But Now

Eph.2:14 “For Christ himself has brought peace to us …in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us”[with emphasis].

It is when we receive this gift from God, which is Jesus Christ, that we experience a three-fold peace. And the three-fold peace is peace with God, peace with self and peace with other people. When people do not fully embrace this gift, they struggle with having peace with God. When people do not fully embrace the gift of Christmas, they struggle with having peace within because they cannot love themselves and that translates to not having peace with people. Let us look at the three-fold peace in detail.

#1. Peace With God. When we receive the gift of Christmas – God’s gift for us, we have peace with God. Eph.2:12 “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been  ” with emphasis].

I used to be far from God but now I am near to God. I used to run from God but now I am running to God. I used to hide from God but now I am seeking God out. I used to be angry with God but now I am in love with God. And it is all because I have peace with God. It is a beautiful thing to have peace with God. When you have peace with God you can worship freely, live freely, and you are not afraid of anything. You are not even afraid of death – the most dreadful thing to any human being. Unlike most human beings, particularly those without Christ, you are not afraid of death because you know who you will spend eternity with. You are sure of what will happen. You are secure in Christ.

When you are at peace with God, you know that your life is secure. One of the things I say to the Lord is, I would love to be around when rapture happens, just to have that feeling and experience the thrill. If you understand God well, you will discover that He likes the spectacular. We can just wake up in heaven but God chose the rapture because it is more fun.

Prayer: Thank You Jesus for bringing me near to God just by showing up. I am forever grateful to You. I declare that You Jesus, are my peace, in Jesus Name. Amen!