And He Will Be Our Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you," (John 14:27a NIV).

A new year is before us. It's a wiped clean whiteboard, an empty calendar, an unmarked journey, and 365 days of experiences and opportunities ready to fill a journal and a heart with trust in the Lord. And peace. The peace that Jesus brought to us by His birth in a stable in Bethlehem.

What does peace mean to you this year? Peace can be defined as a state of calm, serenity, freedom from strife or discord, or harmony in relationships. However, the peace that Jesus brought to humankind was even greater than those. The reason Jesus had to come was to be a bridge between God and us. We were estranged from God by our sin. Someone, Only Jesus, had to come and pay the price for our sins and make us clean and pure so God could relate to us again.

Amaryllis Bulb on Jan. 1, 2018

Because of Jesus we are able to have a personal relationship with God without fear of His judgement. Jesus wiped away our guilt and the discord our sinfulness created. Jesus Christ's peace fills us with peaceful assurance even when our world continues to have wars. Our Savior Jesus Christ came to bring us peace. And one day, when Jesus returns to the earth again, we believers are positive that there will be no more war, no fighting, no killing, no more painful disagreements or misunderstandings.

"He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken," (Micah 4:3-4 NIV).

It is a new year: 2018. Jesus will return one day; one year; at a time we do not know. Until that time we can experience the peace of Jesus within us, even though we see wars continuing around us. Jesus is our peace and we can claim that peace of love and forgiveness as our own. That is how we can get through 2018.

"And he will be their peace," (Micah 5:5a NIV).