Prior to His death, Jesus spoke with the disciples about the peace He would give them as they faced the troubles of life<\/a>, knowing that He would be taken from them which in itself had the potential of being quite troubling for the disciples (Jn. 14:27; 16:33).\u00a0 Before ascending to heaven, the resurrected Jesus met with the disciples and three times repeated the phrase “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:19, 21, 26).\u00a0 As He sent them out into the world, where they would face many difficulties, He said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (Jn. 20:21).\u00a0 Clearly, Jesus recognized the vital role of peace.<\/span><\/p>\n The word “peace” occurs at least once in every book of the New Testament.\u00a0 So many of the epistles begin with a greeting similar to this: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”\u00a0 Perhaps this was a common greeting among Christians in those days but certainly God would not waste space in Scripture repeating something that had little or no significance.\u00a0 Grace and peace are important.\u00a0 (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Philem. 1:3; 2 Pet. 1:2; 2 Jn. 1:3; Jude 1:2; Rev. 1:4)<\/span><\/p>\n Inner peace is essential to relational peace.\u00a0 If the peace of Christ does not “rule in your hearts,” you will not be at peace with one another (Col. 3:15).<\/span>\u00a0 So many of the difficulties in life stem from what somebody said or did, from the offenses of people.\u00a0 How will we navigate these hurts<\/a> and disappointments if we do not have the peace of Christ in our hearts?\u00a0 Peace is essential.<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Apart from the grace of God there is no peace.\u00a0 The Gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24) is also described as the Gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15).\u00a0 Jesus reconciled us to God “by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Col. 1:20).\u00a0 If we have not responded to this work of grace on our behalf, we will not be at peace with God.\u00a0 If we are not at peace with God, we will not have inner peace.\u00a0 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).<\/span><\/p>\n Just as we were saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9), so we walk (Col. 2:6).\u00a0 To experience that peace through the difficulties of life, we then need to walk by grace through faith.\u00a0 When we walk by grace we are acknowledging our inability to cope versus His ability to help us cope.\u00a0 We are admitting our limited resources and His limitless reserve.\u00a0 We are recognizing our limited knowledge and His omniscient and sovereign place.\u00a0 The more we make it about Him, trusting Him in the details as well as the big picture of our lives, the more at peace we will be.\u00a0 — <\/span>You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.\u00a0 (Isa. 26:3)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Pet. 1:2)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Do you want peace?\u00a0 Get to know and rely on a God who is great enough, capable enough, and loving enough to take care of you through both the good and bad times.\u00a0 You don’t have to like what is happening to you, but you can be at peace because God has your back.\u00a0 You don’t have to understand everything, but you can be at peace because God is in control.\u00a0 As you become more thoroughly acquainted with God, you will, along with the Apostle Paul, acknowledge Him as the “God of peace” (Rom. 15:33; 16:20; 1 Cor. 14:33; 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 13:20).<\/span><\/p>\n Notice that knowledge of God and of Jesus not only leads to peace, but an abundance of peace<\/em>.\u00a0 The measure of peace He provides is beyond comprehension (Phil. 4:7) and the staying power of His peace is constant (2 Thess. 3:16).\u00a0 That kind of peace can only come from a source who by His very nature is Himself Peace.<\/span><\/p>\n Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. (2 Thess. 3:16)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n We need to tap into the means through which He provides peace so we experience the reality of it in our lives.\u00a0 In the next four posts we will look at the conditions in which peace thrives. Follow the related posts below for those articles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Someone commented on a previous post, … I constantly have so much coming at me. I’m stressed to the no limits, and trying to understand the evils of people’s hearts is even more stressing than ever. Can I ever experience God’s total peace? I haven’t had total peace in a long time, seems as if trials never stop in my life, . . . In drafting a response to the comment, I realized it required a post devoted solely to the need for peace. How can we effectively cope without peace as we walk through the difficulties of life? Continue reading Too Hard to Make It Through Life Without Peace – Part 1<\/span>![\"Peace](\"https:\/\/mintools.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/peace-symbol-2.jpg\")
In drafting a response to the comment, I realized it required a post devoted solely to the need for peace.\u00a0 How can we effectively cope without peace as we walk through the difficulties of life?<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\nPeace is Essential to Walking Through the Difficulties of Life<\/span><\/h2>\n
Grace and Peace Go Hand in Hand<\/span><\/h2>\n
Having Peace Starts with Knowing the Source of Peace<\/span><\/h2>\n
God Gives His Peace Through a Variety of Means<\/span><\/h2>\n