Prince of Peace
As I am growing in my desire to know more of Jesus, I see how knowing Him contributes to our peace, hope, trust and encouragement. Without Jesus, there is a hole and darkness but with Him, all of these virtues are sustained and possible. As the Prince of Peace, He holds and sustains our peace, particularly during times when the enemy attacks our minds. Without Jesus, we blind ourselves and risk walking back into darkness and returning to captivity (2 Kings 25:26). The Israelites’ disobedience led them back to Egypt, a place God delivered them from generations prior. How often does this happen to us? God instructed His people to “Obey [His] voice and do them, according to all which [He] commands”, this is how we will continue to be His people and He our God (Jeremiah 11:4). This is then stressed again by Jesus in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey My commandments” and John 14:21 “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” It is common for us to remember the story of Peter walking on water to get to Jesus, when he looked away, he grew weary and started to sink. However, there are times where we take our off eyes Jesus, we stop listening for His voice, stop obeying His commands, leading us to return to habits and behaviors we were once delivered from. As we seek Him daily, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us to be more Christ-like, counseling us and keeping us accountable to our new desires and purpose of life. He is not always looking for grand gestures of our own vices, imagination and strength. He honors us waking up and simply seeking His voice, presence and then our obedience. Our only initiative is seeking His voice, everything else is responsive, i.e. obeying what He says. With Jesus as the light, when our eyes are off Him, we are inevitable to walk back into darkness and be held captive there. This points back to the significance in remaining in Him (John 15:5); He keeps us in truth which wards off confusion and sustains our peace; He keeps us in the light and secure from idols that seeks to us in captivity, and bearing good fruit (2 Corinthians 3:17).
Scripture Reference
2 Kings 25:26
Isaiah 9:6-7
Isaiah 11:2
Jeremiah 11:4
John 14:15
John 14:21
John 15:5
2 Corinthians 3:17