Know Jesus Know Peace, No Jesus No Peace

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 ESV)

Crime; violence; political upheaval; war; bad weather; entertainment gossip. If you watch the local or national news for more than ten minutes, you’ll see at least one report on each of these topics. I’ll be the first to admit that I used to be a “news junkie”. When I woke up every morning, the first thing I would do was turn on the television to watch the news. Sure, my original thought was just to check the weather forecast for the day, but an hour later, I was still staring at the television. It took some time, but I began to realize that the news wasn’t focused on providing informative news objectively. Their focus is to tell stories using suggestive language – which creates bias - and to stir up your emotions. The old news adage of “if it bleeds it leads” is still alive and well, and if we’re not careful, all the doom and gloom that’s reported every day can negatively affect your mental and emotional well-being.

Fortunately, there’s good news. True peace can be found through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Although it is disturbing to see how sin is running rampant in the world, the stories we see on the news are relatively small in light of eternity. The devil is a defeated foe, and it’s just a matter of time before Jesus returns and conquers sin and death once and for all. Therefore, no matter what’s going on in the world, a believer’s eternity is secure in Christ.

Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Romans 10:9 tell us “that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” However, the Bible also tells us that “it is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgement.” (Hebrews 9:27). No matter how many plans we make, none of us knows what tomorrow brings. Turn to Jesus right now while you still have the opportunity. Repent your sins and invite Him into your heart. Once you do, you’ll slowly start to set your eyes on things above, and no longer on things below. Jesus loves you, my friend, and only He can give you true peace, both in this life and the next.

God bless.