Forty Days of Peace: Day 33

Peace with others

Loving others brings God’s peace

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44

Please read Matthew 5:43-48

Forgiveness...

Service…

So far this week, these are two avenues that can bring God’s peace into a potentially difficult relationship. Has the Lord placed someone on your heart to love in these ways? I know that loving a troublesome person is not a 24-hour "quick fix". God sees your heart. He will bless your faithfulness as you persevere.

A third way to bring peace with others is through prayer.Talking to God invites divine power into any human circumstance or relationship. With prayer, impossible things are made possible. We are called to pray about anything and everything, for people we love…and also for people that have offended us. Jesus did this very thing for sinners. He wept over, longed for, and lifted up those that rejected and denied him. Observe his heart in these verses:

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” (Luke 19:41-42).

Also, Jesus cried,“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37).

And he said to Peter concerning his pending three-fold denial, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).

And finally, on the cross, he prayed for those that crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

If Jesus prayed for the friend that denied him, and wept for the people that crucified him, can we not do the same with someone who has hurt us? Can we pray for our “enemies” who see life differently than us? Today, let’s try. All day long, lift your “difficult person” up to the Lord; pray for him or her the way Jesus prays for you. While doing so, keep this in mind: prayer begets peace.

For further reading: Luke 6:27-28; 2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 4:1-3; Ephesians 6:18

Dear Lord,

You tell me to pray for both my friends and my "enemies". Help me to realize that when I talk to you, your divine power enters in; and with this power, amazing things can happen in seemingly impossible situations. So today, help me to do more helpful- talking to you than hurtful-talking to anybody else. Spewed angry words will never bring peace! So... I ask you to bless those who ARE walking in your loving ways AND also those who ARE NOT. If they don't know you, touch them with your saving grace; reveal to them your amazing love; soften their hearts with your tender mercy; and give them true freedom that is found in Christ alone. O God, I ask for your peace. Amen