TLIC Family. Day 146. May 26: My peace I give to you.

THINK TOGETHER

What is peace? When do you feel peaceful?

READ TOGETHER

In the Bible the word “peace” is a very important word – the word shalom. Can you say Shalom? In Jesus’ time people said hello and goodbye by saying shalom or peace to each other. To them the word peace meant that everything was going great and there were no problems.

But often there’s not a whole lot of peace in the world around us is there? People love to argue and fight and even hurt each other sometimes don’t they? Or sometimes things in life can just be really hard. We get sick. We make mistakes. We fail. We get scared.

But Jesus promised us that he would give us the Holy Spirit when we trust in him. And Jesus told us that when we have the Holy Spirit we can have peace. Listen to how Jesus said it to his disciples here in John’s gospel:

John 14:26-27. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ²⁷ 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.

Now it’s very important to remember WHEN Jesus said this to his disciples. He said it just before he died on the cross. So in just few minutes Jesus and the disciples are going to go through the hardest thing they’ve ever gone through. The worst day ever. And still Jesus says that they can have peace. How? Because when we have Jesus we can have peace on the inside even when we don’t have peace on the outside. And even when we’re scared and anxious on the inside we can know that everything will still be OK because we will always have Jesus with us no matter what because now the Holy Spirit lives in us forever.

So remember Jesus doesn’t promise to change what is happening around you in order to make life more peaceful. But he does promise to always be with you no matter what is happening around you. No matter how hard things get, or how afraid you are, Jesus never leaves us alone. He is always there. And that means that on the inside we can always trust him and know that he loves us through it all.

Because of Jesus we can always trust God.

With Jesus we can have peace in our hearts.

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

Here’s a lullaby rendition of Peace Like a River by Joshua Wicker (his whole Joy album is great).

PRAY TOGETHER

Jesus,

Even when things are hard and scary you give me the peace that comes from knowing that you still love me no matter what.

Amen.

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