Day Thirty Seven | Lent Devotional
Reading: Mark 12, Psalm 37:37
“Mark the blameless [man], and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.”
The word peace means freedom from disturbance. Often, when people talk about peace, it is associated with an emotion. While peace produces emotions, it results from intentional action or effort in a given area that was once chaotic and confused or caused a disturbance in your life.
Most of the time peace is on the other side confrontation. We see this in Mark 11. There was a moment when there was a lack of peace in the temple, so Jesus had to confront those managing the temple to create peace. Often, one moment of discomfort can result in resounding peace.
In John 14:27, Jesus gives us the gifts of peace and the resources to pursue cultivating peace when it is not present. He says, “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Even with this gift, we have a part that we need to play. The first part is not allowing our hearts to be troubled. This word troubled in Greek is tarassō, and one of its meanings is to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, and disturb his equanimity.
Our responsibility is not to allow our inward state of being to be in a place of disruption; if we find our inward state to be in that place, we need to do something about it. The second part of peace that we need is not to let our hearts be afraid. It doesn’t say not to feel fear, but rather not root our identity in fear, nor make decisions from the position of fear, and if we do feel afraid, we need to engage with it to relinquish it from our lives.
God’s heart for you and his plan for you are to experience and live in peace. When we do our part to experience peace, he promises that our piece will be sustainable and surpass all understanding. As you look at your life today, where are you missing peace?
In your journal today, take a moment to identify areas where you need to cultivate peace. Start by identifying the areas of your life that are causing you disruption, and make a list of how you can partner with the Holy Spirit to confront those things.
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“And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.”
Today we conclude our journey through Psalm 37 and the Gospels of Luke and Mark. This final promise of Psalm 37 is that God will help us, deliver us, and save us from our enemy because we place our trust in Him. The Lord is our helper.