“PEACE!”

Matthew 10:34-39                                                  (ESV)

“34 "Do not think that I have come to bring “PEACE” to the earth. I have not come to bring “PEACE”, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than ME is not worthy of ME, and whoever loves son or daughter more than ME is not worthy of ME.

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow ME is not worthy of ME.

39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for MY sake will find it.”

John 14:27                                                                (ESV)

“”PEACE” I leave with you; my “PEACE” I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

WORDS!  Using words at the wrong place or wrong time can be very hurtful, even when they aren’t meant to be.   Recovering from the Brain Hemorrhage has taught me how critical WORD SELECTION really is.   Before, I would simply almost disregard poor WORD SELECTION as talking too fast, not paying attention to what was being said.  Since, I am more CONSCIOUS of what words are coming out of my mouth because of where in my brain the hemorrhage occurred.  Desiring to select the correct word to verbalize exactly my thoughts is almost paramount now!

JESUS didn’t have the same problem that I do.  HE had an uncanny, maybe DIVINE (?), way of saying EXACTLY what HE needed to say to accomplish HIS FATHER’s Plan.  To say “Do not think that I have come to bring “PEACE” to the earth. I have not come to bring “PEACE”, but a sword”, and then in another place say “PEACE” I leave with you; my “PEACE” I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” sounds extremely contradictory!  If HE didn’t bring “PEACE”, how was HE going to leave “PEACE” with us?

Despite some current day teachings, JESUS didn’t come to UNITE the ungodly with HIS CHOSEN.  That doesn’t mean that we are to be hateful or condescending to one’s whose EYES haven’t been opened, but we should treat them as blind people who cannot see.  Most people would try to prevent a physically blind person from crossing a busy street unprotected.  Why do we act as though the Spiritually blind people are like piranhas that are going to annihilate us?   We can minister to them without being “yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14) with them.  You don’t have to ABIDE with someone to offer assistance to them (Luke 10:25-37), as the Good Samaritan displayed.  

Yes, JESUS came to separate the “wheat” from the “chaff” (Matthew 3:12), but HE also came to give we who Believe on HIM “PEACE”!  Being HOLY, by definition, does not allow for ANY SIN.  We should reject ANY SIN, but we should not reject a sinner.  Remember, JESUS saved Saul, turning him into possibly the greatest example of TRANSFORMATION in the New Testament.  JESUS changed me, and IS STILL changing me, to become more in HIS IMAGE.  The more I become like HIM, the more at “PEACE” I will be!!!