Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Years ago I was in college. I was with a friend. We were young Christians, and we would go out and we would share our faith. And so we were sharing our faith on the sidewalk in the middle of this particular city. And we decided to go into the bowling alley. We're like, let's go in the bowling alley and share our faith.
So we went inside the bowling alley and we saw several people sitting around. And so I approached this one lady and my friend was next to me, approached another gentleman, and I started sharing Jesus. This lady was very easy to talk to, and she was listening and engaging, and I was just getting into the meat of what it meant for her to have Jesus as Lord of her life, and how He died on the cross for all of our sins.
And right as I was sharing the most important part of the gospel, this gentleman to the right of me looked at me and he said, "Why don't you get out of here? We come in here to get away from that…,” and I can't share the word. You know, we live in a world of tension, a world of difficulty, a world where sometimes there's really no peace.
Living in a World of Tension
How about you? As you think of your life, your relationships, your family, your marriage, maybe your job or people you interact with—is there tension that's involved there? Are you peacemaking? You know, there's a great verse in the Bible. It's in Matthew chapter 5, verse 9 which says this:
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
You know, I very simply want to look at two ways to be happy. And we use that word sometimes, and the Bible actually has that word happy. It's a word that's called Makarios in the original language. It really means happy or a blissful state of mind. There are two things that you and I need to do to be happy.
Two Ways to Be Happy
First, we are to live as a peacemaker. God blesses those who work for peace. Think about that. God can actually give you joy and encourage you if you are one who is living as a peacemaker.
Secondly, the Bible says, "for they will be called the children of God." So not only live as a peacemaker, but you actually can look like your Father. You know, it says we're the children of God because we are actually peacemakers. You know, as you look at the Bible and you think about God as your Father, the Bible says in Romans chapter 8:
For we have not received a spirit of fear, but we receive the spirit of sonship, by which we cry out, "Abba, Father!"
You can call your Father, Daddy. You know, as you look at your life, are you—am I—a peacemaker? What areas in your life, in your relationships, in your job, your marriage, relatives, whatever it might be? Are you a peacemaker or a peace breaker? You know, Romans chapter 12 and verse 18 says:
As far as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone.
Proverbs even says, the righteous man makes even his enemies live at peace with him. So let's be those who are blessed by God, who actually have the true meaning of happiness because God blesses us, because we're a peacemaker, not a peace breaker. Think of all the times that you and I have not been a peacemaker, those times where we've created strife. Jesus Christ has died on the cross for every single one of them. So may you move on in the grace of God and be a peacemaker like Jesus and not a peace breaker.
