December 22: The Gift of True Peace

Pastor Jeff Cranston

“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

I wonder if you’ve entered this Christmas season with any sense of peace in your life? I hope you did because peace is one of the last things that feels readily obtainable during the hustle and bustle of the holiday. We juggle the search for perfect gifts, our Clark Griswald-style attempt at lights, or the seasonal flu bug after a visit to the relatives or the office Christmas party. 

Let’s see, however, if God will meet us this week with some new sense of the peace He wants us to possess. Throughout His earthly, Jesus often told people he’d just healed or helped to “go in peace.” It wasn’t just His Jesus way of moving them along because He had more important things to do. 

It was an acknowledgment that something in what had just gone down between them had given this person the chance to walk away in peace. Jesus seemed to prioritize this peace even over the physical healings he did—as though fixing their circumstances wasn’t the big deal. Somehow more important was the fact that they were now in harmony with God. And through the cradle and the cross, you are as well.

Father, I want real peace. I wish some of the stuff I’m facing wasn’t that way, but I want your peace in the middle of it. I believe you can save me not just from this but from all my sin as well. So, Jesus, I’m asking you for your help with ________. Let your peace come to me in a fresh way, as I believe that you’re the Savior. I put my complete trust in you. I know you’re on it. Through Christ, my Lord. Amen. 

---