Prince Of Peace

John 14:27 (NIV) —

‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’

Do you find it easy to relax? Around six months ago I was diagnosed with a condition called 'vocal nodes'. For most people, it wouldn't affect their day-to-day life too much but, because I'm a singer, it was quite a hard hit and I had to make a lot of changes to my life. Every month I see a speech therapist who identifies things that could have caused it and instructs me how to create new lifestyle habits to help my body heal.

Mostly the therapist gives me physical exercises, but one week she asked me what I do to relax. I found it very hard to answer and realised it's not something that comes naturally to me. After some very stressful months, I was carrying a lot of tension and she said, to ease this, I would need to make a great effort to relax and rest. However, physically relaxing would not be enough; I would also need to be mentally at peace.

Rachel Hughes recently preached on Peace and explained that it is not just calm, as the world might interpret it, but rather wholeness. Peace is not about emptying ourselves or clearing our minds but rather the Holy Spirit filling us up. The verse above records Jesus’s last words to his disciples before he ascends to the Father - words of eternal significance - and he speaks of this Peace. It is a gift from the Prince of Peace and he is giving himself to us so that we do not need to hold on to stress, burden and pain.

This Christmas let us remember that Jesus came and brought peace to the world - and that means it's his gift to me, his gift to you. Let's accept it with utterly grateful hearts - and relax in it!

Prayer - Jesus, Prince of Peace, thank you for coming into the world and bringing your peace so that we can live in the fullness of your presence.

Please note, our devotionals will now take a break until Monday 09 Jan 2023.
Happy Christmas!