Daily Wisdom for Peacemaking: A 365-Day Devotional

By Brian Noble

Experience the power of God's perfect peace.


 


Wherever there are people, there will be problems. Thankfully, God promises enduring peace even in the midst of conflict.

Daily Wisdom for Peacemaking is a 365-day devotional that connects you to God's Word, teaching you how to uphold a kingdom-minded perspective and enjoy peace-filled relationships. Each day provides

- thought-provoking Scriptures,
- encouraging devotions,
- challenging applications, and
- comforting prayers.  


God is love, and when we reflect his love in our relationships, we draw ourselves and others closer to Christ.


 


 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Release date: Dec 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781424563128

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

A life of peace isn’t the absence of trouble or conflict; it is being secure in the knowledge of who you are in Christ and who God is as you walk through those difficulties. When I think of a biblical example of that, I think of the story of Jesus and the disciples in the boat during the storm (Matthew 8:23–27). Jesus was able to experience peace (and even to sleep) in the midst of the storm because he knew who the Father was and that he was with them in that boat. If we truly want to live a life of peace, it doesn’t happen by attending a seminar or conference. A life of peace is fulfilled by daily encounters with God and his Word. This is how we are transformed and renewed. This is how we can experience peace in the midst of life’s storms. We at Peacemaker Ministries pray that this devotional helps you draw close to the Prince of Peace so that you can experience a life of peace.

Blessings,

Sarah Schelley

Executive Assistant, Peacemaker Ministries

JANUARY 1

Anyone who does not love

does not know God,

because God is love.

1 JOHN 4:8

The first word of this verse is clear. Anyone means everyone. Since you are anyone, how is your love for everyone? Your love for others will show your knowledge of God.

On the opposite side, our lack of love shows a lack of knowing God. How can John say that? Because God is love, so if we know God, we are affected by his love. God doesn’t just do love. His very substance, nature, and being is love.

That truth is powerful. Later, John says, So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:16). God is love means God loves us. He loves you! That is amazing!

APPLICATION

Apply this amazing truth to your relationships today. Who do you love, and who are you struggling to love? How can you see those people through your knowledge of God?

Reflect on Romans 5:8. While we were still doing wrong and estranged from God, Jesus died for us. How can you die in your relational tensions? How can you take steps toward humility, toward dying to your rights and seeing the power of the gospel in your life? Think of ways you can demonstrate love to others by dying and truly serving and loving them.

Lord, thank you for loving me with your love. I want to abide in your love and then demonstrate your love to others today…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 2

God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And he said,

Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’

EXODUS 3:14

God names himself the I am. Think about that. He doesn’t say, I am a… He simply says, I am who I am. In other words, there is none compared to God. God is God because he is God. This is both reassuring and intimidating. Reassuring because he sent his Son to save humanity and intimidating because we often proclaim that we are the I am.

How do we do that? We make judgments about others, break relationships, and elevate our preferences over God’s law.

God is the I am—the only Lawgiver, the only King. Read what James says:

The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law…There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:11–12)

APPLICATION

How have you tried to act like God with your friends, spouse, or coworkers? What preferences have you raised above God’s law? Find an area to repent of by acknowledging your sin before God and the person you’ve ruled over. Recognize God as God and allow him (as if he needs to be allowed) to be the I am in your life.

God, I acknowledge you as the I am. That makes me the I am not. Please forgive me for pretending to be you, and help me walk in humility… (Continue praying.)

JANUARY 3

But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;

you are remembered throughout all generations.

PSALM 102:12

Sometimes we may feel like the worries of life have overshadowed us. Our joy may be withering like grass, but God is still forever enthroned and forever remembered.

Although we live in a fallen world, God still sits on his throne. Although our enemies seem to prevail, God is still on his throne. Although sickness may attack our bodies, God is still enthroned. Tears flow and depression lingers, but God is still enthroned.

How will you remember him today? Will you remember what it seems he isn’t doing, or will you remember his goodness? His deliverance? His comfort? Today in the midst of your trials, remember and proclaim God’s greatness. Your circumstances may not be good, but God is good.

APPLICATION

We all need absolutes about God in our lives. These absolutes will help you get through your circumstances if you believe—truly believe—that God is good.

Think about your closest human relationship. Have you ever had a struggle in that relationship? In the midst of that struggle, you can proclaim, God, I remember you, and I believe you are enthroned. In other words, God, I submit to you as the Lord of this relationship. Don’t be afraid to talk to him. He is amazingly good.

God, today in my relationships, I proclaim that you are enthroned, and I will remember your works in me. Lord, please teach me, search me, and direct me. You created me, and you created the other person. Be our Lord. Help me to honor you…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 4

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

HEBREWS 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same. He has always been the same. He will forever be the same. This is so reassuring. Think about the eternalness of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t say to the adulteress woman, I had compassion in the past, but for you, now, I am not sure. He wasn’t only addressing the Pharisees of long ago when he said, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25). Jesus says the same to us when we worry about cleaning our outsides and not changing our insides.

APPLICATION

How does Jesus’ unchangeableness apply to our relationships? Think about this: Jesus proclaims, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). The thief—the devil—wants to destroy relationships, but Jesus desires you to have abundant life, both personally and in all your interactions with others and with God. So here it is: Jesus is the same every day, always has been and always will be, and he wants you to experience abundant life in every aspect of your life, including your relationships.

Jesus, thank you for always being the same. I live in a world that seems to change constantly, but I can rely on you never changing. I ask that you bring your abundant life into my relationships. I really need your help to show your life to others…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 5

"I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.

He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father."

JOHN 14:30–31

In this verse, Jesus understood that he would face a betrayal, and the religious leaders would seek to kill him. He then makes a bold statement about his enemy: He has no claim on me. He knew that the enemy could not have victory over him. Then why did Jesus die on the cross? He was being obedient to his Father. We know that Jesus did not want to experience the pain and suffering, nor did he want to be separated from the Father. But Jesus’ love for the Father was greater than his desires.

What if Jesus had gotten a paper cut for our sin? Then his resurrection wouldn’t be a big deal. Jesus’ life was not taken from him; he willingly gave it, and that is why the resurrection is glorious. What was Jesus’ motive? His love for the Father.

APPLICATION

If Jesus loved the Father so much that he laid down his life for all people, shouldn’t we also lay down our lives for others? Reflect on 1 John 3:16. In your relationships today, how can you lay down your life for your friend or enemy out of love for your Father?

Lord, remind me the enemy of my soul has no claim to me. Because I love the Father, let me freely lay down my life to live out the gospel…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 6

Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us…Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.

NEHEMIAH 9:32–33

Nehemiah’s prayer refers to God as gracious, merciful, mighty, awesome, righteous, and faithful. Think about each of these characteristics of God. He is gracious (compassionate), merciful (forgiving), mighty (strong), awesome (to be revered), righteous (just), a God of lovingkindness and steadfast love. Even though we act wickedly, he deals with us faithfully.

Ephesians 5:1 says, Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. Think about the words used to describe God. Consider how children imitate their parents. We are to imitate God in all of his attributes, which includes his grace, compassion, mercy, and faithfulness. He is to be revered, and we are to revere him as do children who have loving parents.

APPLICATION

This is one of the most challenging aspects of our walk with God. We are to imitate his grace, compassion, and faithfulness to others. Whether our relationships are healthy or not, we still need to imitate God. Don’t lose heart. In the face of another’s wickedness, you are able to imitate God because of his work through Jesus Christ on the cross because you are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Lord, help me to imitate you. In my relationships, I need your compassion to transform my anger; I need your mercy to transform my judgment… (Continue praying.)

JANUARY 7

Through [Jesus] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

ROMANS 5:2–5

Think about Paul’s words by faith into…grace. Faith in Jesus leads us into the grace of God. Rejoice!

Then Paul says, but we rejoice in our sufferings. The Greek word for suffering is thlipesos: to crush, press, compress, squeeze. This verse literally says we rejoice in being crushed, pressed, compressed, and squeezed. We understand we can rejoice as we stand in God’s grace and rejoice in the hope of God’s glory, but rejoicing in suffering?

Paul says that suffering produces endurance, not deliverance. Endurance produces character; character produces hope. Suffering eventually produces hope, hope that we will get to stand in the glory of God. We won’t be ashamed if we hope because God has poured his love into us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

APPLICATION

Think about suffering you are experiencing. Is it the result of a choice you made, a relationship, or the fallenness of this world? How can you allow suffering to work in you to produce character and hope?

Lord, help me rejoice in suffering. I know you have poured your love into my heart and that one day I will be in your presence…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 8

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

ROMANS 8:35

Who [or what] shall separate us from the love of Christ? Do you think tribulation will separate you from Christ’s love? How about distress? Persecution or famine? Will violence separate you from Christ’s love? The next verses say: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38–39). Are you convinced? Jesus is love, and he has clearly demonstrated his love!

APPLICATION

How about the way you love? In Matthew 22:37–39, Jesus said to love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s put Jesus’ words together with the verses above. Will anything affect your love for God? Will something come between Christ and your love for him? And what will separate your love from others? Will you allow tribulation to diminish your love for others? God doesn’t say, I will love, but here is the limit. He is abounding in love and compassion. Often, we think, I can’t love the way Jesus loves. That is true. But God’s love in you through the Holy Spirit can. Allow his Spirit to flow through you and enable you today.

Lord, let my love be modeled after your love. Holy Spirit, empower me… (Continue to pray.)

JANUARY 9

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

PSALM 6:4

Early in this psalm (verses 1–3), King David says, I am languishing…How long? Often we feel like we are languishing. Our heart begins to say, How long? We have all been there, wanting to see God’s deliverance.

King David asks God, Turn, O Lord. We can feel like God has turned away from us. Whatever the situation, do not be afraid to tell God that it feels as if he has turned away. Ask him to turn toward you. The truth is that he is with you, but we need to be reminded of that at times.

God is the deliverer. He turns and delivers your languishing heart. He saves you from your troubles, pouring out his grace on you. God is with you in the midst of distress. He saves you for the sake of his steadfast love. Think of that! God saves us because it is his very nature to save.

APPLICATION

King David is just like us. He understands difficult situations and how painful relationships can be. Remind yourself that the Lord has not forsaken those who seek [him] (Psalm 9:10). He is delivering you, saving you. That’s faith—when you proclaim the opposite of what your natural mind is saying and listen to the Holy Spirit speaking truth to your inner being.

Lord, I thank you that you are facing me and delivering me. My soul feels like it is in despair, but your truth has become my comfort…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 10

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…so that...he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

EPHESIANS 2:4–9

Look at Paul’s statement about God’s mercy. He was merciful at our lowest point and transformed us to make us alive together with Christ. We were dead (in our sins) and buried (in baptism) then God raised us to life together with Christ by grace. Neither mercy nor grace have anything to do with us. They have to do with the Giver, God’s kindness toward us.

APPLICATION

How does the truth about God’s immeasurably rich mercy and grace apply to our relationships? Remember the story about the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet at a meal? Jesus said in Luke 7:47: Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. Jesus taught that if we realize how much we have been forgiven, we will love much. Therefore, if you’re unable to love someone, it may be because you haven’t fully grasped how much you have been forgiven, how rich in mercy and grace God has been toward you.

Lord, I have been immeasurably forgiven through your mercy and grace. I want to love others like you do…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 11

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

TITUS 3:3–7

Verse 3 says we were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves of various passions and pleasures, passing the days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another.

Then But when shows up. We once did all of these things, but then Jesus appeared. He transformed us! He saved us according to his… mercy. It wasn’t our righteousness. He washed us with the Holy Spirit, regenerating, renewing us. Why would he do this? So that we might be heirs of the hope of eternal life, justified by his grace.

APPLICATION

In your relationships, are you living once were or but when? Are you disobedient or quarrelling? Or are you obedient, living in gentleness toward all people (Titus 3:1–2)? When the Holy Spirit comes upon your life, you may have once were moments, but you will increasingly have a lifestyle of but whens.

Lord, because of your transformational work in me, I can be obedient and gentle. I have the hope of eternal life…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 12

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.

EXODUS 34:6–7

Who made this amazing proclamation? The Lord called himself The Lord, the Lord. This name, The Lord, comes from the Hebrew word YHWH, the proper name of God. God also emphasized that he is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and makes it clear that he is steadfast in his love for thousands and forgives their sin. He declared that he is just; therefore, he will not clear the guilty. This is not what Moses or someone else declared to be true about God but what God declared.

APPLICATION

Have you repented and received God’s mercy, grace, love, and faithfulness? He desires to pour out his steadfast love and faithfulness. Although he has the authority and power to punish people for their sins, in mercy he withholds punishment for those who repent. God’s mercy is his legal compassion. Grace is God’s unmerited favor and is his relational compassion. In light of how much God has given you, how can you extend that mercy and grace to others?

Lord, I repent of what does not align with your Word. You are merciful and gracious. Help me to extend your mercy and grace to others… (Continue praying.)

JANUARY 13

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 PETER 1:3–5

Peter writes that out of the Father’s great mercy, God caused us to be born again. We sometimes think that we are born again as a result of religious actions, but this verse is clear. God the Father caused us to be born again to a living hope. The source of this hope? It comes through Jesus’ resurrection. The gospel of our living Savior causes us to be born again to a living hope.

The believer has an inheritance that is imperishable. Earthly things perish, but our inheritance is unfading and stored in heaven for us. Treasure that God is guarding us too, through faith, for a salvation that he will fully reveal one day.

APPLICATION

In life we experience the world’s fallenness—through others’ behaviors, our own choices, or simply through the brokenness of this world. Do you see only fallenness around you, or have you been keeping eternal things in mind? Remember your inheritance in heaven: that you will have endless days in Jesus’ presence compared to a few years on earth separated from him.

Lord, thank you for my rich inheritance. I want to see all my relationships through this eternal perspective…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 14

From him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever. Amen.

ROMANS 11:36

Paul is writing about the depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge, that God’s ways are unsearchable. Paul then talks about how the mind of the Lord is uniquely independent of mankind. His knowledge is autonomous from all creation. Then Paul proclaims, for from him…are all things. All wisdom, all knowledge is from God Almighty—plus an endless list of other things. And not only from him but also through and to him. He is the source of wisdom and the filter of wisdom. He is to be lifted up and receive all glory.

Let your heart flow with love from God, through God, and to God. Let your forgiveness come from Jesus, through Jesus, and to Jesus. Pause and think about this. Your salvation is from God, through Jesus, and to him.

It is easy to think about what does not glorify God and more difficult to describe actions that glorify God. Try it. Make a list of all the things that do not glorify God, and then live out the opposite. Here’s an example: cursing does not glorify God; words of praise glorify God.

APPLICATION

If all things are from, through, and to God, then why do we so often feel that our relationship with him is from, through, and to ourselves? God is the source, the power, and he deserves to receive the glory. Evaluate your words: Are they filled with praise, with encouragement?

Lord, let my life, thoughts, and desires come from you, through you, and to you…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 15

The LORD is righteous in all his ways

and kind in all his works.

PSALM 145:17

What does all mean? Is your all really most? Or some? The word here in Hebrew is kōl, which means whole, every, everything, or the everything of something.¹

The Lord is righteous—morally and ethically just—in all his ways (in the whole or everything of his ways). We can count on God’s ways as being 100 percent righteous and just. Not only that, but he is also kind in all his works. Think about the works of God, dwell on his ways. All that he does is just and kind, righteous and benevolent. His actions are the same as who he is. Don’t get confused by your circumstances. Your circumstances aren’t necessarily the ways of God. They might be the ways of this fallen world.

APPLICATION

God’s ways are righteous and kind. Yet at times, our hearts loudly object, saying that God’s way is wrong and even mean. During those times, it’s helpful to ask yourself, What do I actually believe? Do I believe what my heart says or what God’s Word says? When circumstances announce, That’s not fair, and life says, That’s cruel, reply with truth: God is righteous and kind. Inform your emotions that God is morally and ethically just. Speak the Word of God to your inner self. Insist that your soul align itself with the truth of God’s Word.

Lord, right now, I’m telling my soul and my emotions what’s true. Father, thank you for your Word because it helps me to correct my thoughts and live in the truth…(Continue praying.)

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1 Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 506.

JANUARY 16

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

EPHESIANS 1:11–12

As Paul told the believers in Ephesus, God works everything according to the counsel of his will. Every aspect of our life is according to the wise counsel of God’s will. King David wrote in Psalm 139:16, Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. God is not a God of chaos. He is the God who sees everything in accordance with his will.

And what is God’s will? Paul clearly states that God’s will is for us to be sanctified, which means holy or set apart for God. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:3–6.

APPLICATION

Think about your walk with God. Are you wondering how you can reconcile a struggling relationship? God is working it out according to the counsel of his will, and he wants you to walk in holiness in your actions toward the other person. Your holiness is to be the holiness that Jesus modeled, a humble holiness that willingly and faithfully picks up a cross daily and follows Jesus as he sanctifies you.

Lord, I am struggling. Guide me according to the counsel of your will. Help me to walk in humble holiness. Help me to daily pick up my cross and follow you…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 17

Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.

ROMANS 1:4–7, EMPHASIS ADDED

We are called to belong and called to be. So many Christians feel they are called to do. They try to do Christianity as if they are fighting internally to be a Christian. The fact is that because you are a Christ-follower, you have been appointed as a saint. In Jesus, you are an appointed saint and are called to be holy. When you are truly transformed, then you will do.

Let’s look at Ephesians 2:10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Now bring all these ideas together. Believers are called holy, called to belong, and created to do the works God has prepared for us.

APPLICATION

Since we are, since we belong, and since we also are created to do, we can operate in the fullness of what God has for our relationships. When you understand your newness in Jesus, it helps you to forgive and walk in humility.

Jesus, thank you for calling me to belong. Please help me to know you fully, to experience all of my identity that I have in you…(Continue praying.)

JANUARY 18

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of