This month we are looking at God as our Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace. Peace is a promise that Jesus gives to his followers.

“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.” John 14:27

When we need an example of someone who demonstrated peace in the midst of chaotic circumstances, we need only look to Jesus.

In Mark 4, He and the disciples were in a boat when a storm blew up and waves engulfed the boat. Jesus was asleep in the boat and the disciples frantically woke him up. Jesus’ words to the wind and the seas were “Peace be still” (Mark 4:39).

In the middle of a hungry crowd of 5,000 people the disciples wanted to send everyone away because they had no idea how they were going to feed all those people. Jesus, however, instructed them to feed the people. I can imagine the disciples’ incredulous looks, because I am sure I would have been doing the same thing myself. I know how I worry over whether I have enough food to feed my guests at Thanksgiving, let alone 5,000 uninvited guests! Jesus told them to take stock on what they did have, then blessed it and kept passing it around.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was deeply distressed. Yet, he had the presence of mind to maintain His composure when the guards came to arrest Him and even healed the high priest’s servant after Peter cut his ear off (Luke 22:51).

We need to ask the question, What was the source of Jesus’ peace?

I think that many of us naturally would say that of course Jesus would have this peace because He was God. But, we also need to remember that He was fully man, too, and had to experience life as a man.

I believe Jesus’ peace was because of one main thing:  prayer.

All throughout the scriptures, Jesus took time to get away from the crowds of people to go to pray. Mark 6:46 is one example. “And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.” This was just after the feeding of the five thousand. Praying to His Father kept Jesus calm and in unity with God’s plans. It also gave Him security. Jesus knew where He came from and where He was going.

This begs the question, Do you know where you came from and where you are going?

Is your identity tied up in Christ? Do you have the assurance that He has got your past sins and mistakes covered and that You belong to Him? When we have that settled in our lives, when we have asked Christ to forgive us of our sins and to take control of our lives, it gives us the assurance we need to face the future with confidence that God has our backs. No matter what we face, He is there with us.

Tomorrow we are going to further explore how prayer and peace are tied up together in our lives. Until then, pray on!

St. Augustine Easter Morning Sunrise

But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

Very early on Easter morning Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices to Jesus’ tomb so that they might anoint His body. Can you imagine the surprise, the shock, the fear they must have felt in finding Jesus missing from His tomb and in His place a heavenly messenger with the stunning news that Jesus had risen from the dead?! They were the first to receive this news, and yet they were so afraid that the Bible tells us they fled from the tomb and said nothing to anyone. I am sure they were trying to piece together in their minds what they had just seen–and not seen.

Later, a distraught Mary Magdalene is back searching for Jesus when He appears to her. How touching that the first person He chooses to appear to is the one whom He had cast seven demons out of. I think Mary Magdalene was clinging to her faith in Jesus despite the circumstances. She  had been set free from such bondage; she above all others had to realize that no earthly power could have performed the miraculous healing that she received.

Now the word starts to spread that Jesus is alive, but Jesus’ disciples don’t believe it until they see Him for themselves. Soon they begin to realize that the plan is much bigger than they ever imagined–a heavenly kingdom, not an earthly reign. And they will be the ones to start spreading the good news.

I love the joy and power of Easter morning. Because of Easter morning we have hope. Hope that we can change. That we can be set free. That we can forgive. That we can love. That we can be forgiven and healed and restored to the relationship with God we were meant to have.

This Easter morning found me on the beach in St. Augustine basking in a beautiful sunrise while the chorus of “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” wafted down the beach to me from an outdoor service a mile away. It’s easy in this setting to sense the magic of Easter. But what’s important is that this message is for every person in every place, from a beach in Florida to a slum in Calcutta to a prison in China to wherever you are, as you are. Don’t wait until you “get your act together” to come to Jesus, because none of us ever can without His help. That’s what He came for and that’s why He died and that’s why He rose again.

Happy Easter and pray on!

Jane VanOsdol

Jane VanOsdol

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded himself. After that He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. John 13:3-5

So many things happened on this day. Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover meal together, which we know as the Last Supper. During that time Jesus  reinterpreted the bread and the wine of this meal as pertaining to His body and blood in light of the sacrifice He was about to make.

Jane VanOsdol

During the week before Jesus’ death, His authority was constantly challenged. It wasn’t challenged so much by the Jewish people as it was by the religious leaders:  the Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees and the scribes. We can see this in the following example.

Mary’s Journey

by

Jane VanOsdol

I will never forget the birth of my third child. It was early December, and I was 9 months pregnant with my baby. My second child had been born with a congenital heart defect and died shortly after birth. Although the doctors had assured us that everything was fine with this baby, we were all anxiously anticipating the birth. The baby was big, and I was so uncomfortable. I wasn’t able to relax in any position, sitting, standing or lying down. A few days before my due date, my husband and I were driving home. The road was full of pot holes and ruts. Every jolt felt as if it were going to send me into labor on that excruciating ride. I couldn’t wait to get out of the car.

As I was complaining to my husband about the bumpy roads (and probably grumpily about his driving!), a vision of Mary, Jesus’ mother popped into my head. In my mind I transported myself back to her journey on a donkey, of all things, into Bethlehem. I imagined what it would be like to be her. She knew the birth of her baby was imminent, and yet she found herself leaving behind her home, her family, her mother—who would have helped her in the birthing process—to begin a long, tiresome journey to another city.

I could well imagine what it must have felt like to perch atop a donkey as it plodded along, step by jolting step. The dust the donkey kicked up surely wafted around them, clinging to her garments and  scratching at her dry, dusty throat. How her back must have ached from sitting slumped on a donkey for hours, that pain being overshadowed as the force of intensifying contractions gripped her weary body.

I at least knew I would have a birthing room and expert help for my baby. Mary had no such assurances. All the women who would have helped her were back home. She had no idea of where they would be stopping and what accommodations she would have. “How did she do it?” I found myself wondering. By all accounts, she was probably only 14 years old, and this was her first baby. I can only imagine what Joseph felt as he looked back at his young wife suffering on the donkey.

We have the advantage of knowing how this story ends. There was no room in any inn, so Joseph gently settled Mary in the stable with a clean pile of straw for her bedding and the cows and bleating sheep for roommates. They had each other and God and His promises to sustain them though the most holy of nights. Despite the odds against them, God’s plan was not to be denied, and Jesus entered this world with a herald of angels melodiously announcing His birth.

Since that time, I’ve never again glossed over Luke 2:7 as I’ve read through the Christmas story. I allow myself to think about the journey and suffering and sacrifice that went on that night as the Word became flesh. Two young peasants with the love and courage to say yes to God’s miraculous plan found themselves as the earthly parents of the Messiah! And the world has not been the same since.

Prayer:  Lord, we are humbled by the birth of Your Son. We thank You for sending Him to earth so that we can be saved. We look to the example that Mary and Joseph set, and we can only pray for the same willingness to say yes to Your plans when you call on us. Amen.

Copyright 2009        Jane VanOsdol        All Rights Reserved