The Bible speaks of two different kinds of “peace” for the believer in Christ. We have both of them in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” When the Lord Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you,” He was speaking, I believe, of the peace we can have as a result of His atoning work on the cross. All men were born in sin and in a state of enmity towards God, thus we are “at war with God.” But in Colossians 1:20 we read of Christ “having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Christ removed the believer’s sins by the shedding of His blood and in doing so He has removed the enmity we had towards God and replaced it with peace, “peace with God.” This is why Paul made this emphatic statement in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Nothing we do can alter the “peace with God” that we have through Christ’s finished work at Calvary. He made our peace with God once and for all.

The Lord Jesus went on to say, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” When the Lord said “My peace,” He was referring to the same peace He experienced while He walked through this scene. Whatever trial or adversity the Lord encountered, He remained calm and undisturbed, with a peace independent of circumstances. The Lord said, “My peace I give unto you,” because He wants to “give us His peace,” the same peace He enjoyed as He walked in unbroken fellowship with His Father. This, dear friend, is the key to the “peace of mind” you desire. It is conditional, in that you must walk in obedience to the Father and in communion with Him, just as Christ did. Scripture calls this “peace” the “peace OF God” and we need this peace moment by moment, in contrast to the “peace WITH God” which was settled the moment we believed on Christ as our Savior. Philippians 4:6-7 speaks of the “peace of God” and how we get it, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (NASB). Again, fellowship with the Father is the key, for as we go to Him in prayer, and present every request that is on our hearts, whether small or large, He will then bless our hearts and minds with a peace we can’t understand, much less describe to others. And as we pour out our hearts to the Father, remember it is to be with “with thanksgiving,” for it’s not just our PETITIONS that our heavenly Father wants to hear, but also our PRAISE. (160.2) (DO)