The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Prince of Peace"
"Be careful (anxious) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, 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" (Philippians 4:6-7).
When things are going well, a sense of peace we can understand may light upon our mental and emotional sensibilities. Conversely, peace "which passeth all understanding" involves times when it does not seem peace should be at hand. This introduces the Prince of peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the consideration of what it truly means to live with a heart at rest (Isaiah 9:6).
"Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means" (II Thessalonians 3:16).
Peace, as defined by Scripture, proceeds only from "the Lord of peace Himself." Circumstance, situation, and condition do not supply tranquility of spirit, even in the best of times. Indeed, if peace could be measured, and if we could find in this moment the believer most experiencing a heart at rest, we would behold a brother or sister whose quiet heart makes no sense whatsoever. By definition, "the peace God, which passeth all understanding" most graces scenes of seeming turmoil, need, conflict, and loss. The Prince of peace does not in this world recline upon soft pillows, in sublime and secure palaces, but rather in obscure and discomfiting venues where it seems He could not be. As suspicious Nathaniel asked of a place He could not perceive as the scene of God's grace, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46).
With the Christmas season approaching, we do well to remember that a a virgin womb and a manger's rough surface served as our Lord's first unlikely venues, wherein His presence passed all understanding. Is the Prince that present, that able, and that willing to administer His peace? He is. Have we formed within our hearts the expectation and conviction that "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee?" (Isaiah 26:3). We must. Is the Lord Jesus our peace in this moment? He is, and let us especially apply the assurance to those matters that tempt us to trepidation. The Prince, the Prince of Peace, most reveals His rest where it seems it could not be. Our experience thereof awaits our abiding determination to affix the eyes of our hearts on the only peace available to them in this life and forevermore. We shall not be disappointed.
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord."
(II Peter 1:2)
Weekly Memory Verse
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
(II Corinthians 4:6)
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