Verse//
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)

16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV)

Devotional//
We long for a day when all things will come together in God’s great perfection. But until then, we live as people of faith with both feet clearly in the reality of now, but with hearts and minds that are pointed sufficiently forward to have them filled with Christ’s light – his hope, his peace, his joy and his love.

Leigh Bishop is a military psychiatrist who was stationed in Afghanistan. On Christmas Eve 2008 he witnessed the loading of a flag-draped steel casket into a waiting military aircraft and his heart sank knowing that somewhere a family was going to suffer a Christmas homecoming no one wanted. Later that night, back at the barracks, all was different as cheerful groups of men and women were getting ready for a Christmas concert and a late-night service. Candles were lit, and carols were sung with gusto, and in writing about it later, Bishop said this:

Jesus did not come just to provide an occasion to sing carols, drink toasts, feast and exchange gifts. But we are right to do these things, even as soldiers die and families grieve, because he came. And in his coming, he brought joy and peace – joy that overcomes our sorrows, and the only kind of peace that ultimately matters. It’s the peace of which the end of all wars, terrible as they are, is merely one token. It’s the peace that means the long war between the heart and its Maker is over. It’s a peace treaty offered in Bethlehem and signed, in blood, on Calvary. So joy to the world, and to every celebrating or grieving or hurting soul in it. The Lord has come. Let heaven and nature – and even those who stand and watch with lighted candles in the land of the shadow of death – sing.

Question//
What difference does simply knowing that Jesus came, make? Do you know that the peace treaty, signed in his blood, is for you too?

Verse//
27Peace 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 NIV)

Devotional//
In the few days before he died, it seems Jesus spent a lot of time calming and comforting his disciples. He was preparing them not just for his death but he for all the future would hold. He knew things would be tough! (If you have time, read the whole chapter of John 14 – it truly is full of comfort and encouragement.) Things are still tough today – they always have been to a greater or a lesser extent and it’s likely they always will be this side of heaven – but Jesus’ reassurance then and now is that he, through the gift and presence of his Holy Spirit, will give us a peace that we won’t find anywhere else, no matter what. It is so different from the transient kind of peace that comes and goes and is dependent on circumstances. This peace transcends every condition or situation and will banish our troubled hearts and anxious minds. I crave that!

Question//
Can you imagine a Saviour who came as a child, but who brought with him enough light and life to embrace all the difficulties, trials and terrors of our broken world, enough peace to satisfy our deepest yearnings for it, enough hope to hold us firm and secure in the midst of desperate and difficult circumstances, enough joy to embrace all that is, and enough love to make us long for a day when all these would come together in his great perfection?

Verse//
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”declares the Lord. 9“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:8-12 NIV)

Devotional//
There’s probably not been a single day since the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, when all the world has been at peace – where’s there’s been no war or conflict or distress of any sort. Poverty, hunger and injustice still overwhelm much of humanity. Dictators and psychopathic maniacs and evil regimes still wreak terror and destruction across the globe and there’s no improvement in sight. That’s the reality we live with so we have to find peace somewhere when we think about the world and our future lest we become totally fearful and anxious.

Human sin and evil weren’t overcome with Jesus’ birth – but the potential for and the promise of that in the future was. Does that make the here and now totally depressing? Not at all, but it’s in our anticipation of all that can and ultimately will be, that we can best find beauty and peace in the present. Today’s verses remind me that I don’t have to entirely understand our world and all that troubles it and that ultimately God is in control. He will accomplish what he desires and achieve his purposes, and in knowing and believing that, I can find peace and even joy in the circumstances of today with his promise of that coming to full fruition in the time to come.
NT Wright expresses this beautifully:

“The world is beautiful not just because it hauntingly reminds us of its creator but also because it is pointed forward: it is designed to be filled, flooded, drenched in God, as a chalice is beautiful not least for what we know it is designed to contain or as a violin is beautiful not least because we know the music of which it is capable.“

Question//
What will it take for you to ‘go out in joy and be led forth in peace’? Where can you find beauty?

Verse//
33  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)

Devotional//
There are things in this world that rightly concern us. We have legitimate fears about the future – for ourselves and for those we love. Having faith is not a recipe for a trouble-free life – not now and not ever. God didn’t ever promise this – in fact he said the opposite (as much as we may hate to hear it!)

Outwardly the world didn’t dramatically change after Jesus was born. Tragedies continued to occur, one even formed part of the story of Jesus’ birth itself when King Herod, insanely jealous at the thought of another king in his land, ordered the brutal murder of all the baby boys throughout Bethlehem and its vicinity. The Bible tells about the human toll of that tragedy:
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted for they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18)

And what about Jesus’ own death? He was subject to false accusations and an unjust trail, he was publicly humiliated, beaten and then executed in the most heinous and cruel of ways for daring to share an audacious message that he was providing a way for you and me to live at peace with God.

No, we will have trouble in this world. But God’s promise to us is that even in our times of trouble and strife we can have peace. His peace. A peace that passes all understanding.

Question//
Does it feel like Jesus has overcome the troubles of this world? How can we know more of his peace in our most difficult moments (that sometimes go on for months or even years!)?

Verse//
10Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10 NIV)

Devotional//
Yearning for better and different is entirely ok – as long as we ground that yearning on a solid foundation of knowing where to place our hope and find our peace first and foremost.
And what about those of us who are anxious or even fearful about the future? Perhaps some of these thoughts will sound familiar to you:

• What will happen if she or he leaves me?
• Will I always be alone?
• Will anybody ever love me?
• What if I lose my health?
• What if the cancer comes back?
• What will I do if my business goes under?
• What if that deal doesn’t come off?
• What if I lose my job?
• What if my child lets me down?
• What if they die?
• What if I can’t fall pregnant?
• What if I do fall pregnant?
• What happens if my greatest fear comes to fruition?

Just as the Bible doesn’t say ‘If the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed….,’ there is a song that says: ‘Through it all, my eyes are on you.’ The capacity to keep our eyes on Jesus through it all, when the mountains shake, is so important, because they inevitably will at some point! We need to look to him for our peace in the midst of our difficult circumstances. We need to trust in the hope he brings. The song goes on to say, ‘Through it all, through it all it is well. And through it all, through it all my eyes are on you and it is well with me.’

Question// 
How can it be ‘well with me’ when circumstances are really difficult? How do we keep our eyes on Jesus when we are anxious and frightened?

Verse//
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15 NIV)

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (Galatians 5:22 NIV)

Devotional//
Author and pastor Mark Buchanan tells the story of his children on Christmas Day unwrapping mounds of presents from under the tree. They ripped the paper off the gifts and scattered the wrappings in all directions. The gifts were beautiful, but the children looked at each only briefly before putting it aside to move on to the next gift. When the ransacking had finished, one of the children stood in the midst of the boxes and brightly color wrapping paper and asked, ‘Is that all there is?’

We’re not unlike them and Buchanan reminds us that we are taught not to value things too much, but to value them too little. We forget to treasure and savor and the pressure of wanting more, wanting something different, dissipates all gratitude. It’s the same whether it is things or circumstances – we want to discard what we have very quickly – we want better and more and different and we fail to treasure that which is available in every circumstance. We neglect to understand that even in the worst of circumstances there are things to be grateful for.

Now there’s nothing wrong with yearning for better – a friend recently suffered the heartbreak of her grandchild being diagnosed with a form of cancer. She hoped and prayed and yearned for better but it was a very difficult journey and tragically, her grandchild passed away. But in the midst of these terrible circumstances my friend shared that there are things she’s really grateful for. I think you have to be a very faithful and prayerful person to find gratitude and peace in a place like that and it points to where my friend places her hope and finds her peace.

Question// 
Where do you find your hope and peace? How can you use the circumstances in your life to become more loving, joyful, peaceful, forbearing, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled?  

Verse//
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

Devotional//
Who of us has never felt abandoned or bereft? Who of us has never been upset or distraught or disappointed? Pain is inevitable I’m afraid, but peace, like misery is optional. The problem is that so many of us look for what we need in all the wrong places and we always end up disappointed (again!) and short changed. Alcohol and drugs (legal and illegal) and material possessions won’t do it – anxiety, loneliness and heartache of every kind coexist with them. The illusion of a glorious life – those of you with Facebook accounts know what I mean – won’t necessarily bring you lasting peace either. But we get so caught up in thinking that any number of these sorts of things will. We place our hope in things that are temporary and transient at best and we fail to recognise the real and lasting peace promised by Jesus himself.

Question//
What is it, other than Christ Jesus, that is guarding your heart and mind? What is it, that is keeping you anxious and robbing you of peace?

Verse//
27Peace 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 NIV)

Devotional//
Yesterday we said that our past has been dealt with – but what about the present? At the end of his life, the baby of the Christmas story became the man of the cross. In some of his last teaching he shares the words of today’s verse with those he was closest to. The Message paraphrase says:

‘I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left – feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
We live in the real world – a broken real world. While we often think of peace as being without trouble and strife (the absence of pain and suffering and heartache), that kind of peace, as lovely as it sounds, is difficult to find and even harder to sustain. So we need a peace that transcends circumstances, that allows us to rise above the urgency of the immediate, that allows us to have a clear head and a peaceful heart and spirit in the midst of the chaos and disappointment which often defines life.

Question//
Do any of these words resonate with you at the moment – abandoned, bereft, upset, distraught, chaos, disappointment? Are there other similar words, thoughts or feelings that you are dealing with in your own life or the lives of those close to you? What do you need from God in the midst of these circumstances?

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (Romans 8:1 NIV)

38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

We will never know true peace unless we make peace with ourselves and our past. As a pastor over many years, I have been privileged to hear many people’s stories and I know that shame, embarrassment and guilt about things that have happened in our past are incredibly commonplace.

The Bible says that ‘As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us’ (Psalm 103:12) and ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow…’ (Isaiah 1:18).

There are things in my own life of which I’m deeply ashamed and I greatly regret. But I am convinced that as I trust in Jesus, my old self has gone and I am new. I love the song that says, ‘I am a child of God’ - and knowing that gives me peace. I can’t change the past but I can live with it – not proudly but peacefully because there is nothing in all creation that can separate me from the God who loves me.

Question//
Are there things in your past that trouble or haunt you? Do you believe that through the completed work of Jesus Christ these things have been dealt with? If not, why not? What can you do about that?

6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NIV)

The kind of peace that the Prince of Peace offers is a deeply personal, permanent kind of peace which is quite different to the temporary kinds of peace we’re used to. I saw a young mum’s Facebook status update recently – her baby has had long periods of sickness and clearly there hasn’t been much peace (or sleep) for her of late. Peace for her is a well, quiet, sleeping, happy baby – and we know that’s going to be temporary at best. Think about a child living in a home where the adults won’t stop fighting. He or she longs for it to just stop. Something fundamentally must change. And then think about a soldier on watch in a war zone – it may have been a huge adventure at first but I imagine that quickly subsides and is replaced by fear and a desperate desire for the conflict to end so that he or she can go home. But we know wars break out again and it seems that the sort of peace we’re most familiar with in this life is often temporary.

Only the peace that we can draw on from the Prince of Peace is different. Only his peace has the capacity to speak to our past and present and future. Only that peace has the power to effect lasting change – within us first and then rippling out from us.

Question//
Identify the parts of your world that need peace – name the people and name the issues. Bring them before God in prayer.

Verse//
16Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. (2 Thessalonians 3:16 NIV)

Devotional//
These verses speak to the idea of peace and order in church and community life. Just as the news of peace had to be first rooted in an individual race, the Jews, before it could be shared with all people, so it follows that peace must be rooted in an individual’s heart before it can be shared and spread further afield. Author and pastor Rick Warren says this: ‘The reality is that there will never be peace in the world until there is peace in communities. And there will never be peace in nations until there is peace in communities. There won’t be peace in communities until there is peace in families. And there won’t be peace in our families until there is peace in our individual lives.’ And although it may seem simplistic, I think he’s right. Peace hasn’t got a hope of going in the opposite direction from global to individual so if peace is not going to start in the hearts of individuals it’s just not going to start at all!

Question//
Can you imagine the difference it might make if peace spread from ourselves to our families, to our churches, to our places of community? Can you even imagine what a peaceful family or church looks and feels like? What would it take?

Verse//
29“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

Devotional//
Shortly after Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary take Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem. There they encounter a man named Simeon who knows Jesus’ true identity. Simeon’s prayer makes it very clear that the gospel, the life and light of Jesus has been prepared for and is available to everyone – Jews and Gentiles alike. It’s so important for us to understand that the light and peace of Christ is God’s plan for all humanity – on an individual and on a global level. Let me go a step further and suggest that individual peace has a lot to do with global peace too! Going back about a century ago, there was an idea that if we could just educate all the world conflict and war would vanish. Two world wars among the most educated of all the nations on earth crushed that naïve optimism and now almost nobody thinks it is the complete answer. Education may even just help us think up more sophisticated ways to kill one another! So, what is the answer….?

Question//
Do you really believe that the life, light and peace of Jesus has been prepared for and is available to all people? What difference might understanding that make? What does it mean for the millions of people who are displaced by war at this very moment, and what is our responsibility for that?

Verse//
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:8-14)

Devotional//
Let’s not just save this passage for reading at Christmas time! It’s so wonderful to be reminded that Jesus came to bring peace – that this was the very first declaration about his life – ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’ The fact that the first recipients of this message were shepherds - some of the most lowly of people in that day – immediately demonstrates that the Messiah has indeed come for all people – not just the self-proclaimed important or a select few. And in this moment, it rests on a group of smelly, culturally reviled, character assassinated people. This is such a powerful illustration of God’s heart of peace for the least, the lost and the lonely – that after thousands of years dropping hints for his rescue plan of light and peace for the human race that he would finally herald it with an announcement to a group of lowly shepherds! But wait, what do the words ‘on whom his favour rest’ indicate? It sounds selective! Biblical scholars tell us that Luke had a particular sympathy for the Jews as God’s choose people. He affirms the special place of the ancient people of God so this is where he starts his Gospel but fortunately he doesn’t stop there. Come back tomorrow to read some more!

Question: Are you lowly enough to accept the peace that only the Messiah, the Lord can bring?

Verse//
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. (John 1:1-5)

Devotional//
In the midst of knowing that our world and our personal experience is so often dark and without peace, I find this text to be foundational. John talks about the light of Christ being right there from the very beginning of the universe and continuing to this day. This light – who is able to “kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight” is available to all people (“through him all things were made”, “he is the light of all mankind”). Light and peace are not for a fortunate few; God’s design is that all people should know and experience these things.

Question: What makes your world dark? Which parts of your life could do with the peace and light of God right now?