A Peace that Never Leaves You
Think about a time when you were worried. How did you deal with it? Maybe you tried to distract yourself, or perhaps you let your mind race through your problems. It’s natural to want to respond to our worries this way, but God shows us a better way to respond.
Not long before Jesus went to the cross, He told His disciples that He would be leaving them. Worried about experiencing life without Him, the disciples wanted answers. But instead of giving them the response they hoped for, Jesus told His disciples to be at peace and not let their hearts be troubled.
Imagine how frustrating this must have been for His followers. They sensed that Jesus was leaving, but they were trying to align what He was saying with their ideas for the future.
They questioned His words because they couldn’t understand them.
In the same way, we can also be quick to try to find solutions to our problems when we’re worried. We can let our understanding of current events cloud our thinking and influence our conversations with God. But God’s purposes are beyond what we can see and understand.
When Jesus told the disciples to be at peace and not worry, Jesus saw beyond the cross—He saw His resurrection, His return to heaven, and the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit.
In the same way, He sees beyond our situations.
Because we live in an imperfect world, we will experience disappointments and hardships—but because we serve a good God, He sees beyond the bad things we go through. He sees our future filled with hope.
Jesus told His disciples to be at peace because He wanted them to trust in Him. Similarly, God wants us to be at peace in every situation as we trust Him to work things out for our good and His glory.
So take some time today to reflect on some of the situations that are causing you to worry. Then, take a moment to tell God that you trust Him with each of these circumstances. Imagine handing Him each concern, and allow Him to hand you His peace in return.
Jude
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 Jude, a servant[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for[b] Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Judgment on False Teachers
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of ...