Closer Today Than Yesterday: At What Cost Peace

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

At What Cost Peace

The Word is first...

Romans 5:1 (NIV)

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^a have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

^a Or let us

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

For me, the war is over. Though I've never served in the military and I've never set foot upon an earthen battlefield, I was once at war. The battles I fought were not with governments or men but with God. I didn't bring any real weaponry, only my will and the freedom of choice which, ironically, God had given me in the first place. As a result of my choices, I put myself into opposition with God and attacked him, though feebly, whenever I had a chance. As the battles raged, the casualties mounted; my self respect, my honor and my dignity all fell. All in all, I successfully snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yet God did not and does not enjoy winning such battles. His sincere desire is for me to defect from the 'enemy' and join Him. He wants to share victory with me. In fact, God wants peace so badly that he was willing to do whatever it took to obtain it. My study verse today speaks to the extent to which God was willing to go to reconcile me to him.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith..." The faith to which this verse refers is the sincere, life-changing acceptance of the FACT that the Son of God, Jesus, "was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." (Rom 4:25)

As a result of our acceptance of this fact, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." This is the ONLY way which peace may be obtained. The only battle that needs to be won for us to enjoy this peace is the battle over our selfishness and pride and ego. It is the acceptance that we cannot win the 'war', we can never achieve peace except that God offers it to us according to his own terms. And as God has ascribed such a value to this peace, I can only believe it is his sincerest wish that I (and you) should enter into it with him through his Son Jesus.

So for me, the war is over and peace prevails. You too can know this peace, you too can lay down your weaponry run up the white flag and surrender your self. By your faith in Jesus, who believed in peace with God at any cost, you too can share in his victory.

Regards,
Carl

1 comment:

Bill said...: A good altar call of purpose, my friend!

You said, "So for me, the war is over and peace prevails." Yes, though we may not have the peace "OF God" all the moments of our days as Born-Again Christians, we can - and do - have peace "WITH God. And that's the most important peace we can attain this side of glory.

Good stuff as ever, my friend. Bill; August 27, 2009 at 7:42 AM

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So I Stand Near The Gate

I read the below poem at a critical point in my life and it's message resonated with me. My ministry, "Near The Gate" was named in homage to this poem. When reading this poem, feel free to substitute the word 'gate' for the word 'door' and you'll have a little glimpse inside my head.

SO I STAY NEAR THE DOOR

By the Reverend Canon Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., D.D., S.T.D.

I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world–
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it - - -
So I stay near the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door–the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch–the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter–
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it–because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him - - -
So I stay near the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in–
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics–
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, or sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening - - -
So I stay near the door.
There is another reason why I stay there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia.
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much;
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving–preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stay near the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door–
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But–more important for me–
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
For those I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper . . . "
So I stay near the door

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

At What Cost Peace

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

At What Cost Peace

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So I Stand Near The Gate

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