Daily Devotional For Sunday, December 8, 2024
The word of Christmas we are focusing on today is > PEACE. Funny though. Christmas can be anything but peaceful for some of us—especially parents of young kids. As Christmas Eve gets closer, our stress goes up. Why? Every year starting in November, we try to pack so much into this time of the year. Just think of what we try to do. We start out trying to get all the foods that go into a great Thanksgiving Dinner, invite family and/or friends over. Typically the people start cooking the night before Thanksgiving and through the day while the kids are watching Macy’s Thanksgiving parade and the later on are watching all the football games.
Then we spend the rest of the evening trying to clean up from the mess and if that is not enough, we now have what is called “Black Friday.” People line up at 4-5 AM (or earlier) for stores that are going to open up at 6:00 AM or earlier. People shop all day in that madhouse. People are rushing from store to store, tempers flare and even fights break out. And if that is not enough, we move right into December and we decide to have more parties during December than all the rest of the year combined.
I don’t know why we do it but we do this to ourselves. During December, besides all of these parties, we say, “Let’s add this. Let’s write a little personal note to every person we’ve ever met in our lives.” And we send out Christmas cards to all of them. And as if that were not enough we say, “Let’s entirely redecorate our houses on the outside and on the inside.” We add that to the list. Then during this time of the year we try to buy a special little gift for every person that we love during this time of the year. And during this time of the year we bake. How often do you bake? But you do it during this time of the year! Then right in the middle of it as if all of this wasn’t crazy enough, we say, “Let’s let the kids out of school for two weeks.”
It’s crazy what we do to ourselves. No wonder we have stress and very little peace. No wonder we have anxiety during this time of the year. It’s no wonder we find little reason to give thanks. We simply strive to survive the next 6-7 weeks and what we feel is not the thanksgiving of Thanksgiving nor the peace of Christmas. What we feel is stress. But then a slight reprieve comes. We attend a Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Worship Service and go home to crash. All the stores are closed. We finally put our kids to bed knowing many of them will be up before the crack of dawn – which means, we will also. Seeing their faces, excitement and thrill makes it worth it all. And for a few moments we may have some peace.
But Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. In fact, the very first Christmas gift was a gift of peace. When the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth, they sang this in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased” (NLT).
That phrase, “peace on earth,” was not a wish. It was a gift. The angels had been sent with God’s promise to humanity. God was saying, “I don’t simply wish you peace. I am giving you peace. I am making a way for you to possess peace with Me, peace with others,” and peace with yourself. Peace is God’s gift to you at Christmas time.
Jesus didn’t come to judge the world. He didn’t come to punish the world. He didn’t come to stir up trouble or instill fear in our hearts. God came, in the form of a baby, to make peace—to offer peace to anyone who would receive it as His gift. He was doing what only He could do—bringing an end to our conflict with heaven. All we have to do is surrender to his terms of peace. The kind of peace God gives is not simply the absence of conflict. There is so much more to it than that. Biblical peace is also the presence of order, health, and well-being in your body, soul, spirit, and relationships. God’s peace means fullness, completeness, prosperity, and tranquility. Think about that: order, health, fullness, completeness, prosperity, and tranquility. Could you use some of that kind of peace in your life? It is God’s gift to you through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
The Bible says in Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful” (NLT). That means God is more than willing to give you His peace, but you have to give Him permission. You have to let it—allow it—invite it!—to happen. The extent of His rulership in your heart is up to you. And sometimes, especially in a busy season like Christmas, it is a daily decision. So let me ask you, who is ruling in your heart today? You can tell by the amount of peace you have.
You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control what you choose to think about, what you choose to dwell on, and what you choose to allow to occupy your thoughts. And the Bible says this in 2 Corinthians 10:5b, “We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ” (NLT). Between Colossians 3:15 and 2 Corinthians 10:5b, both verses combined are saying:
“Let the peace of Christ—the Prince of Peace—let His peace, His wholeness, His order, and tranquility be the deciding factor in your thinking. Don’t dwell on thoughts of conflict or discord. Don’t dwell on hurtful memories. Capture these thoughts or they will capture you. Make sure you hold these thoughts hostage and not let them hold you hostage. Let the peace of Christ be the decider, the umpire—let the peace of Christ have the final say in every thought or feeling in your mind and heart. Allow the Prince of Peace to sit on the throne of your life, and let his peace be the law of the land. The only way for the peace of Christ to rule in your heart is to make Christ your ruler.” Have you done that?
Consider this story:
In Northern Ireland, there’s a city that’s so divided, part of the population calls it Londonderry and others calls it Derry. In this city Protestants live on the east bank and Catholics on the west bank. Many don’t like to mix; so, one of the solutions was to build a bridge. The 900-foot bridge curves like a snake and is for walkers, joggers, and cyclists. They named it “Peace Bridge.” That’s what they’re trying to do, build a bridge, build peace.
That is exactly what God did for us. He built a bridge from heaven to earth, from Him as our Savior to us sinners below. The name of that bridge is Jesus Christ. The only way we can have lasting and eternal peace is to walk across that bridge to the other side. We must be willing to give our lives unconditionally to Jesus Christ and ask the Prince of Peace to be both our Savior and our Lord. There is never any peace without the Prince of Peace.
Questions To Consider
- What is stressful for you during the Christmas holidays? How do you typically handle that stress and why?
- Would you say that the Prince of Peace rules in your heart? If you say, “Yes,” what is the proof of that?
- If you have children or grandchildren with you, ask them what is both fun and “stressful” to them during these holidays (you might have to explain to them what stress is on their level of understanding)?
- What are you planning on doing this Christmas season to build a "peace bridge" to experience peace the Prince of Peace's promises in spite of all the stress from these holidays?
Scripture To Meditate On: John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, Jesus, Prince of Peace. . .I choose today to let You be the ruler of my life. Come and occupy the throne room of my heart, and let Your peace be the umpire in all my conflicts. Let it be the deciding factor in all my decisions. Let Your peace bring clarity into my confusion. I surrender to Your peace. I receive Your peace. Help me to be a channel of Your peace in my corner of the world today. Amen.”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly