Peace With God

Have you ever had someone with a liberal view of the Bible say to you, "Blessed are the peacemakers" as they point to some man who is attempting to negotiate a peace deal between two parties?  They seem to believe that God is going to be impressed by someone's attempts to broker peace between men or tribes or nations.  They also seem to conclude that those "peacemakers" are somehow going to earn their ticket to heaven....because God so desires that men live at peace with each other.

Of course most of my readers know that's not true.

There is NOTHING that we can do to earn favor with God apart from Jesus Christ.

In fact the Bible clearly says that the wrath of God remains on all people who reject or don't know Jesus.

So when Jesus says "Blessed are the peacemakers" he is referring to followers of Christ who have found peace with God and then SHARE WITH OTHERS HOW TO HAVE PEACE WITH GOD.

Those are the ONLY peacemakers that count for anything when viewed through the eternal eyes of scripture.

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

—Romans 5:1

The Bible tells the story of a man who had everything this world says one should have to feel happy and fulfilled: power, wealth, influence, and fame. But along with that came an emptiness that sent him on a search for God. As secretary of the treasury for a powerful nation, he was second only to the queen. But there was a hole in his heart, so it led him on a search to the spiritual capital of the world, Jerusalem. He did not find what he was looking for, but as he was returning home, he unexpectedly found the answer to his questions. He had an appointment with God that resulted in his conversion and complete transformation.

His story shows what happens when a person becomes a Christian. When someone truly believes in Jesus Christ, his or her life changes dramatically. This man went from emptiness and misery to overflowing joy. His story ends with the statement, “He went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). It is no exaggeration when the Bible says that we pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, when we believe in Jesus Christ. It is describing what takes place in our lives.

But we also need to recognize that not every case is identical. There are different types of people who come to faith in different ways. Some have a tremendous emotional response, while others have no emotional experience at all.

An emotional experience has little to do with the reality of a person’s conversion. When I prayed and asked Christ to come into my life, I felt nothing. And because of this, I falsely concluded that God had rejected me. Thankfully, I discovered later that Christianity is a walk of faith and not of feeling.

Greg Laurie's Daily Devotional;  http://us3.campaign-archive2.com/?e=a2c02c8ef7&u=4f108f827aed8d503b5fca9fa&id=440c145363