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 Devotional:
September 2008
The Price for Peace
It seems
that many people in the world today spend their lives on
a quest for inner peace. It is a very popular topic
promised through channels like the New Age movement,
Buddhism, and many other religions and philosophies.
Many never attain that goal. Sadly, even Christians
often spend their lives in turmoil, even though one of
the most attractive characteristics of Christianity is
peace.
Recently,
I noticed something about peace that I had never seen
before in a very familiar verse. Isaiah 53 is a
prophetic passage stating what Jesus would go through on
the cross for our salvation. Verse 5 states: “But he
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon
him; and with his stripes we are healed.” The part that
I had never paid much attention to and had never heard
anything about was “the chastisement of our peace was
upon him”. So I decided to do a study on it. I thought
perhaps it meant simply that he was chastised (punished,
beaten, rebuked) so we could make peace with God. But
the definition of peace in this instance is “well,
happy, health, prosperity”. Jesus experienced what He
did on the cross so that we could not only make peace
with Him, but be at peace here on earth as we live our
lives in an ever-changing world!
If you
have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, then the
possibility of peace is already in you, because it is a
fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). So how do we
allow that to take over in our lives? Philippians 4:6-7
states: “Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in
everything by prayer and supplication (petition) with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
What is the key to a supernatural peace that is more
powerful than all trials, questions, and changes?
According to this Scripture, it is consistent, thankful
communication about the details of your life with the
One that knows more about you than you know about
yourself.
Jesus paid the ultimate price to take our sin from us,
heal us and bring us peace. The next time you are
consumed in worry and circumstances are disturbing your
peace, consider the fact that He was beaten beyond
recognition so that you could cast your cares on Him (I
Peter 5:7). What an insult to His great sacrifice if we
are consumed in worry! On the authority of the Word of
God, I can tell you that only He can offer peace that is
greater than your problem. It’s a benefit of your
salvation experience, so why not choose peace?
Sonya
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