JIMMETS – MAN’S PEACE - MY PEACE

Time with Jesus - 4 Nov 2013

Hi all,

Three of the four ‘”Major” Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel agreed on one particular point. There was no peace for the wicked! The context is very interesting. They were all speaking to Judah about the invasion and captivity of the Jews in and around Jerusalem. 

Isaiah was speaking of a time in the future. Jeremiah’s prophecy was both before and after the invasion and captivity of the people. Ezekiel was looking back to just before the captivity and commenting on the words of the “prophets” who said all would be well.

Isaiah 57:21 NLT	Jeremiah 8:11 KJV	Ezekiel 13:16 NLT
21 There is no peace for the wicked," says my God.	11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.	16 'They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!

Today we look at the past with “hind-sight”. We know what happened. 

Guessing games are pointless. At the time when things are taking place, past opinions about what would happen were divided. e.g. If Europe had known what Hitler was going to do when he came to power in 1933, he would have been dealt with immediately.

For you and me in the 21^st century, it’s much the same. None of us know the future. We all end up being taken captive by the circumstances we are presently in. “If only!” we say. It’s pointless. We are all the product of our historical past, reaping the results of decisions taken then.

Peace Rose

If I had known in December 1959 what would happen when I wrote matric, I wouldn’t have done what I did. 53 years later, I’m still faced with the outcome. I remember listening to a preacher talking about reaping what we sow. He said some of us should pray for a crop failure! Mmmm.

Is there anything we can do about this sort of thing? Apart from prayer, very little! We can try and protect others from making mistakes. As parents we try and protect our children from the mistakes we made. Nevertheless, they make similar mistakes. It happens in every generation and is largely the product of the sin nature. 

We don’t learn from history. David Pawson is on record as having said, “All we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history”. Each time I hear this said I feel like adding, “There’s no peace for the wicked”.

When we are going through a tough time, the one thing we seek is peace. 

In this regard I remember what happened immediately after I’d recommitted my life to Jesus in 1981. As I’ve stated, conditions between my ex-wife and me were tense. You get to a point in time when something has to be done. It’s a bit like drowning. You clutch at straws and hope that everything will turn out fine. 

What do you do when it doesn’t? The prodigal son looked back at what once had been and was no more. He went through a time of mental recriminations. Then, in spite of everything, he decided to return to his father, “cap in hand”. Taking the decision must have been the hardest thing for him. 

He felt intimidated by what he thought his father’s reaction would be. Finally, the seriousness of his situation demanded that he take the “bull by the horns” and go home. Clearly he had arrived at the point where if he didn’t, he would starve to death. For him, being treated as the lowest family slave was a better option.

I’ve sometimes wondered about what would have happened to the prodigal son a number of years after he returned home? When he arrived, he was treated as a son by his father. Would that have continued? What would happen to him after his father died? How would his older brother react? 

Each of us can put our own “spin” on that. For me, that was part of the problem. Going back to Jesus in repentance was one thing. What about my brothers and sisters in God’s family? 

It’s well known that the Christian army is the only one that shoots its wounded. In the final analysis, we have to decide to cope with this possibility. If anything, it only further postpones the decision to return. Eventually we arrive at a place where things are so bad, the reactions of others becomes irrelevant.

That night, after recommitting my life to Jesus, I want home almost in a state of euphoria. Jesus had received me the way the prodigal son’s father had received his son. The next question was what would happen in my home? Would there be great rejoicing at my return to the Lord, or would my ex-wife and children look at me the same way as the prodigal son’s elder brother looked at him? 

I wasn’t too concerned about the children. They were young enough to cope with a father who was a “Jesus freak”. The possible reaction of my ex-wife was another matter.

If this was a fairy story, we would have embraced and would live “happily ever after”. But this was at the opposite end of the scale. There was no embrace. She was not impressed. Nothing was said. What she was doing was see if this would change me into her prince charming. What she observed over the next couple of weeks was just the opposite. My following Jesus was, from her point of view, “over the top”! 

On reflection, I think she had a point. The problem for me was that after 15½ years in the wilderness, I couldn’t keep away from God’s people. There was so much to learn and so much time to make up. 

For me, the decision was made. Nothing less than 100% commitment to Jesus would satisfy my empty heart and restore the peace I’d lost before we met. That, as they say, was that! It was a question of me and Jesus or …… The rest is history!

Shalom

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – 4 Nov 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
©	These devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it is for non-commercial Christian purposes					©
INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	JIMMETS – MAN’S PEACE - MY PEACE
Choruses. We all remember them from long ago. I recall singing, “I’ve got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart”. I sang it with the other youngsters back in the early 1960’s. It was very popular. One of the reasons was, we could include our own words in place of “Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy”. A popular addition was “the guarantee of His salvation”. Mine was, “the peace that passes understanding”. We would sing it with great gusto. Sadly, on reflection, I’m forced to the conclusion that the words were from my head and not my heart. But when you are in your early 20’s who knows the difference? I certainly didn’t. How do you recognise “the peace that passes understanding?” Sure it was on several bumper stickers but what did it mean? The fact is, if we don’t know, it truly passes understanding; mine and yours! It seems a terrible thing to say, but most Christians are basically dishonest! We would sing about peace in our hearts. But what were we singing? Did we or didn’t we? Most of us would have vehemently said we have “it” and wouldn’t admit we didn’t. After all, as a Christian, it should be true. Furthermore we would rather die than say anything to the contrary! Twenty years later this was taken to a new level of dishonesty by the statement, “fake it till you make it”! Most of us did, for fear of making a “negative confession”. I remember in 1981, while going through a terrible divorce, people would ask me how things were going at home. I would put on a somewhat forced grin and say, “Fine, just fine”. It was an out and out lie! Things at home were not fine. They were unbelievably horrible. But I didn’t dare say that. It would have been a negative confession and that was forbidden. There was a feeling going round that to say the wrong thing, invited Satan to destroy you. But he already had! Saying so would at least have been truthful. What then is this “peace”? John Wesley tells us a little about it. He was crossing the Atlantic and a huge storm arose. The people on board were terrified. All except a family of Moravian missionaries. When he asked them why, they told Him that they were in God’s hands and whatever happened He would be with them. Wesley was “gob-smacked”. They had peace and he didn’t! Today we are surrounded by Christian men and women who don’t realise that peace is not an emotion. It’s supernatural. It is knowledge, based on Scripture that “It is well. It is well with my soul!” Do you have it? Do I have it? Does anyone have it? The answer is a definite “yes”. But it’s not based on me or how I feel. Often I don’t think I do have it. But when I take time alone with God’s Word in a quiet place, suddenly He becomes “real” in a special way. That’s His peace touching you and me. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			6 For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 NLT	MAN’S PEACE What do people understand by “peace”? A word that tells them that there is no war? That inter-human conflicts are deceased, And man won’t kill his brother anymore? The dis-United Nations seem to think; That if the nations put away their arms; Quicker than the fastest eye can blink It will be the end of all the harms, We inflict on others every day! Sorry, but they have the whole thing wrong. Wickedness is in our hearts to stay, And power’s always hijacked by the strong. Pretty speeches never have sufficed. Peace will only come in Jesus Christ. Jim Strickland Written 4 Nov. 2012 MY PEACE In the upper room that fateful night, Jesus said, “My peace I give to you. There will be no need for you to fight, In the way that worldly people do. Peace is only ever found in Me. Peace that tribulation can’t prevent. Peace which I bestow eternally. Peace that can’t be shaken bowed or bent. Peace that, come what may, you can endure. Peace with God! That is what I bestow. Peace to help you realise for sure, You are someone I will always know. Persecution is a certainty. But My peace will always be on thee” Jim Strickland Written 4 Nov 2012
			2 He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. 3 The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. Psalms 72:2-3 NIV
			6 He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. 7 In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more. Psalms 72:6-7 NIV
			14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Luke 2:14 MKJV
			78 Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace." Luke 1:78-79 NLT
			36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), Acts 10:36 ESV
			33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." John 16:33 ESV
			27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV
			7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 ESV