tells him to be.  When the offense huddles up, the quarterback calls the play.  In order to know the plays, the team needs to know their playbook.  We also have a playbook.  The Bible – and the Bible tells us absolutely everything we need to know in order to receive the many gifts God has in store for us.

Deuteronomy 11:22 says, “Be careful to obey the commands I give you; show love to the LORD your God by walking in His ways and clinging to Him.”  In the KJV, the word used for “clinging to” is “cleave.”  The original word in Hebrew is dabaq (daw-bak).  It means to stick to something, stick together, stuck.  I believe that God is telling us that if we want to be in a position to reap the benefits of His promises, we have to walk in obedience.  We need to love Him, and to cling to Him so tightly that we’re stuck to Him.  Deuteronomy 11:23 continues, “Then the LORD will drive out all the nations in your land, though they are much greater and stronger than you.”  In other words, then you will have peace.

The next place the Holy Spirit led me was back to both John 14:27 and Philippians 4:7.  Essentially, the two verses tell us the same thing: peace, as the Lord gives it, is not like the peace of the world.  So what is the world’s peace? 

Merriam-Webster defines it this way: moments of tranquility or quiet; freedom from civil disturbance.  Could it be that we struggle with peace because, not only are we trying to attain it, but we are trying to attain it the way we understand it?  But Jesus says, “And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives.”

I was typing furiously, as fast as I could.  Then suddenly, I stopped.  “If peace isn’t moments of tranquility or lack of war,” I wondered, “what is it?”

The original word used for peace in this text, is the Greek word eirēnē, pronounced I-RAY-NAY.  It means peace, quietness, rest.  It also means one, to set at one again.  Scholars aren’t certain of the derivative of eirēnē, but most agree that it is derived from the verb eiró, which means to join.

I have to tell you…that every time I start to think I’m really starting to understand Scripture and the Epistles, the Holy Spirit shows me something like this, and I just about fall flat on my face.  Our God is so multi-faceted, so HUGE!  Our brains simply aren’t equipped to understand Him, but in the most limited capacity. 

Peace is elusive for us because we don’t understand it the way Jesus promises it.  We can’t get it, or earn it or attain it.  All we can do is receive it.  How do we receive it?  By walking in obedience to Christ.  By submitting our will to His.  By letting Him reign supreme in our lives.  By joining to Him, clinging to Him, and cleaving to Him until there is virtually no space between us.  That is how we get this precious gift of peace.  Peace of mind and of heart.  Not peace as the world understands it; not peace that comes down from heaven and sets everything right, or takes away our undesirable circumstances.  No, the peace Jesus promises starts in our hearts, travels to our minds and allows us to experience JESUS HIMSELF through our undesirable circumstances.  My friends, I have tried to do it my way all my life.  I never once experienced any sort of lasting peace until I surrendered my life to Christ.  Now, when I walk in His will and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I not only have this peace, I can’t escape it.

Dear Heavenly Father, You are so amazing!  We love You so much.  Thank You for opening up Jesus’ teachings to us, and helping us better understand Your promises.  God, we want more.  Please continue to guide us and show us the treasures of the Bible.  Thank You for Your Word, God.  How amazing that You let these Scriptures and teachings stand the test of time so they still speak to us today.  Today, God, we just ask for more of You.  Help us to seek You over Your signs and wonders.  Give us an unquenchable thirst for You, Lord.  Help us to see You everywhere we look.  Help us to see like You see and love like You love.  We ask these things in the beautiful, precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.