Dr Paul Allen

If you were asked to describe our world in one word, would you choose “peaceful”? I’m guessing there are a lot of other words that come to mind before that one. Your list may include words like “chaotic,” “broken,” “unstable,” “frightening,” or “disintegrating.”   Right now, the world is anything but peaceful.   But we all desire and need peace. Many people look for peace in superficial things, including drugs, alcohol, entertainment, and money, and yet they still feel empty.   Truthfully, we’ve been looking for peace in all the wrong places because the world cannot offer true, lasting peace. We need peace that isn’t of this world.   Other-worldly peace is just what Jesus offers us. On Palm Sunday, a week before He was to go to the cross, suffer, and die, Jesus took His disciples aside and gave them a fantastic promise, saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”  This is a remarkable promise.   Peace Served Three Ways Think about what Jesus was going through when He said th

Jesus Christ Crucifix (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever ( Isa. 32:17). Isaiah proclaimed to the Jewish nation that the effect of righteousness would be peace. If they wanted real peace—not the transitory peace of easy living and prosperity, but peace that would fill their hearts and set their souls at rest—then they would need to be righteous. When righteousness reigns in the life of an individual, he is living according to the laws of Christ by the grace of God . Righteousness means justice and judgment. The truly peaceful person is the one who lives before the tribunal of God, not as one condemned but as one who recognizes that he is a sinner deserving God’s wrath and that he lives solely by the mercy of God. The same can be said for an entire nation. If a country lives in accordance with the laws of God, if its governors rule in truth, then it will be a peaceful nation. Wheth