Calming Sense (about)

"Grace and Peace to you... So begins the New Testament letters written by Paul. But it's not just a polite greeting. The phrase continues..."Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." Grace and peace are theological companions. Know the grace of God, you will know His peace.

I grew up in the "peace" generation. We even came up with a symbol to as our logo; the peace sign ☮. Was the peace movement effective? Did it help bring the Vietman conflict to an end? Did it lessen the international intrigues of our nation and other world powers? Did the explosive popularity of carefree drugs and sex that it held as its anthem ("take a chill pill", "make love not war") cure the world of its anxiety and nervousness? If anything, it compounded the problems that lead to personal and civil unrest. The results of human "peace" were painfully drawn in one of my favorite movies, "Forrest Gump". Jenny, the love of Forrest's life, takes the exciting and daring "peace" road of life. She comes back to Forrest a humbled and dying cast away. She finally finds her peace (ever too shortly) in the simple life and love of Forrest.

This blog will meditate on PEACE. The peace that comes through God alone. Man's peace is based on compromise and anesthetizing chemicals. Gods peace is based on REAL fixes. Humans treat the causes of their problems as incurable....so they address them as palative...i.e., "keep me from feeling and facing life's problems and I will be OK." Hey, that just causes more problems! The very things that cause personal and interpersonal turmoil are repairable.

Jesus said, "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. The Bible is full of the word peace.* The first half of the Bible talks a lot about peace in dying (where we get "RIP" Rest in Peace), as if the only place that people really find peace is once they stop breathing. The second half focuses on the peace that comes through a changed life and living.

We will focus on peace for the living that comes when God sets up house with us: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." John 14:23 NIV

To know peace is to commit to following the way of Jesus. Pure. Simple. Obey. He has sent a helper to help us obey. We were made for peace, not inner turmoil. Let God finish you His way.


"...the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." Romans 8:6 NIV

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." Romans 14:17 NIV

*[The word "peace" shows up 361 times in the ESV translation of the Bible;
420 x's KJV. 353 x's NASV.]