SOWING PEACE

"Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." (James 3:8)

James chose peace as the seed because true righteousness can't grow where there is discord. Unrighteousness grows like weeds in an environment where uncertainty and anxiety abound. Evil loves discontent and restlessness. Mind you, James doesn't use the word "peacekeepers," but "peacemakers." People who try to get rid of strife through kowtowing or weakening their principles fail in bringing about a deep and lasting peace. Peace for the sake of expediency is fragile, at best.

Peacemaking runs deeper than peacekeeping. To sow the seed of peace is to press a truth gently yet firmly into the soil of another's heart. When peace prevails, that which is "right" is given room to flourish. We can see circumstances for what they are. We are able to choose the right path.

Peace is a powerful seed in your hand. Sow it in the midst of a sinful world that is too contentious to discern right from wrong. Speak words of peace to those in your church who have lost their sense of what love is and Who loves them dearly. Let dissension and discord pass from your hearts so that the stranger in your midst might be wooed to the Righteous One. 

-- Joni Eareckson Tada in “More Precious Than Silver”

THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:10-13 NIV)

Because we lack a divine Center, our need for security has led us into an insane attachment to things. We must clearly understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither need nor enjoy. We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like… Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry. 
 
-- Richard Foster in “Celebration of Discipline”

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EVERYTHING YOU NEED

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  (Psalm 23:1 NKJV)

What you have in your Shepherd is greater than what you don’t have in life.

May I meddle for a moment? What is the one thing separating you from joy? How do you fill in this blank: “I will be happy when _______________”? When I am healed. When I am promoted. When I am married. When I am single. When I am rich. How would you finish that statement?

Now with your answer firmly in hand, answer this. If your ship never comes in, if your dreams never come true, if the situation never changes, could you be happy? If not, then you are sleeping in the cold cell of discontentment. You are in prison. And you need to know what you have in your Shepherd.

You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.

-- Max Lucado in “Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Meant to Bear -- The Promise of Psalm 23”


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