Orange Moon Cafe "The Prince of Peace"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe… 

          "The Prince of Peace"

     "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalm 23:6).

    If "goodness and mercy" perpetually follow us, we do well to frequently slow down so that such blessing will overtake us.

    "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

    Earthly realities and responsibilities beckon us to movement, both mentally and physically.  We must attend to the necessities of life in this present world, seeking to honor our Lord thereby.  "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31).  However, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ also do well to still ourselves mentally and physically on a regular basis for the purpose of concentrated focus on our Lord and His truth.  An open Bible and a prayerful heart provide blessed opportunity to experience the peace of looking unto the Prince of peace.  Taking time to purposefully realize such grace leads our hearts to God's promised "still waters" (Psalm 23:2).  "Thou wilt show me the path of life.  In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11).

   Such blessed truth notwithstanding, our Heavenly Father also calls us to a stillness - of heart -  found in the midst of life along busy pathways.  Can goodness and mercy overtake us there, even as we must deal with onrushing circumstances, situations, and conditions?  It can, and we must anticipate that it will.  "My expectation is from Him" (Psalm 62:5).  A Christ-stilled heart can be known any and everywhere if that heart is filled with confidence that the Lord Jesus awaits us in every contingency of life.  "I am with thee… I will be with thee" (Isaiah 41:10; 43:2).  Is the Prince of peace capable of bestowing peace only in the garden of prayer?  Hardly.  The One who slumbered while on a ship ravaged by a violent storm is more than capable of revealing His rest in the vessel of our hearts, even when the tempests of life toss us to and fro (Mark 4:36-41).

    Do we believe this about Him?  This is the issue, rather than how we view ourselves.  Regardless of past experience, present emotion, or future prospects, can the Prince of peace bless us with still hearts amid our often hectic lives?  Is He who He declares Himself to be?  During those times of stillness first considered in this essay, we do well to frequently ponder that when we arise and go forth, the Prince will arise us to join us in our journeys.  He will be who He is whenever and wherever.  Such expectation prepares us to more consistently experience the miracle of a heart at rest even as our minds, hands, and feet must rush about to engage life in a decidedly unstill world.  This is true peace, known by the Christ whose tranquility finds all who believe that His goodness and mercy ever follows, and even more, that He ever dwells within our hearts as the Prince of peace.

"The Lord will bless His people with peace."

(Psalm 29:11)

Weekly Memory Verse

    "How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings."

 (Psalm 36:7)

  

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