Peace - Saturday December 14, 2013
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV
Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration and joy, a time of peace.
But for many the joy of Christmas was shattered a year ago on December 14, 2012 because of the horrible event that took place in Newtown, Connecticut. Like many of you, my heart grew sick at the report of twenty-six people murdered-most of them little children.
The question is, how do we deal with something like this? How do we reconcile our faith in God with such an unbelievable display of evil? How can the pleasant promise of Christmas exist in the midst of such overwhelming depravity?
These are tough questions. And the answer is not more gun control. Why? Because the real problem lies deep within the human heart. In Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) we read: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Also in Romans 3:10 we find: "There is none righteous, not even one..." Clearly, we have a sin problem, not a social problem. And this is exactly why we need Christmas! Jesus came to this earth, not surprised by the depths of wickedness we see today, but precisely because of the wickedness found in the hearts of men.
Where do we find peace and joy in the midst of the depravity all around us? We still find it in the babe born in Bethlehem. Jesus is the only hope of the world, for only He can transform the human heart.
Submitted by:
Bill Young
The Rock Church
Sandy, Utah
One-Year Reading Plan:
Jonah 1:1-4:11
Revelation 5:1-14
Psalms 133:1-3
Proverbs 29:26-27
[Read
Online]
© 2024 Great Commission Association of Churches, Inc All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Online Bible Services provided by
The Bible Gateway (TM) a service of
Gospel
Communications Network.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.