Devotion 

A Church at Peace

Frances Taylor 

Peace is such a nice place to be. Interesting that the church was at peace and that more people were coming into the church during this time when this area of the world was in turmoil. Judea and Samaria were still under Roman rule, Christians were still being persecuted but the church was at peace. Makes you wonder what being at peace really means. When my children were young, I longed for peace! With 5 of them all around the same age, there were battles over who was wearing whose clothes, who was hogging the bathroom, who had taken the last piece of whatever! When I think back on this time, however, I know there was at the same time as the chaos a certain amount of peace. There was chaos but love. Just when you thought one of them would kill the other, there was a spirit of generosity that seemed to come out of nowhere. Peace lived in our hearts even if the world was spinning around us. I believe this is the peace of the early church. They had "died in Christ" so they were at peace in their hearts even though there was the threat of persecution. Today there are parts of the world where Christians cannot live in peace, where there is the very real threat of death for those who are known to be Christians. For those of us who are able to live in peace, I believe we have an obligation to pray for those in danger. May our prayer for peace continue until all Christians have peace.

Prayer 

Loving God, may we never take peace for granted. Let us pray for those who live in danger and we ask that they may have peace in their hearts knowing that you are with them. Amen.