Romans 15:13 | December 9
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the
power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13
The question we need to ask ourselves is, what exactly is the peace we're seeking?
What kind of question is that you may ask?
Can we use the right words, work diligently toward that goal of peace, and yet miss the boat on what is important, foundational, lasting, defined, and the intended meaning of of true peace?
Lets take a walk way back in time.
The time of of the arrival of Jesus might be a good time to consider. The people of that time had rightly and long awaited peace. Freedom from Rome! Comfort in their lives! Nothing wrong with that.
Who or what would achieve this long awaited release of peace for them. Well for sure it must be their long awaited Messiah. The soon coming king, coming to conquer once and for all!!!! I mean after all they were waiting for The Prince of Peace!!!
Stop right there. Let it sink in.
What kind of peace were they looking for?
What kind of peace am I looking for ?
What is true peace?
Inner peace probably describes and defines it better. How about foundational peace? Maybe for me if my definition is misguided or missing it’s full or true meaning. Maybe I must reconsider. What exactly is the peace I am seeking..? Maybe, just maybe, I need to consider what I need for now is a peace that
passes my understanding.
Oh God teach me and give me this inner peace so that the external peace I seek can be put in perspective.
Let’s check in on our verse of the day
Rom 15 :13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
I see a few things in this verse I think might be helpful for me, and hopefully for some of you also.
This joy and peace is given.
The God of hope fills me and you!
I cant manufacture peace .
I shouldn't design the plan to make things right
My problem is I always fast track a plan for my desired well intentioned outcome . All the while the peace that passes my understanding God says is found totally in Hope in Him. Centered in what Jesus has already done and continues to do for me, There is always a bigger picture than mine and your current circunstances.
That is the Hope we find in Him!!! Believing in Him trusting in Him
And yes even abounding in hope!!!!
Go back take a look at todays verse and check out some key words. See if they
help you redefine peace.
Look at Hope
Look at joy and peace being linked together.
Look at believing
And oh yes, consider abounding in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and in my case not by the power and plan of Brian.
I say it yet again
Oh God teach me and give me this inner peace so that the external peace I seek can be put in perspective.
The trials we go through in life ALWAYS seem so big.
If I could only with just some amount, maybe even just a small amount of consistency where I could like, James says, consider it pure joy when he speaks of going through trials. Let me link peace and joy together hear again like in our verse today. Peace in the midst of trial ??
Yes during this advent season show me the source of peace even more clearly.
JESUS MY SAVIOR!!!
Often times these devotions start with a life story. Starting off before describing the passage of scripture. I have chosen to save my story for the end. It's a small but meaningful victory for me and sign that god is continuing with this work of progress he is doing in me.
Last year lets call it the Christmas episode.
My poor prime rib rolled onto the floor
Pressure on myself to please. What a mess!
I must confess, I even cried a little. A grown man crying over a prime rib.
My daughter helped pick up the pieces the roast was saved. It stayed perfectly on a large piece of the broken dish. Life went not just on, but forward albeit a little ashamed, ego defeated, and confessing I let something trivial in the grand stage of things, become way to big once again.
Fast forward to this year.
The great thanksgiving two day after celebration on Saturday of 2023. Everything was going perfect for this Spaghetti Spectacular. People were laughing, reminiscing, having fun. Even beginning to enjoy the food!
One problem: I forgot the homemade garlic bread!
They ended up as crispy critters, which actually a good portion of us tried and still enjoyed.
It didn’t matter this time in the grand scheme of things. This time, it was trivial.
Maybe a "Praise God!" is in order here.
Maybe there is an inner peace putting this in perspective as compared to a search for peace that is external ruling the day.
To quote a lot of what we will be hearing this month:
Peace is not the absence of turmoil or conflict.
But peace or “Shalom” if you would, is wholeness and well being rooted in a believing hope in Him.
Written by Brian White