When Micah had prophesied about the coming of Jesus he said in Micah  5:5 ‘This One will be our peace’
In the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Sochi Russia the announcer mentioned that many of these countries are at war with each other, yet during the Olympics they put aside their differences for a common goal to compete, watch and cheer in peace.

While searching for a Bible verse on peace in my concordance I noticed that peace is mentioned over 500 times in the bible.  Despite how many times God talks about peace our world is in turmoil with wars on many levels.  We have world wars, national wars and civil wars. Then we fight with our friends, our neighbors, strangers and our families. 
All of this turmoil in our lives comes from wanting to control or lord over a person, a nation, a race, or even an animal.  Without peace we covet what others have and become jealous or fearful of things such as their money, status, race, country, change or even the peace they have.  In most cases we cause turmoil because we don’t have the peace Jesus came to give us.  
The Pharisees were afraid Jesus was going to destroy the little power they had, so they had to get rid of Him; instead of realizing the peace he could bring to their lives of control, rules and power.  The Pharisees had very little power because during the time of Jesus they were not a free country.  They were under the Roman empire.  The Roman empire coveted power and conjured, through wars, the land around them.  They did not have inner peace either.
This type of power, which often leads to wars and killing or hurting innocent people, has been around since the Cane killed Abel. Cane was jealous that God favored Abel’s sacrifice. Instead of inner peace he murdered Abel.
People wish for and want world peace.  That will never happen because  peace starts with accepting Jesus and allowing him to transform our lives. We all have a sinful nature and only the power of God can change our lives and give us inner peace. When we have inner peace  the turmoil of the world grows smaller. 


Imagine what the world would be like if everyone knew Jesus and followed him and allowed God to take control.

Comments (2)

On February 12, 2014 at 11:35 AM , Lizzi said...

Great points. I completely agree. Even as Christians we make jokes sometimes to our friends (at least I do) like "if you weren't my friend, I wouldn't like you, you're so beautiful." OR "I'm so jealous of your..." these things automatically create unrest in our own hearts which eventually flow out onto those around us. God is the only peace we can count on.

 
On February 14, 2014 at 10:21 PM , KarenW said...

So comforting that we can peace in the midst of turmoil and trials. Thank you for sharing.