Christmas Advent Candle 4 – PEACE: Pause to Find Peace

Week Four of Advent is a Candle of Peace

Scroll down for “Advent Candle” and “Piano’s Pause” Videos

We light an Advent candle each Sunday leading up to Christmas to prepare our hearts by renewing our hope, growing our love, rejoicing in Christ, and finding rest and peace.

In case you missed it:
Advent Candle 1 – HOPE: Prophecy Gives Hope
Advent Candle 2 – LOVE: Promise Reveals Love
Advent Candle 3 – JOY: Jesus Is Our Joy

Pause to Find Peace

As we draw nearer to Christmas day, many are overwhelmed with all the holiday “necessities” yet to be completed.  Gifts still need to be purchased, wrapped, and some delivered.  Cookies need to be baked.  Plans for church services on Christmas eve need to be finalized. Food for Christmas meals needs to be planned, purchased, and some pre-prepared.  Oh my! So much to do and so little time.  People are making a list, and they’re checking it twice.  

On the top of every Christmas to-do list should be one word — PAUSE.  No matter the length of the list or the urgency of the tasks, it’s important to be still, to pause, and to find peace. 

Peace with God vs. the Peace of God

We have peace with God, but the peace of God is a choice and it’s only found in the “pause.”

Peace WITH God

Peace with God is an objective peace. It doesn’t come from within ourselves. It’s not something we obtain. It is something we are freely given.  It is a gift from God — a gift given to us by Jesus.  

Jesus paid the penalty for our sins on the cross and,  when we repent and trust in Him, He is faithful to forgive our sins and save us.  Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that should have been ours. He made peace WITH God for us and He gives us that peace with God in our salvation. This peace is a fact, not a feeling.  It is finished and it never changes or diminishes.

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 

Peace OF God

Peace of God is a subjective peace. We have it when we experience the peace that comes through trusting Jesus. This peace is also given to us by God, and it produces in us a feeling of well-being. Having peace WITH God, we know that we have the Holy Spirit and that Jesus’ grace is sufficient in all things. Therefore, when we keep our eyes on Jesus and we rightly remember Who He is, what He has done for us, and who we are in Him, we experience the calm, and peace, of resting in Him.  That is how we receive the peace OF God. Sadly, when we allow anxiety and fear to set in, our peace dwindles and our joy is diminished.

Paul warns us against such worry and he tells us that it is “with thanksgiving” we are to come to God.  We are to remember all that God has given us and give Him thanks.  Then we find rest in Jesus and experience the peace of God.

Philippians 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Jesus IS Peace!

When we read the account of angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, we read that they praised God by proclaiming:

Luke 2:14  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The angels proclaimed peace, but not a condition of peace on earth as some say.  They proclaimed that “on earth”  there was peace and that “Peace” was Jesus born in Bethlehem.  They also proclaimed that “on earth” there was “good will toward man” and Jesus was that “Good Will.”  His entering into our world was the greatest expression of God’s good will toward us.

Jesus’ birth brought peace, because He is Peace.  His presence was “on earth Peace” but not peace on earth.  There was much unrest during Jesus’ earthly life.  Throughout the centuries there has never been peace on earth (at least not since the Garden), but there is “on earth peace” because Jesus is dwelling in the soul of every born-again believer through the power of His Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Jesus is our peace on this earth and for all eternity.  He opened the way to peace with God and He desires that you choose to pause and receive the peace of God.  That’s true rest

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. (Psalm 40:16)

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. . . (John 14:27)

Pause and Hear an Incredible Message of Joy and Hope Found in the Pause