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As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, there is IMHO a no more beautiful blessing in all of the Bible than the one we are going to discuss here.
I honestly cannot put into words how excited I am for you to listen in.
As you are about to hear, Jesus perfectly defined the Gold Standard for dynamic Christian living.
Not only that, but He also gave to each of us the highest calling, the loftiest privilege, the grandest purpose statement for our lives. One that makes getting up in the morning so worth it.
Be encouraged as you listen. Take Jesus’ words to heart. Experience His blessing. And then get ready to share that blessing with the world.
Let’s begin by reading Luke 10:5,
Luke 10:5
New Living Translation (NLT)
“Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’
There is no more beautiful sentiment in the scriptures than that.”May God’s peace be on this house.” Especially coming from the lips of Jesus.
A quick disclaimer, I promise you that our discussion tonight will end well, we’re going to discuss a few sobering realities that characterize the world in which Jesus lived.
In stark contrast to the world Jesus grew up in, the world was anything but peaceful, or peace filled. He lived and ministered a traumatized world. The Roman empire was cruel, barbaric, brutal in ways that I’ve had to hold my tongue back in the past few weeks. So I am here to tell you that the world in which Jesus lived was of a people who were oppressed into obedience. Both by their political and religious leaders. Jesus was born into a world that was confined and defined by an equal lateral triangle, of fear, intimidation and insecurity, and that is what he lived with every single day.I share this because to know him more is to love him more. From the beginning Jesus was targeted as an enemy of the state by the mad man Herod. Herod send soldiers to kill everyone boy 2 years and younger. Try to imagine that you are singularly responsible for the deaths of dozens if not hundreds of innocent baby boys. All slaughtered in a cynical attempt to kill you!
It was John who behind his Gospel, with these very telling words.
John 1:10-11
New Living Translation (NLT)
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
How in the world did Jesus endure all of that?!? Because it it ultimately God that they are rejecting, God shouldn’t have to feel this!
How did he endure this suffering and rejection, and then how can we?
He was being sought out by political leaders, religious leader and the spiritual realm. This was not a happy man, it is interesting to me that there is a verse that says “Jesus wept” but you won’t find any where that says “Jesus laughed”. I fear we too often forget just how much like us He was! He know what we’re going through, he understands our pain, that’s why he came to this world, so that he could experience it for himself as one of us. He can relate to our evert struggle because he experienced all of them, every day.
How did he do it? What kept Him going? How did He endure?
Jesus 14:27
New Living Translation (NLT)
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid
Jesus said “My peace”. Jesus was a man at peace, that is stunning to me. People think that what they want is happiness and what they search for is happiness in many different directions in pursuit of that. To the point that they will self medicate in an attempt that they will self medicate to be happy. It doesn’t need to be a drug, it can be food or any number of things that will just make them happy. But it is not happiness they seek, they think it is. Happiness is an illicid dream, like a child blowing a bubble and it shines in the the sunlight and you see a rainbow of colors and you want to grab it and look at it. Yet the minute you touch the bubble it pops. It’s an illusion, it’s not happiness that people are looking for, it’s peace. They just want to be at peace.
I like to call it, living in the eye of the storm, because not matter how brutal the winds may blow, in the center of the storm, the eye, it is so calm and that’s where we live. With everything else spinning around us, in the eye of the storm.
There is no greater purpose and there is not greater privilege than to infer upon the world God’s peace. So much so that Jesus reserved a special blessing for those who do that.
Matthew 5:9
New Living Translation (NLT)
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
And to how many lives does our presence and do our words bring peace? It isn’t just our words but our words, but our presence, just us being there can bring peace. God’s bright and beautiful blessing is peace. That’s what I want to be, don’t you?