Thursday, December 29, 2011

Receive: Peace WITH Others

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”  Matt. 5:9
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 
II Cor. 5:17-19
This extension of peace horizontally is not passive.  Oh no! God is for peace. Relational peace. He is the first peacemaker. I think about where it is hard to extend peace, reconciliation:  To neighbors, family members, enemies, co-workers, between races, between generations, toward the unjust.  But the Christ within me says to me, “i AM your peace.”  So, we are back to the beginning.  We receive in order to give!
Papa, I am a new creation and have been given the ministry of reconciliation. I receive peace and so am given the tools to pass it on. The whole thing is much deeper than just getting along with others. I make a choice to let God’s resurrected Life flow out of me to others; to share the message of reconciliation.

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