Peace. In a general sense, peace is the absence of conflict. On a personal level, it can mean many things…

Peace can be paying off this month's credit card bill.

Peace can be finishing that report for work.

Peace can be arriving home after fighting rush hour traffic.

Peace can be not fighting with your spouse for at least one night.

Peace can be not hearing gunfire when you turn off the lights.

When Jewish people greet one another, they say "shalom." Peace. In Arabic, the greeting is "salam," with the same meaning. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul frequently used the phrase "grace and peace" when beginning his letters. Peace is something that we desire for ourselves and should desire for others.

What about peace with God? For some, that's a distant concept. Maybe we've never really tried to establish a relationship with God. Or we've tried, but have never felt like we were quite good enough.

Some of us used to feel good about our standing with God, but now we're filled with doubt. We don't have the feeling we used to have. Maybe sin has gotten in the way, the big kind of sin that leaves us feeling guilty for years. Or maybe it's just a general disenchantment with God, being disappointed by Him time and again. Or it could just be that we've grown a bit cold, not turning our backs on God, but just drifting away from Him.

All of those things can steal our peace. To overcome those kinds of feelings, we need to take the focus off of ourselves. We need to recognize that we aren't trying to earn our salvation. We're not trying to be "good enough" for God. We need to focus on Jesus Christ and what He has done to make us "good enough."

Are you at peace with God?
Paul wrote to the Roman Christians: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). Peace with God comes through trusting in Jesus, trusting in His love and His care for us. When our faith led us to submit to Jesus in baptism, we entered into a relationship with Him that will provide us with the peace that only God can give. It's not about us… it's about Jesus and what He did for us.

If you don't feel at peace with God, you are probably still focused on yourself. You may even be trying to make yourself good enough for God. It's time to trust in Jesus and His power to save. Only He can put you at peace with God.

If you'd like to know more, contact me through http://www.hopeforlife.org or write me at tarcher@heraldoftruth.org.

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