The Depth of Peace

**Sit quietly, eyes closed and in silence for one minute before reading..**

    Peace runs deep. It is overwhelmingly loving, caring, all-consuming. True peace touches us in places we never thought it could or thought we ever needed.

    Peace is that which does not make sense, that cannot be conjured or created. Peace is truly supernatural because it rises above and beyond all circumstances. Peace is a matter of the heart and it is a gift offered to us through Jesus.

    This gift, this great peace, let it overwhelm you today.

**Sit quietly again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

  

Peace and Presence

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    Peace comes with presence. It comes when you sit with the creator of the universe, when you share all that is on your heart, mind and soul. Peace comes with being in the presence of Jesus.

    Amidst all our questions, anxieties, hopes and dreams, Jesus calls us to be with him. He calls us to share those with him ... all of them.

    He does not fear what we have to say nor does he shame us for being honest. Rather we draw nearer still to him as we share, as we sit, as we receive from him. His peace comes through love, through silence, even through conviction and discipline.

    Will you spend time in his presence today?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Come and Rest

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    Jesus calls us to call and rest. In this discipline to stop and rest we find peace. As we cease from activity, productivity and constant body, mind and heart movement, peace comes in and we rest even deeply.
    Will you stop for a bit today? Will you rest and receive peace?

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

For Those Waiting

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    Many of us are in times of waiting. Waiting for the next job, waiting for a baby, waiting for a test result, waiting for a season of trials to be over, waiting for direction or an answer. Waiting times are full of unknowns and unrest. A prayer for those waiting:

    While you wait, may God give you the grace to trust. In the midst of unknown may he overwhelm you with peace. When uncertainty seems to dominate may he give you joy in the present moments.
    As you wait may Jesus be enough and may you settle and rest in him. Amen.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

A Prayer for Peace

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    If you are overwhelmed by conflict, turmoil and unknowns may this prayer encourage you today:

    “God give us peace. In our hearts, our minds, our souls and bodies, give us peace. Some of us are dominated by conflict, by turmoil and by never-ending questions. Calm our hearts. Give our minds rest. Give our bodies and souls peace as we rest in your salvation. Lord, give us peace today - peace that can only come from you. May this peace spread to those around us as well. Amen.”

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

Live at Peace ... with Yourself

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“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

    The call to live at peace is a grand one, a command which we cannot fulfill alone. A transformed heart and mind pursues peace. In Romans 12 God calls us to live at peace and the call to live at peace involves living at peace with those around us as well as living at peace with ourselves.

    Living at peace internally involves forgiveness and one of those persons is myself and yourself. Do I forgive myself? Do you forgive yourself?

    Do I forgive myself for sin or do I continue to beat myself up? Do I forgive myself for the hurt I have caused another or do I continue to seek penance for my fault? Do I forgive myself for any sin in which I held back when I should have stepped forward or do I replay the moment in my head wishing I had stepped up?

    How about you? Do you live in peace or in self-condemnation and shame?
Since there is a high probability that we are not at complete peace within ourselves, where do we begin? How do we sort through intrapersonal peace?

    How about this prayer as prayed by the Psalmist:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24

    Grace to you as you pursue peace with possibly the most challenging person to have peace with – yourself.

**Sit again in silence for as long as is available to you.**

A Call to Peace

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    In humility and pleasure God comes into the world fully man. This humbling led to sacrifice which ultimately led to peace between the two parties – God and man.
    What opportunities has God taken to bring humility into your heart and life? What opportunities have you taken to recognize the need for humility? How can humility lead to peace in a relationship in your life?
    The peace that God brings gives us reconciliation with Him – a restored relationship. What peace can you bring to a relationship in your life? How can reconciliation be a reality as you seek to live in humility and peace?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Peace on Earth?

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    Can there really be peace on earth? Sometimes it is difficult to live with peace as the world around us is anything but peaceful. Wars that never end, relationships that are severed, chronic illness, so much more seem to plague any opportunity for peace on earth. U2’s Peace on Earth reflects the reality and angst of this dichotomy.

A few verses:

Heaven on Earth
We need it now
I'm sick of all of this
Hanging around
Sick of sorrow
I'm sick of the pain
I'm sick of hearing
Again and again
That there's gonna be
Peace on Earth
Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth
This peace on Earth

    Many times we feel like Jesus does not see, does not hear and we want something, anything. Jesus, can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line? Does God care amidst the war, the sickness, the pain? If he does, then why doesn’t he do something about it? Why doesn’t he end it all and bring final peace?
    There are no answers that satisfy this angst, the pain and the weariness of the reality that there is not complete peace on earth, at least not yet.

In addition to U2’s expression are verses from I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day which say,

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

    And this is what we hope and pray; that the bells would ring louder, deeper and that we would trust that God is neither dead nor is he asleep.   
    Which song do you relate to more right now in your life? Take some time to talk to God and hear what He wants to speak to your heart.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

An All-Gracious King

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“Peace on earth, good will to men, from heaven’s all-gracious King.”
                                                                                 – It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

To: The Earth and Men and Women
From: Heaven’s All-Gracious King

    The way the line is phrased in the hymn above sounds to me like a gift to with a “To” and “From” label on a Christmas gift. God's peace is a great gift to us! The verse comes from Luke 2:14. An angel of the Lord had just pronounced to the shepherds that a Savior has been born, and that he is the Christ. This verse in the hymn refers to when angels join in praising God after the birth of Christ. The peace that he brings is reconciliation between God and man. It comes from heaven’s all-gracious King. ALL-GRACIOUS. In his grace does Jesus come and through his grace does he save giving us peace. 
    Jesus is an all-gracious King. He extends grace as the greatest ruler. He does not hold back, he is good and he does not have favorites. He is a King who is full of grace. We have no concept of what that is like. We have ever only seen human, flawed rulers yet Jesus is fully God, fully human and a perfect ruler that brings perfect grace that leads to the greatest peace for earth.
    What a gift to receive this Christmas!

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Peace Needed Blood

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"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." Colossians 1:19-20

    It seems odd that peace would come through blood. To think that peace needed blood. Many times I think of peace as merely the absence of pain, turmoil, hardship. Sometimes this is true. Peace with God came through death, it came through shed blood. Who would have thought that peace needed blood? The life of Jesus, lived perfectly, ended with a bloodshed death. The blood that dripped is the blood that has cleansed our lives and has reconciled us with God.
    Jesus is our only opportunity for peace with God. It started with the incarnation, the birth of Jesus when God was PLEASED to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus. He was pleased to become fully human. The humility of God is enormous and to take it even further, the humility goes even to death, to the shedding of blood.
    How has peace come into your life through hardship, through sacrifice?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Advent Peace

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    Peace often comes at a price. Peace costs something. It costs something to someone. Peace in a reconciled relationship involves humility, strength and other sacrifices. For some of us, peace has been a foreign concept (and maybe continues to be). Our lives have involved a lack of peace in relationships, in our home, with God. We often think of peace as the absence of strife and discord. Sometimes it really is the absence of those things but often it costs something.
    Peace is also supernatural and mysterious. Peace is a gift that God gives in the midst of strife and discord. In the beauty and wonder of God He gives us peace in chaos.
    Advent peace brings us to consider the peace that comes through Jesus. The peace that we consider this week involved humility and great sacrifice. It cost blood, it cost a life. It cost the life of the One whose birth is coming. Peace often comes at a price. This peace is also a beautiful and mysterious gift that is given by the One who came to make peace between us and God and between one another.
    Reflect on peace today and ask God for the gift of peace.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Advent Hope

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    Advent is defined as “coming” or “arrival”. As we consider the Advent season of Christmas we look forward to the coming and arrival of Jesus.
    In the midst of other Christmas traditions, there is God’s call to sit, listen and prepare for the arrival of Jesus. I confess that I probably spend more time preparing for the arrival of a house guest than I do for Jesus.
    In Christian tradition there are four themes of Advent which include Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Various churches focus on these themes in the four Sundays leading up to Christmas and in various orders. I am following the order of our church and will start with Hope.
    Consider how God may be calling you to prepare for the arrival of His Son, Jesus through Hope.
Spend time in prayer today focusing on Hope. Ask God to show you whatever He would like you to see in relation to Hope and Jesus.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Peace and People-Pleasing

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    I confess that I often care too much about what people think, whether they will be hurt by something or whether they will like me. I like being able to influence what people think of me. This is a form of people pleasing because I want everyone to like me! There are often times in life when we have to make decisions that will upset others. We have to make decisions that are not looked upon favorably or sometimes the direction we go is met with disappointment by others.
    Often when I am trying so hard to make sure everyone is “okay” I miss what God is calling me to. I miss what the Spirit is whispering in my heart. God’s voice is clouded out by my thoughts of my image. Everyone may be happy around me but I am unsettled, there is something that does not sit right with my soul. Oh, that’s right, I sought man’s approval and not God’s. As I received one set of approval I did not receive another and I can feel it. I do not have peace.
    Peace comes when God has captured my heart not when I have captured the heart of man. Peace comes not when I have won the approval of men but followed the call of God.
    How can you seek to please God rather than others? How have you sensed God’s peace in a difficult decision lately? If you have not sensed much peace lately, remember God’s great love and seek to do whatever He has called you to.

Have more than two minutes? Read Galatians 1:10 and process this challenging verse with God.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Storing Up Peace

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    To be at peace is incredibly restful. You can take a deep breath when you are at peace. You can inhale and exhale and your soul feels settled. Being at peace is also a gift as is joy. Storing up peace requires the receiving of peace as well as the cultivation of it. Cultivating peace does not necessarily mean the absence of conflict, difficulty and unknowns. True peace often comes in the midst of conflict, difficulty and unknowns. To cultivate peace we seek and trust God’s perspective, His direction and trust that He is near.
    To store up peace we must choose to forgive. Unforgiveness hinders peace and hinders your soul from being at rest. Unforgiveness is like a cancer, infecting everything it touches. Unforgiveness does not give room for peace.
    Is there someone you need to forgive? Maybe a friend, family member or co-worker? Maybe there is something you need to forgive yourself for?
    To begin cultivating and storing peace, begin with forgiveness. This is how God made His peace with us – forgiveness. Do not forget to ask for it as well.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Storing Up Good

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    Storing up good. The things that come out of our mouths are a reflection and overflow of the things that are stored up in our hearts. If bitterness, anger and jealousy are stored up in our hearts then our words will be flavored with these things. If good things such as hope, joy, peace and love are stored up in our hearts then our words will be flavored with these things.
    This week I want us to consider “storing up” good things in our hearts. As we consider storing up good, we’ll also consider what is taking residence in our hearts instead of good.
    Spend some time in prayer today. Ask God to help you see His goodness. When you see His goodness, store it in your heart, thank Him for it and look for more signs of His goodness. It’s all around.

Have more than two minutes? Read and meditate on Luke 6:43-45.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Soul Rest

**Before you begin reading, sit down, breathe normally and be quiet for 1 minute.**

Soul rest. Where does your soul find rest? Does it find rest? What does that even look like? Sometimes I am moving so fast that I can feel the frenzy in my body, my mind and my soul. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by questions I cannot answer and a future I am unsure of. Sometimes I am avoiding God by not letting myself rest and letting my soul rest in Him. Soul rest requires release and it requires trust. How are you with soul rest? How can you release and rest in God?

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**

Have more than two minutes? Read and consider the words in Psalm 62.

He Never Lets Go

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God never lets go. Through the calm in life, when challenges are minimal and life is relatively peaceful, God is holding onto you. Through the chaos of life, when challenges are unending and life seems to show no sign of peace, God is holding onto you. God never lets go – through calm or chaos, peace or unrest.

What season are you in? Are you in a time of calm and rest? If so, remember God is holding onto you and you can enjoy His presence. Imagine walking hand in hand with your child, enjoying the day together. Are you in a time of chaos and unrest? If so, remember that God is also holding onto you and you may or may not sense His presence, but He is with you. Imagine walking your child across a busy street, hand in hand, guiding and helping him/her navigate through chaos of cars and stressors. The same hand that walks you through joys walks you through pain. The same hand that walks you through calm walks you through chaos. He never lets go.

**Sit quietly again for as much time as is available to you.**