Risking True Peace

Taken from: http://www.gtysg.org/
This is the day's daily devotional.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9).
People often define peace as the absence of conflict, but God sees it differently. The absence of
conflict is merely a truce, which might end overt hostilities but doesn't resolve the underlying
issues. A truce simply introduces a cold war, which often drives the conflict underground, where
it smolders until erupting in physical or emotional disaster.

James 3:17 says, "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable." Godly wisdom, purity,
and peace go hand- in-hand. Peace is wisdom in action and is never established at the expense
of righteousness. It brings righteousness to bear on the a situation, seeking to eliminate the
source of conflict and create right relationships. Feuding parties will know true peace only when
they are willing to admit that their bitterness and hatred is wrong and humbly seek God's grace
to make things right.

Some people equate peacemaking with evading issues, but true peace can be very confrontive.
In Matthew 10:34 Jesus says, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword." That may seem to contradict Matthew 5:9, but it doesn't:
Jesus knew that sinful people have to be confronted with the truth before they can experience
peace. That can be a painful and difficult process because people usually have a hostile reaction
to the gospel before they finally embrace it. Even believers will sometimes react negatively when
confronted with God's truth.

Being a biblical peacemaker has its price. You can expect to upset unbelievers who openly oppose
God's Word as well as believers who compromise its truth for the sake of maintaining "peace"
among people of differing doctrinal persuasions. Some will call you narrow-minded and divisive
for dealing with controversial issues. Some will misunderstand your motives or even attack you
personally. But that's been the path of every true peacemaker-- including our Lord Himself. Take
heart and be faithful. Your efforts to bring peace show that you are a child of God.

Suggestions for Prayer:


Ask God for the boldness never to compromise His truth.
Pray for those you know who are suffering for the sake of the gospel.
For Further Study:

Read Luke 12:51-53, noting how the gospel can bring division even among families.

---

Indeed the truth does hurt those who cannot believe and accept it. The truth hurts. Makes
me wonder just how many times i withheld the truth in order to maintain the 'peace'. Dat is
the sin of omission for you - the worse kinda sin you can ever commit because you see
something right but you didnt do it. You saw your friend or your family member or your
relative letting his or her live go to waste but you didnt want to tell them the truth for fear
they will reject you... etc.

I'm guilty definitely. Many times. I know many of us are cowardise. We know what is right
but we don't do it. we don't do it to avoid blame on ourselves, to avoid being labelled as
ulterior in motive, to avoid being oustanding, to maintain 'peace'. i hate that word 'peace'
now.. it should be spelt as D-E-C-E-I-T instead.

I've had people coming up to me and asking me, 'Hey wat's with that cross man?!' or stuff
like, 'Eh so what happened to you?' or say things to me like, 'O Father, we have sinned..'
or 'Why are you dressed like a priest?' I've even been asked, 'Is dat your latest craze??'
refering to the cross i wear around my neck.

Well, to answer the questions? Firstly, no, it's no fad. Where God is concern, there's no such
thing as a fad. I don't take God as if he is some fashion accessory. In fact, i wouldn't even
dare think of God in that way. Some people have come up to me and tell me that 'hey, you
are looking happier than ever!' And thank God, because the happiness, the smile you see
on my face is brought about by my new life in Christ Jesus.

The truth hurts but as a good friend, i'll say it.. even though people wun necessarily accept it.
My pastor said that where God is concerned, you either make people real mad with what you
say, or you really touch their hearts and make them realise the error of their ways. There is
no way for indifference. God is not a neutral God. You are either for Him, or against Him. If
you're against Him, sorry to say this hurts but the truth is you are then with the Devil.

Let's face it, we are all sinners, no matter what religion you are or whether you consider yourself
atheist, whatever. Who cares? The bible says that we are all sinners. If you are human, then
you're a sinner. Simple as that. And if you're a sinner, you can't go to Heaven. Some will say,
'Dat's fine, i never intended to go to Heaven anyway where it's so boring with angels playing
their harps on white fluffy clouds.' Well, if dat's your idea of Heaven then sorry to say but you're
having a real inaccurate perception of that.

Honestly, you DUN WANT to be joking when you talk about life after death. Because life after
death comes eternity. And eternity means only TWO things:

1. Life
2. Death

Eternity can mean either living in eternity in Heaven where there will be no more sorrow and pain,
where your bodies become supernatural, where the Children of God will be with Him forever and
worship His Holy Name forever. Have you ever gone through something in life where it's just pure
torture? whether physically or mentally? Well, ok good news is, you will NEVER EVER have to
experience that in life in eternity with God.

However, eternity in Hell means a whole new different thing. It is the exact opposite of eternity in
Heaven. The bible clearly states that Hell aint no Zouk Out party, that Hell isn't filled with freeflow
of booze and dance music and wat not. No, the bible says Hell is the Second Death, that is ETERNAL
DEATH. Death eternally. Incomprehensible? Yeah definitely :) even i cant imagine how one can be
tortured with fire much less talking about eternal torture in fire.. dat's a scary thought if you ask me.

Truth is the Word of God. Truth is Christ's death on the cross AND his subsequent resurrection
three days later. And by dying on the cross, Jesus gave us the promise of 7 works:

1. Forgiveness - Dat means our sins are forever cancelled by Christ's death because He was SINLESS.

2. Acceptance - We can now go back to God through Jesus Christ. He's our bridge back to God.

3. Blessing - Our lives will be blessed when we accept Christ and walk in His ways, doing what he
wants us to do.

4. Healing - This is physical healing. Dat means, Christ took away all our sicknesses when He was
nailed on the Cross. Because of dat, by the WILL OF GOD, we can be healed from diseases dat the
world deems as terminal or impossible to recover from. Yes, nothing is impossible for God.

5. Abundance - This refers to Financial Abundance. If we put our trust and faith in the Lord and do
His work and obey His commands, WE WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE RECESSION. The word 'POOR' WILL
NEVER EVER EXIST IN OUR VOCABULARY.

6. New Man - Well yes, the New Man refers to the person who is 'borned again' in Christ. This means
that by his faith in Christ which he accepted in his heart and by the confession of this faith which he
made via his mouth, he has become a New Man in Christ. He is then a Child of God.

7. Eternal Life - As mentioned above, eternal life in God is what Man was created for and intended by
God Himself. Man's original purpose was to serve God and fellowship with Him forever! Sin perverted
dat. But through Christ, we can now experience this eternal life. That is why, as a borned again
Christian, we need not fear death nor fear any man who walks this face of the earth but rather fear
God, because while Man can only destroy your earthly body - a mere shell for your soul, God can
destroy both your shell AND the spirit which is in you which is your soul!

So right now if you're wondering what to do, do this:

If you don't want this gift of eternal life, you need not read on anymore. Really. But well since you even
bothered to read thus far, I really don't know why you would bother? But dat's cos it's the Holy Spirit
of God speaking to your heart. You hear dat? No i can't hear it for you, only you can feel and hear it :)

So if you feel that urge, that tug in your heart, He's trying to tell you something man. You can either
reject it or accept it. The choice is yours. After all, God doesnt force His will upon us. We have the
freedom of choice as according to the Bible.

If you have made the decision to accept Christ and want Him to renew your body, change your mind,
forgive your sins for good, make you a New Man, then, WITH FAITH, you are going to say this out in
a few moments time. With your heart, you must sincerely believe, for God is not blind to your thoughts.
He knows if you really mean it or not. Then, by your mouth, you SPEAK the following prayer and CONFESS.

Now quieten down... and here goes, say this out:

"Lord Jesus, i realise i am a sinner. I cannot save my own self. My life is condemned without You.
I need Christ Jesus. I need His precious blood to cleanse me from all my sins. Without you, i am
nothing. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins and paying the price so that i can receive
eternal life. Right now, i ask You to come into my heart. By faith, i ask You to come and take
control of my life. I pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

Awesome! If you sincerely prayed that prayer? I wanna congratulate you because you are now a
Child of God! You are part of His Holy Kingdom! The next step you have to take is this:

You need to know more about Christ, your journey has just begun. To understand more about the
implications of what you just prayed, and to understand more about Jesus, you need a church :)
Fret not, dat's wat i'm here for. You can email me at orions_belt27@yahoo.com and i will definitely
get in touch with you! :D

Remember this, if you sincerely prayed that prayer, you have eternal life! NOW, the question is
what do you do next? :) and if u wanna know, you can email me anytime :D Have a gd day!