God’s Peace

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 7

The Hebrew word translated ‘peace’ in the Old Testament is ‘shalom’, meaning wholeness.
The uncut stones from which Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal were literally ‘shalom stones’ (Joshua 8: 31).
The Bible tells us that the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem was completed on a certain date.
The Hebrew text says that the wall had been ‘shalom-ed’ on that date (Nehemiah 6: 15).
So peace in the Old Testament signifies far more than just a feeling of tranquillity:
it means complete well-being of body, mind and spirit.
It is interesting to see how this sense is reflected in Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians
that the God of peace would sanctify them through and through, and that their ‘whole spirit, soul and body’ be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Thessalonians 5: 23).

‘Peace’ in the New Testament is the Greek word ‘eirene’, which appears in every book except John’s first letter.
Its everyday meanings include harmonious relationships between people and between nations,
security and lack of conflict, and orderliness.
Its especially Christian meanings focus on a harmonious relationship between God and humans,
and the sense of rest and contentment stems from this.
Old and New Testament together tell us that the God of Peace (Hebrews 13: 20) and his Son the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9: 6) have each promised peace (Isaiah 57: 19; John 14: 27).
The Holy Spirit also give us peace (Galatians 5: 22).

Lifting Up the Downcast by Patrick Sookhdeo

Some people believe that if they have a certain level of wealth,
then they will have peace-or if they marry right, then they will have contentment.
Others mistakenly believe that if they can just live in some ideal location
or receive certain recognition at work, then they will have all they could ever hope to achieve.
However, none of these scenarios is capable of providing the peace and contentment we long to experience.
True peace only comes as a result of living a life filled with the Spirit of God.
It is eternal and has only one source: Jesus Christ.
Charles Spurgeon writes, ‘The God of peace gives perfect peace to those whose eyes are fixed on Him.’
We can try to achieve peace through accomplishments and hard work.
We may look for peace everywhere –
thinking that new experiences, buying things, or stashing money away will deliver peace.
However, apart from God we shall never find lasting peace.

In order to experience the peace of God, we first must have peace with God,
which comes as a result of complete surrender to Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Once we are saved, God’s peace is available to us.
A famous actress once lamented that she had everything she could possibly want,
but she still did not have a sense of peace.
There are some things that money cannot buy and peace is one of them.
Before his death, Jesus comforted his disciples with these words:

‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you, I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

John 14: 27

We too can find the peace and comfort we need within his eternal care. (The Daily Way, Michael Youssef)

Church family, today’s reflection and prayers are devoted to praying for peace in the world
as we witness the destruction, death and horrific scenes in Gaza and Israel.
Peace at best is tenuous there, and conflict is always just below the surface as it flares up again and again.
All of us need to pray that Israel and Gaza will put aside their hatreds
and come to the reality that there will be no solutions if they cannot sit down to negotiate with each other.
Mediation by the international community must be fair.
The objective must be to help Israel and Gaza realise that if there is to be reconciliation and peace
they must put down their weapons of death and come to the negotiating table.

Let us pray:

Lord, forgive us the hatreds and prejudices and malice
which pull the rug from under all our so-called love for others and for you.
Black and white, Catholic and Protestant, Jew and Arab, Croat, Muslim and Serb –
so many peoples feed on hatred for one another,
endlessly suppressing the truth of our common humanity.
Lord, give courage and compassion, a liberation of the spirit, an opening of heart and mind,
so that those thought of only as aliens and enemies may become simply people.
We make our prayers through the friend of sinners, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Christopher Avon Lamb

God, what kind of world is this that the adult people are going to leave for us children?
There is fighting everywhere and they tell us we live in a time of peace.
You are the only one who can help us, Lord; give us a new world in which we can be happy,
in which we can have friends and work together for a good future.
A world in which there will not be any cruel people
who seek to destroy us and our world in so many ways.

Amen

A Liberian Child

O God of many names,
Lover of all nations,
we pray for peace:
in our hearts,
in our homes,
in our nations,
in our world.
The peace of your will.
The peace of our need.

Amen

George Appleton

Church family, more things are accomplished by prayer that this world is aware of,
and God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.
So we pray for a cessation of the conflict;
and peace between Israel and Gaza before the conflict becomes more widespread in the Middle East.
Also, let us pray for peace in other nations of the world where there are conflicts
which lead to deaths especially of the most vulnerable;
violence, starvation, destruction of property and infrastructure.
Let us in our own lives and setting encourage a culture of peace.
Astronauts noticed that the Earth’s national political boundaries are invisible from space.
We all share the same home. The whole world is our backyard
and world peace is the dream we should be creating;
as Mother Teresa said, “We belong to each other.”

Lord have mercy,
Christ have mercy on our world.

Amen

Glynne Gordon-Carter