The final title for the Messiah, Jesus, in Isaiah 9:6-7 is: Prince of Peace. We're told:  ⁷His government and its peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.  The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!  Peace.  As we've noted in previous posts, some see peace merely as the absence of war.  Others see it as "harmony."  For the Jews of Jesus' day, peace or "shalom" was an overall sense and reality of well-being coming from God's presence among the people.  Jesus came to bring just such a peace to us.

What happened?  Why is it that 2,000 years later we seldom find such peace in ourselves, let alone among nations?  Did we miss the boat in seeing Jesus as the Messiah?  Should we be as the Jews, still waiting for the Messiah to come?  Or could it be something else?  Could it be that Jesus was and IS, indeed, the Messiah who came to bring peace, and we are just too busy with the activities of life to receive it?  Where is the peace Jesus came to offer?  It is where it always has been--in the hearts and lives of Jesus' followers, WHEN we turn ourselves over to Him and His Holy Spirit.  Peace IS available.  We must receive it and live it.  Otherwise, life keeps being frenetic, or apathetic, or pathetic. 

I have been realizing in this Christmas season that while I have Jesus' peace, my experience could be so much fuller, and more importantly, I can offer it to so many more people than I do on a regular basis.  What about you?  Are you living in Jesus' peace?  Do you let the Holy Spirit fill and control your life, or has this Christmas season been as hectic as ever?  Take a moment right now and simply let Jesus' peace fill you.  Along with it come His fairness and justice in our relationships with others.  As we become more and more aware of Jesus' presence in us, as we give the Spirit permission to fill us with peace, we'll also become more aware of how many people around us are lacking the fairness, justice and peace, Jesus came to bring.  In the Apostle Paul's second letter to the Corinthian Christians, he told us we are "ambassadors for Christ in the world, as though God was making His appeal through us!"  What a promise and what a responsibility!  It starts with Jesus peace in our lives, because we have Jesus' presence in our lives!

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus into the world to be the Prince of Peace!  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we may live in His peace, and share it with others we meet every day.  This we ask in Jesus' name.  Amen.