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DRAWING NEAR

April 25

Messengers of Peace

     "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of
     God" (Matt. 5:9).

When Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9), He was referring to a special group
of people whom God called to restore the peace that was forfeited
because of sin. They may not be politicians, statesmen, diplomats,
kings, presidents, or Nobel Prize winners, but they hold the key to
true and lasting peace.

As a Christian, you are among that select group of peacemakers. As
such you have two primary responsibilities. The first is to help
others make peace with God. There is no greater privilege. The best
way to do that is to preach the gospel of peace with clarity so
people understand their alienation from God and seek reconciliation.
Romans 10:15 says, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring
glad tidings of good things!" The early church preached peace through
Christ, and that is your privilege as well.

Your second responsibility is to help reconcile believers to one
another. That's a very important issue to God. He won't accept
worship from those who are at odds with each other. They must first
deal with the conflict (Matt. 5:23-24). That is especially true
within a family. Peter warned husbands to treat their wives properly
so their prayers wouldn't be hindered (1 Pet. 3:7).

Peacemakers don't avoid spiritual conflicts--they speak the truth in
love and allow the Spirit to minister through them to bring
reconciliation. If you see someone who is alienated from God, you are
to present him or her with the gospel of peace. If you see two
Christians fighting, you are to do everything you can to help them
resolve their differences in a righteous manner.

Of course to be an effective peacemaker you must maintain your own
peace with God. Sin in your life will disrupt peace and prevent you
from dispensing God's peace to others. Therefore continually guard
your heart and confess your sin so that God can use you as His
peacemaker.

Suggestions for Prayer:

Pray for those close to you who don't know Christ. Take every
opportunity to tell them of God's peace.

For Further Study:

Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

     How did Paul describe the ministry of reconciliation?  What was
     Christ's role in reconciling man to God?

                Drawing Near, Copyright c 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.

All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org

:::


Matthew 5:23-24 (NKJV)
23  "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you,
24  "leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

1 Peter 3:7
7  Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving
honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs
together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21
17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old
things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18  Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself
through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of
reconciliation,
19  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the
word of reconciliation.
20  Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled
to God.
21  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him.


~~~

These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993)
devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent out daily for
free to
several folks via e-mail.

In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also
available free via e-mail only (not posted to Usenet news groups or
CompuServe).
_Strength for Today_ follows the same format as what you have seen
here from
_Drawing Near_, but with different monthly themes.

If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these
series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add you to
the list(s)
of your choice.

You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:

http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/


NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please
contact me via e-mail for quickest results.

In Christ,





Peter

Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase@columbus.rr.com
pchase_2000@yahoo.com
pchase@compuserve.com

http://www.gty.org/Gospel/
http://www.nwbible.org/

To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg