Romans 5:1 “Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”

You may never have realized it, but before you came to Christ you were at war with God (and if you have not yet come to Christ, then you are still at war with Him.) There are two kingdoms in this world, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. There is no neutral ground between them. You are either in one or the other – if you are not in the Kingdom of God, then you are in the kingdom of darkness. And those two kingdoms are at war with each other. Every person on earth is part of that war, and every person in the kingdom of darkness is, whether actively or passively, fighting against God.

Yet amazingly God did not simply wipe out His enemies. Rather, He loved them so much that Jesus died for them, to bring them out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God. Verse 10 of this chapter says, “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.”

If you have accepted God’s free gift of life in Christ, you are no longer His enemy. You are at peace with Him, and He is for you, not against you. If you have not yet come out of the kingdom of darkness and into God’s Kingdom, you can do it today. Simply repent (be sorry for sin and turn away from it) and believe that Jesus died for you, and surrender your life to Him as Lord and Saviour.

Jeremiah 20:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.”  (WEB)

This is one of the most mis-used verses in the Bible. Generally when people use it they are thinking that their future is going to be rosy and wonderful, everything is just great.

But hold on a minute … when you read it in context, these words were spoken by God to His people when He was sending them into exile in Babylon – and they were going to be there for seventy years!

Seventy years exile in a foreign country where they would be cut off from the temple and its services, and where they would be immersed in a foreign culture, not knowing the language or customs. Doesn’t sound very much like rosy and wonderful to me.

In fact this was harsh discipline for a people who had stubbornly refused to listen to God’s prophets and had insisted in following their own ways. Like all discipline, it was ultimately for their good. Babylon finally knocked the idolatry out of Israel. When they finally returned after the exile foreign gods were no longer an issue – and just to make sure they didn’t again become an issue, Ezra and Nehemiah dealt quickly and strongly with those who had married foreign wives. But, like all discipline, it certainly would not have felt good at the time.

So please don’t go around claiming this verse for yourself – unless you are acknowledging that you have been in rebellion against God, and are accepting the seventy years of discipline that He is handing you as being ultimately for your good.

Acts 4:18-20 “They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves, for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.” (WEB)

Peter and John had just healed the crippled man at the temple gate. Rather than being excited about this miracle, the Jewish religious authorities were upset that they were preaching in the name of Jesus, and commanded them to stop. These verses were Peter and John’s response.

Are we so excited about the things that God has done for us in Jesus, and that He continues to do for us every day, that we “can’t help” talking about Him?

Or are we intimidated by the many voices who would tell us to keep quiet, to “keep our religion to ourselves”, to stop offending others by our witness?

On the other hand, are we just so caught up with other things that any mention of the Gospel gets pushed out of the way? Do we chat about the weekend football game, or last night’s television show, or what our favourite celebrity is up to, but never mention the things of God?

I pray that we would get excited about what God is doing, so much so that like Peter and John, we would not be able to stop talking about Him.