Many of you have been moving from place to place for a very long time. Maybe you used to live in Somalia somewhere, perhaps you used to live in Mogadishu. But then the war came and you left Somalia in 1990. You moved your way through several countries of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and finally ended up in South Africa. You opened a spaza shop or at least you know someone who did. And no matter how many times you have moved around you have not found peace on this earth.
That’s because peace with God cannot be found in a house, or a country; peace with God can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Our sins separate us from God
Why don’t we as human beings have peace with God? It’s because of our sins. The Holy Word of God says:
“It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” – Isaiah 59:2
“And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” – John 3:36
Maybe you are running away from God but you never understood it. Maybe you have this feeling that you can never truly be at peace and you don’t understand why. Maybe it’s because you have not had your sins forgiven by the One who created you. Maybe you have not had your sins forgiven by the God of this Universe. And you keep on running from country to country, from marriage to marriage, from job to job, waiting and hoping that after the next journey you will find the peace that you are looking for. But it doesn’t come.
Two kinds of peace
There are two kinds of peace you can find on this earth: one peace is from the world. You can look for peace in the things that money can buy or you can find peace in the One who created you. God is not some distant God who doesn’t care you or doesn’t want to have a personal relationship with you. God is love and God is Spirit. God loves you and God wants to have a relationship with you. And He will have a relationship with you through His Holy Spirit.
All you have to do is ask Jesus Christ into your life; all you have to do is ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins; all you have to do in believe in the power of God to forgive you of your sins through the cleansing washing power of the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to those who believe in Him:
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27
Jesus also said:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Peace is not in a place it is in a person
You may think you want to travel from place to place, always looking for a place to give you peace, but you will only have peace when you find your peace with God. A child does not really care where he or she is, he or she cares who they are with. If a child is with their mother and father they feel safe. It doesn’t matter if they are at home, in a storm, at the store or traveling on a road. If they are with their parents they feel a certain amount of peace.
It is the same with us. If we are with God and if God is with us then we will have peace. It doesn’t matter where we are it matter who we are with. We can face death, or sickness, or lonliness, or poverty, of fear or anything else this world can throw at us if we have the Holy One living in our hearts and we know that He is with us and we know that He is protecting us.
Jesus said to those who believe in Him:
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27
Jesus also said:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
We can find peace in God. Once we have put our faith and our trust in God and our sins have been forgiven we will be at peace.
The apostle Paul wasn’t always at peace
In the Bible we read about a man named Paul who wasn’t always at peace. He use to travel to different places in search of Christians to persecute them and throw them in prison because he believed that it was a sin for Christians to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.
Paul was filled with anger and he used to dream and plan on how he was going to find and destroy the Christians because he hated them so very much.
And one day Paul became a Christian. He believed that Jesus died on the cross for his sins and he put his faith in Jesus. Paul believed that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and he told other people that he believed it. Paul confessed with his mouth that Jesus Christ was Lord.
Paul also believed that after Jesus died and was buried Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus was alive again and lived on the earth for another 40 days until he went up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God.
Stephen testimonies to us that he saw Jesus in heaven, here is what Stephen said:
“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” – Acts 7:55-56
After Paul believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour Paul stopped doing all those violent things he used to do before he was a Christian. Paul’s life changed. His heart changed. He became a kind person who didn’t do anything violent anymore because he had the love of Jesus and the peace of God in his heart.
This is what Paul said after he became a Christian:
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” – Phillipians 4:6-7
Maybe you made it the western world
Maybe you dreamed of making it to the western world and you have finally arrived. You made it to Sweden, or London, or Bradford; or Canada, the United States or Australia. Before you arrived there you thought that once you made it to the shores of this new continent then you would find your peace.
And you did find a certain amount of peace. There is no war here; there are no bullets flying through the sky from warlords. There is no visible clan warfare in the streets. Society repeats itself day after day. You wake up, go to work, come home eat, relax and go to sleep. Then the cycle repeats itself the next day like a giant clock that has 365 days of the year. And the pass by and then the whole year repeats itself again.
But you didn’t find that peace for your soul that you were looking for. Somehow you thought that if you made it to the other side you would find peace for your soul. Well you made it to the other side of the world but you didn’t find the peace that you were looking for. You have simply proved that the unrest in your soul cannot be satisfied by living in a country where there is freedom and prosperity.
The unrest in your soul continues.
So now what do you do? You still have no peace. You feel agitated and nervous. You are scared to die but you don’t know why. You keep chasing for things on this earth, especially for more money because you think that somehow you will find peace if you have more money. And maybe you received more money and now you think you need even more money. And maybe you have accumulated even more money, millions upon millions of dollars but it is still not enough to buy peace for you soul.
What a terrible state to be in: to what to find peace but not able to find it. Like a thirsty person lost in the desert who cannot find any water.
Jesus Christ is the water for your soul. He is the living spring of water who will give your heart peace.
Listen to what Jesus says if you want to have peace for your soul:
“Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Jesus replied, “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!” – John chapter 4
Jesus the one who is peace
If you want peace for your soul and if you want to have your sins forgiven; if you want to know that you have eternal life and if you want a personal relationship with God; then you need to ask Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and give you His Holy Spirit.
There is only on God and He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to save sinners. The eternal Son of God became a man and made his dwelling place among us here on earth to show us the Father. Jesus lived on the earth in a human body so that He could die for our sins as a man. Jesus had to be a man to die for us because God the Father required the death of a man as punishment for man’s rebelliousness and sins against God.
So Jesus died on the cross and tasted death for all mankind – for men, women and children. The second death has no power over those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. We are set free from the fear of death; we are set free from the power of sin; and we are set free from the domination and control of the devil.
If you want this new life in Christ that pray and ask God to come into your life; ask God to forgive you of your sins – and if you cry out to God for mercy and truly want to change your life and live for God – God will enter your life and give you the peace that you have been looking for as long as you can remember.
God is peace; and if you are found in God you will find your peace.
My yoke is easy my burden is light
So wherever you go on this earth you will always have peace in your heart; even if you are burdened with tremendous difficulties and great trials and tribulations. Jesus said “My yoke is easy my burden is light.”
Wherever you are you can call upon Jesus and He will make your burden light. He will take away the burden and weight of sin; He will remove the fear from your life and you will be at peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Accept Him into your heart and you will be at peace forever.