PEACE

Good Friday

PSALM 147:14 (NLT)
He sends peace across your nation
and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat.

EPHESIANS 2:14 (NLT)
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Through the self-sacrifice of Christ Jesus God has established a new peaceful order where hostility no longer has the final word.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, as we pause to recall the sacrifice that Christ Jesus made on our behalf, we thank you for sending him to us to establish a new peaceful order. I admit, though, that I don't always tap into that order in the way that I relate to the world and people. I get sucked into tit-for-tat conflicts and jockeying to dominate my opponents -- even when my cause is good. Have mercy on me and continue to develop your peaceful disposition in my life. I'm going to follow the Prince of Peace -- even if it means following him up onto a cross. Amen.