{"id":21279,"date":"2017-01-28T00:10:46","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T08:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=9979"},"modified":"2017-01-28T00:10:46","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T08:10:46","slug":"january-28-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/01\/28\/january-28-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"January 28, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cNow may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.\u201d<\/em>
\n2 Thessalonians 3:16<\/span><\/p>\n

Cultivating Awe and Reverence for God, Day 28<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

The Lord of Peace<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve all witnessed riots in the news or in person. The noise, yelling, cursing, and out-of-control people following evil passions causes me to fear for the lives of those involved. Likewise, we\u2019ve seen the spiritual battlefields of drug dens, prostitution, drunken men and women in a stupor, promiscuous teens, abuse, severe marital discord, and mental illness. Not one of these human beings lives in peace, yet they surely crave it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In great contrast to these displays, our God offers peace. According to our text today, He is the Lord of peace, and extends His hand of peace always, in every way. Jesus was called the Prince of Peace in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6. He is presiding as Prince over peace, and we see Him command peace throughout the Scriptures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus has the ability to command peace to reign in the realms of earth. Just a word, and the strife stops. Harmony is restored. Storms, wind, and waves are stilled. Burning anger dissipates. Fear is calmed. Bondage breaks. Addiction, lies, hypocrisy, and idolatry are cracked wide open, revealing the surrounding lies and deception. All that is raging returns to calm. I am in awe of the Power that can silence the fury of our enemy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s peace comes suddenly, invading the deepest part of us, shutting out fear, quieting our mind and heart. We can feel His peace physically. It is like an unexpected balmy wind blowing on an icy winter morning, making us smile and relax into the comfort of it. Peace, when it comes, is such a relief.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our mighty God is the sovereign commander of peace. He gives it, He withholds it, and He sometimes uses it to give us direction. Only the Lord of peace Himself can bring peace with just a word, just a look, or by the proclamation of a Name. His peace is perfect (Isaiah 26:3). It passes understanding (Philippians 4:7). He gives peace with our enemies (Proverbs 16:7). Peace in our land (Leviticus 26:6). Peace for sound sleeping (Psalm 4:8). Peace for His saints (Psalm 85:8). Peace for those whose mind is focused on Him (Isaiah 26:3). Peace that the Spirit works in us (Galatians 5:22). Peace that calms storms (Mark 4:39). Peace for those who love His Word (Psalm 119:165).<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace is a state of rest, quiet, comfort, and calm. It is an absence of strife. It is perfect wellbeing, whether in individuals, in relationships, or between God and man. \u201cIn the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 94:19). We reverence a God whose desire is to bless us with peace, to delight our souls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God told the priest, Aaron, to bless the Israelites with these words: \u201cThe Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace\u201d<\/em> (Numbers 6:24-26). Peace has always been His to give. It is His very presence that brings it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLord of all peace, let us be aware of the might and glory of Your presence. It is all we need, for where You are, there is peace. Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cNow may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.\u201d […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5xd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}