Christian Reflection and Prayer

"Peace be with you" (Luke 24:36).

Ramsay MacDonald, one-time Prime Minister of England,
was discussing with another government official the possibility
of lasting peace. The latter, an expert on foreign affairs, was
unimpressed by the Prime Minister's idealistic viewpoint.
"The desire for peace does not necessarily ensure it,"
he remarked cynically.

"Quite true," admitted MacDonald. "Neither does the desire
for food satisfy your hunger, but at least it gets you started
toward a restaurant."   

"My peace is My gift to you," Jesus said to His disciples,
"a peace the world cannot give" (Jn. 14:27). The Gospel
writers want us to understand that, in and through Jesus
Christ, God is constantly giving to us. He is giving Himself,
giving His Love, giving His promise never to abandon us. He
is giving His promise of ultimate, total fulfillment in that
blessed peace of heart and mind and soul which the world
can never give. And if your desire to receive the Peace of
Christ is yet to be satisfied, at the very least, it gets you
started in the right direction.

Jesus' gift of peace is "shalom." In its deepest meaning, the
gift of shalom can be described as the sense of your life's
wholeness and purposefulness. It is the understanding, at
the deepest level of your being that you are somebody, that
you are destined for greatness.

Sunday Sermons Online

Verse

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers
who deceive themselves.
James 1:22

Voice

There's no use talking about the problem unless
you talk about the solution.
Betty Williams


Prayer

O Lord, may we not lose ourselves in the critical
chatter of the day. May our hearts always be bent
toward service. Amen.

God will help you understand his Word

Is the Bible really God's Word?

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach
us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong
in our lives.
2 Timothy 3:14 NLT

The Word Transforms

Dr. E. V. Rieu was a classical scholar and translator for
many years. He rendered Homer into very modern
English for the Penguin Classics. Rieu was sixty years
old and a life-long agnostic when the same firm invited
him to translate the Gospels. His son remarked: "It will
be interesting to see what Father makes of the four
Gospels. It will be even more interesting to see what
the four Gospels make of Father."

The answer was soon forthcoming. A year later, Rieu,
convinced and converted, joined the Church of England.

In an interview with J. B. Phillips, Rieu confessed that
he had undertaken the task of translation because of an
"intense desire to satisfy himself as to the authenticity
and spiritual content of the Gospels." He was
determined to approach the documents as if they were
newly discovered Greek manuscripts,. "Did you not get
the feeling," asked Canon Phillips, "that the whole
material was extraordinarily alive?" The classical scholar
agreed. "I got the deepest feeling," he replied. "My work
changed me. I came to the conclusion that these words
bear the seal of the Son of Man and God."

From J. B. Phillips, The Ring of Truth. quoted by R. Kent
Hughes in 1001Great Stories and Quotes , Tyndale
House Publishers (1998) pp 28-29