Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
What does it mean to have the peace of God? How do we claim it? Actually, without Christ, without God’s peace, we cannot really, and truly know peace at all. The peace of God is the only real peace at all. John 14:27 tells us that God gives us a peace that is unlike that of the world. He gives us this gift of his Salvation and peace freely. It is such a great abundance of peace that it is more then we can even understand (Philippians 4:7). This peace guards our hearts and protects us.
In John 6:1-15 we read about how Jesus fed the 5000. In this record we can learn about accepting God’s peace. The people had a need, they needed food, they had been following Jesus for a long time and they were hungry. Jesus went to Phillip and asked him to give people food. Phillip answered that he didn’t have enough money to purchase food for that many people. When Jesus asked Phillip this, He actually already knew what he was going to do and was only testing Phillip’s faith. One of the disciples, Andrew, brought Jesus a little boy who had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. Andrew didn’t really think that this small amount of food would do much good among so many people, but he brought it Jesus. Jesus asked everyone to sit down. Then Jesus took that small amount of food, prayed, and then started dividing it up and giving it to the disciples to hand out. After everyone had eaten they gathered up 12 baskets of leftover. What can we learn about peace from this story?
Jesus knows our needs.
Jesus knew the people were hungry. He cared about their needs. He knows our needs and cares about them. In Matthew 6:25-26 He says, “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns yet your Heavenly Father feedeth the. Are ye not much better than they?” One problem I find in my life regarding this scripture is that I want to try and take care of the need myself. I will have a need, pray, and then want to worry about it, or think about how I can solve it. This is not what the Bible tells us to do. Jesus said not to even think about it, I should tell God my need, and then just leave it with Him. In the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 you notice that Jesus told the people to sit down, He wanted sit and rest, be at peace, while they let him supply the need.
Jesus uses the small amount that we have.
Andrew brought Jesus the little boy’s lunch, 5 loaves and 2 fishes, in such a large group, it must have seemed nearly pointless to bring that to Jesus. I think we can take that to our represent our talents. We all have talents, and using them for God is the only reason they given to us! That is what I try to teach our teens when I ask them to be involved in the Teens Involved program. It’s about realizing what they're good at, we are all good at something, and we are all given talents. Then after the teens realize what they are good at they are shown in TI how they can put that talent to use in the ministry of the church. Each time our drama team performs their play, they are giving the Gospel. They have learned a way that they can fulfill the Great Commission, by utilizing their God-given talents.
We may think that we aren’t good at much, or aren’t very talented, or maybe we think there is nothing that we could add by working in the church. Yet, Jesus fed over 5000 people with the little, tiny amount of food that was a little boy’s lunch. He can take our talents, no matter how small, and use them to make a BIG difference in the church! All we have to do is bring them to him, just like Andrew brought him the little boy’s lunch!
He gives us more than we ask.
Orginally published April 28, 2009
After all the people have eaten, they gathered up 12 baskets of leftover food! When we give our need to God, He will fulfill our need and then give us even more than we ask for! Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
Finally, I would like you to think about one more thing, what would be the reason for us, as Christians, not to experience this peace? Why would we not experience the peace of God supplying our needs, physical and spiritual? The reason we most often miss out on experiencing this peace is because instead of asking God to supply our need, we try and do it ourselves. Remember, Jesus asked the people in John 6 to sit down, and let him do the work of supplying the need. Instead of sitting peacefully in the grass, we try and do the work ourselves. We try and find ways to supply the need. Whenever we do this, we just make a total mess of things! So the next time you have a need, don’t be like Phillip when Jesus tested his faith. Instead just give your need to Christ and accept His peace as you peacefully wait for Him to show you His power.
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