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Celebrate and embrace God's gift of peace

An Advent devotion on peace

“‘This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.’” –Luke 2:12-14 (NASB)

It was a silent night. But the activity of God burst into the darkness and the still of night with an angelic proclamation about a very special gift.

The gift was not wrapped in an ornate package. The gift did not come in a box tied with a bright colorful ribbon. No. This was not an ordinary gift.

It was an extraordinary gift from an extraordinary God with an extraordinary passion who demonstrated an extraordinary love so we could have an extraordinary opportunity to have an extraordinary life for an extraordinary time period.

One expression of God’s love, revealed through that angelic proclamation, is the capacity to experience internal peace in a world filled with conflict. A cursory glance at the news reveals conflict on the individual, family, state, local and international levels. Then why do we not experience internal peace?

Perhaps, we are looking for internal peace in all the wrong places.

  • You cannot have peace on the national level until you have peace on the state level.
  • You cannot have peace on the state level until you have peace on the local level.
  • You cannot have peace on the local level until you have peace on the family level.
  • You cannot have peace on the family level until you have peace in the individual heart of men.

God gave us the Prince of Peace with the birth of Jesus Christ. Pursue experiencing God’s pleasure and experience God’s peace in your heart today.

Written by Dr. Larry A. Mercer for the 2020 Buckner Advent Guide. Larry currently serves as the executive administrator at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas. Among other positions he held in the past was executive director of Bucker Children and Family Services in North Texas. A graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, he is the author or co-author of three books. Larry and Annie have been married more than 42 years and have four children and two grandchildren.

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