1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian PEACE pt2 | Page 7

Prayer Thought: Won’t you continue to ponder this theme by reading today as you pray, the
following Scriptures (I’m sure after you’ve read them you will know what to do.):
1 John 1 v 9 – “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.”
Colossians 2 v 13 – 14 – “When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ. He
forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against
us…he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

THURSDAY
Genesis 32
Matthew 19 v 16 – 26
Luke 10 v 38 – 42
Yesterday we said that Peace Declines at the Point ofSin. Today I would suggest that PEACE
CAN DECLINE WHEN THE EXTERNALS OF LIFE ARE IN DISARRAY.
Our first Bible reading is the story of Jacob who, at one stage in his life, battled with a guilty
conscience. He remembered how, as a young man, he had conned his brother Esau of his birth
right, trading it for a pot of stew. He soon found out that peace is always lost at the point of a
guilty conscience.
The second reading refers to the “peace less” rich young ruler who asked Jesus how he could
gain eternal life and the peace that goes with it. Jesus, knowing full well the young man’s
dilemma, put His finger on the problem and suggested that he sell all he had, give it to the
poor and come and follow Him. Unfortunately the value system of the young man had been
corrupted to the point that he loved his wealth more than anything or anyone and therefore,
as a result, suffered with the dilemma of “no peace”. This, in our materialist world, is a tough
lesson, but we should know by now that peace is never acquired through wealth, but is
acquired when we give God the first place in our lives. God insists that for peace to prevail,He
needs to be number one.
The third reading for today is the account of the incident that took place at Mary and Martha’s
house. Jesus and the disciples had arrived and were probably tired and hungry. Martha, seeing
this, got straight to work to prepare a meal for them. Mary, however, so excited at the
prospect of spending time with Jesus, chose to side-line the work and sit at His feet. Needless
to say this left Martha unhappy that she should be left to do all the work and she complained
to Jesus. Martha’s motive for working was good, but her priority wasn’t. She had allowed work
to substitute for worship and this led to a decline in her peace, both in her heart and between
her and her sister Mary. Please note, there is nothing wrong with work, after all someone has