I listened to a radio program (NPR - Around The Nation - An Anti-Violence Activist Shares Her Reason For Buying A Gun) yesterday and my heart broke for this woman. A good woman trying to do the right thing and have a positive impact on the world but overwhelmed by the effects her past has on her present.
It made me think of this passage.
"I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation." - Jeremiah 10:23-25 ESV
We see the right thing to do but often it is just past our grasp. Things have happened to us and even though we don't live in them the residue of them remains in our lives.
"A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good." - Proverbs 16:29 ESV
They say that most violence in areas with gang activity is retaliatory. Social media has amplified that cycle. People used to be able to 'talk smack' behind closed doors but now it is out there for every ego to see.
"As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!"" - Luke 24:36 ESV
"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.' " - John 20:21 ESV
The way He sends us is the way of peace but that way isn't in us. It is in Him and He gives it to us.
"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." - Romans 16:20 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Corinthians 1:3 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Corinthians 1:2 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," - Galatians 1:3 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - Ephesians 1:2 ESV
"Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - Ephesians 6:23 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - Philippians 1:2 ESV
"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:7 ESV
"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace." - 1 Thessalonians 1:1 ESV
"Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Thessalonians 1:2 ESV
"To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." - 1 Timothy 1:2 ESV
"To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." - 2 Timothy 1:2 ESV
"To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." - Titus 1:4 ESV
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." - Philemon 1:3 ESV
"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." - Hebrews 13:20-21 ESV
"...according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you." - 1 Peter 1:2 ESV
"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." - 2 Peter 1:2 ESV
"Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love." - 2 John 1:3 ESV
Do you see a theme here? I do. Peace comes from God through His Son. Maybe you are one of the few who have lived an injury free life and never have felt the need to lash out but this peace comes from the God-man who was mistreated more than any of us. It is a tested and proven peace that will not be overwhelmed.
"So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." - John 6:53 ESV
"Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." - 1 John 5:12 ESV
Believe in the Son and the life of the Son will be in You. Trust in His way and study and meditate on His words and His way will become your way.
"And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." - Daniel 12:2-3 ESV
Choose the shining way of grace and peace. Choose the Son as Your Savior. Do it once and then let Him turn you day after day to a path you would not find yourself.
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