You cannot have The Peace of Christ while under the law of Moses! This is why most Christians never have The Peace of Christ but pieces of Christ instead. At whatever point you connect with God through the law that is the point where your life will be in pieces and if you are blessed completely fall apart!
“I do not give to you as the world gives.” – John 14:27b
God doesn’t give the way the world gives! God is Not like the world! God Is Bigger than All our minds put together, His Love endures Forever and His Peace is beyond Anything that could ever come into your life, existence or being – The Bigger we see God, the Bigger our Peace, Hope and Joy! We will dive more into the Bigness of God in “pieces or Peace -3” but in this short devotional I wanted us to examine exactly how the world gives so that we could see His Bigness as it is!
The world gives. The world gives but Not like Jesus. This is one thing that anyone in recovery from alcohol or drugs can tell you obviously but also those in recovery from religion as I have been for many years thanks to an addiction that brought me to the understanding of Grace that I now teach.
So how does the world give that makes it different from God’s gift:
- The world places expectations on what it gives you and when you fail the gift is taken back! These expectations or laws of the gift involve you meeting the societal beliefs in order to keep your gift. The Jesus Difference – “Freely given”
- The world has fish hooks in every gift or negative sides to the gift! You can have the gift of money here If you work hard and worship it and place it above family and love for example. The Jesus Difference – “and I WILL give you rest”
- The world gives to take! The world will always want a return on its gift and its return is your soul. The world offers you the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden BUT that fruit will leave you hungry for more every time! The Jesus Difference – “The bread of Life”
- The world gives so that you will want MORE! The god of MORE always has the next biggest, best and brightest thing – and its only enough till the wrapper comes off! The Jesus Difference – “never thirst again”
- The world attaches labels of worthiness to its gifts and condemns the unworthy to a life of shame over not measuring up! The Jesus Difference – “whoever believes is Not condemned”
The greatest challenge for the church today is for the church to give as Jesus gives (Grace) and NOT as the world gives (law) – for in giving as Jesus gave we encourage Love for All to grow and His Peace in us to Flourish as we see the sufficiency of Grace and the Enormity of God’s Great Love for us!
