Peace with God - How can that be??  

You may have noticed that the world is far from being at peace with itself, let alone with God.  We hear of wars, famine, climate change, epidemics, viruses, breakdown of family relationships and law and order - and yet the church speaks of Peace with God!  Are we really living on the same globe?  Yes - we are - complete peace in your heart (Peace with God) is perfectly possible - as long as you come on His terms, not your own.

Shortly before Jesus Christ was crucified, He told His followers that: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid". (John 14:27 NLT).  Many Christians all over the world can testify to the truth of these words - and you can be one of them today.  A friend of mine who recently became a Christian keeps saying: "It really works, doesn't it!".  Nearly every day he discovers something from God's Word that is true and 'really works' - since he accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour.  That's how to be at peace with God - stop fighting Him for control of your life.

In the first part of the history of mankind, before the coming of Jesus Christ, God mainly dealt with people at a nation level, having selected the nation of Israel to represent Him and to lead the rest of the world into His peace.  Unfortunately that nation continually rebelled and let Him down.  Eventually they were exiled and dispersed around the whole world and although, miraculously, they still exist today, they rejected Jesus Christ and are no longer God's example to the rest of the world.

However, when Jesus Christ came, everything changed.  No longer did peace with God depend on belonging to a selected nation - now it became an individual thing, available to every one of us.  Because of the perfect life, willing death and resurrection of God's own Son, each and every one of us gets a choice - we can do it our own way - or we can follow Him.  

Jesus ... said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  (John 8:12 NLT)

Following Jesus is very little to do with joining a religion (Jesus hated them), adopting a pious life-style  or avoiding the rest of the world.  It is about a completely new start in life - choosing to give up being your own boss and allowing Jesus to lead you wherever that takes you.  If that's what YOU want, then it is very easy - but very hard at the same time.  You simply have to pray - but you have to be genuinely willing to give up control of your own life and hand it over to Him.  I can tell you that "It really works".

How do I get started to follow Christ and experience Peace with God? 

If that's where you are, then you can go to a church and ask someone to talk you through it - or you can go to a quiet place and do it yourself.  It's as simple as a prayer that you really mean.  Just get on your knees and tell Him; "Jesus, I recognise that you are God's Son and I am just someone who has been trying to do life my own way for many years.  I realise that I have done many things wrong, including ignoring you.  I ask you to forgive me and come into my life to lead me wherever you choose, knowing that following you will be the best possible way for me.  Please give me this new life and peace that You spoke about - free from sin and with your Holy Spirit guiding me.  Amen.  (If there are particular things that you want to admit to Him then do so - He won't be shocked, as He knew all along anyway - and it will make you feel a lot better to get it off your chest!).  

Just believe that Jesus will do what He promises - that's called faith.  Now go and tell someone what you have done.  Get in touch with a good church, either by emailing us or by going there.  They will be able to explain much more than I've got space to write here.  If you have one, you might like to start reading the New Testament part of the bible in a modern translation (that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the book known as Acts), in order to learn much more about what Jesus really said and did. If you don't have one, please email and request a copy free of charge.

(NLT refers to the New Living Translation of the bible - the modern version which we have used for this web site)