Celebrating the Light of ChristmasSample

Speak Your Peace Peace on earth . That’s a popular phrase this time of year. It’s scriptural. It’s short. It fits nicely on the front of Christmas cards and looks great in gold script. But let’s get real. That phrase, as spiritual as it might sound, isn’t worth the card it’s printed on if it’s not a reality in our lives . Peace on earth doesn’t mean anything to us when our stomachs are in knots over unpaid bills. Peace on earth is just a cliché when our minds are troubled and our lives are in turmoil. In order for the good news of peace on earth to have real meaning, somehow that peace—the wholeness that Jesus provided for every person’s spirit, soul and body—must become real in our own lives. The question is: How does that happen? Do we ask God to do it for us? Do we just keep begging Him to give us peace and deliver us from our troubles until He finally gives in? Do we just keep pleading with Him on and on to heal, prosper and bless us? No. Quite frankly, that’s a waste of time. The scriptural fact is—God has already done all He is going to do about our deliverance. As children of God, our heavenly Father has already blessed us “with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3, KJV). What we do with those blessings now is completely up to us. One thing we can do to bring peace into our lives... Be quiet! That’s right. Peace can be present or absent depending on what we choose to say about our situation. That’s because our words have power. They are always working—either for us or against us. Most Christians don’t realize that. So, when they hear the good news that God has given them the victory, they ruin everything by talking about their defeats! Don’t do that! Even if those thoughts are flying through your mind, don’t give voice to them. Just cast them out and agree with God. We have a New Testament example in Luke 1 of a man who should have done that, but didn’t. About a year before Jesus was born, Zacharias was tending the altar of incense in the Temple, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him to give him some very good news about the coming birth of Zacharias’ son. If Zacharias had taken heed to the word that had been given him, if he had given it his undivided attention, he might have done all right. Instead, he focused on the problems in his life. He started thinking about all the reasons why God’s Word wouldn’t work for him. After all, Elisabeth was barren. On top of that, both she and Zacharias were too old to have children anymore. With those things on his mind, Zacharias opened his mouth and started talking. He interrupted the whole plan of God. Those were the last words Zacharias spoke for nine months. You and I need to learn a lesson from that story. If we can’t say something good, if we haven’t grown spiritually strong enough yet to respond with words of faith, we shouldn’t say anything at all. When we do speak, we must speak shalom peace into every area of our lives. The Hebrew word shalom means “nothing missing, nothing broken.” In other words, wholeness in our bodies, finances, relationships and every other area of our lives. We can either choose life or death. We can choose to believe the Word or not. We can choose to heed the Word or focus on our circumstances. We can choose to be quiet about those circumstances or we can yap on and on about how awful they are. It is totally up to us. If we’ll make the right choices, speak peace and follow God’s instructions, “peace on earth” will become more than a pretty phrase on a Christmas card. It will become a powerful, personal reality in every area of our lives.