Good Morning Gorgeous!
It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start! There’s 20 days until Christmas. 🙂
I feel such anticipation for what He is doing all around in this season.
When we lean into Him, we can receive a gift the world just cannot give: peace.
Isaiah prophesied the name Prince of Peace in the Old Testament in Isaiah 9:6.
Then, in the New Testament, we see the disciples experience Jesus’s power to bring peace to a literal storm. The disciples and Jesus were in a boat when raging winds and crashing waves suddenly came upon them. Fear gripped them, and they cried out to Jesus, who was asleep. They marveled at His ability to sleep on a pillow during such a frightening storm. With fear, they asked a common question we may ask today when we are in the storms of life, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Jesus said three words, as recorded in Mark 4: 39: “Peace, Be still.”
The wind and the waves ceased. This miracle is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Now instead of marveling at His nonchalance, they marveled at His ability to make the stormy sea calm with just His Words.
They asked each other, “Who is this that even the wind and waves obey Him?”
Who is this?
He is the Lord Himself, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, AND the Prince of Peace.
He is the One by whom everything was created. He spoke, and the water in Genesis pooled together and separated from dry land. Of course, the water would obey Him again when He spoke to it, and the disciples watched in awe. He IS the Prince of Peace. He gives it as a gift to the people who trust Him.
When the disciples asked, “Do you not care?” They were experiencing a scary, life-threatening storm. The winds were raging, the waves were crashing, and it seemed they might lose everything. And their Master was asleep! Jesus was teaching them a new way to react to the storms of life: remain calm and at peace.
When He got up, He taught them to speak to the storms of life with authority. Even when believers follow the Lord wholeheartedly, storms may come up.
Don’t let anyone convince you that a storm means you aren’t following God or that He’s angry. The disciples were literally with Jesus, following Him closely onto a boat that He told them to get on, and the storm still came. Their question is one that many people ask today, “Lord, do you see what I’m going through? Do you even care?”
The answer is found in this account on the sea. Yes, He cares. And yes, He will come when we call on His Name. Notice, He moved on their behalf the moment they cried out. He told the wind and the waves to stop, and they did. Jesus came to teach us how to walk on earth in a new level of Kingdom life.
He promised a gift of peace that the world could neither give nor take away. It’s untouchable by life’s happenings if we learn to receive it and guard it. It’s PEACE right from Heaven poured out by the Prince of Peace. He’s the ruler of peace, which means it’s His to give away to His people supernaturally. Through the Prince of Peace, you can receive the gift of peace that the world can’t offer.
The world will give fleeting happiness, counterfeit moments where everything feels good. People often try to use things and routines to bring comfort and engage in patterns of behavior that numb pain. Some things people do to feel better are good, and others are destructive, but NOTHING the world has to offer will give long-lasting, sustaining peace that isn’t moved by the storms of life. Only Jesus has that type of peace to give away.
So, how do you receive this peace? Paul gave a strategy. Talk to God about everything.
He encourages believers to get close to the Lord by pouring their hearts out to Him and remaining in peace.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians: 6-7
Jesus is our peace. He is the place we can flee to escape the fear, anxiety, and pressures that try to steal our peace. Jesus is the giver of peace. He is the source of peace. He is peace. When Jesus walked the earth as both fully human and fully God, He demonstrated how to live a life submitted to the Lord and receive the peace available to us even while we live through the storms of life.
Remember, Jesus got up the MOMENT the disciples cried out to Him! Today, you can turn to Jesus and ask for His gift of soothing peace. Jesus tells us that we will have trouble in this life, but not to worry because He has already overcome the world. He has already triumphed over every enemy that can hurt us, even death! So, as the world screams that you should be afraid of the happenings of this life, you don’t have to partner with fear. Instead, you can flee into the arms of Jesus, and He can tell the winds and waves in your life to “Be still.”
Dear Lord,
I thank You and honor You today as the giver of Peace. Thank You for sending Jesus to show us how to live submitted to You and empowered by Your Holy Spirit. Show us how to access Your Peace and guard it from the enemy who wants to devour it as fast as You give it to us. Teach us to stay so close to You that we are in perfect Peace through every valley low, every mountaintop, every raging storm, and every calm afterward. May the Peace of Christ be our portion regardless of the weather in our lives.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
This is chapter 5 of the book, Anticipating the Savior: A Journey through the Names of Jesus
Hardcover https://a.co/d/7T8YJBo
Softcover https://a.co/d/hnoJBWm
Blessings and PEACE!
Vanessa Lynn
