Peace – Exactly what we need!
Today’s devotion is based on Come Home for Christmas Week 4 – PEACE (WATCH HERE)
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8
We often talk about peace most when it’s missing.
You can sense it in the weariness of conversations, the anxiety beneath everyday routines, and the quiet fear that surfaces when life slows down. Something isn’t right. It’s not just out there in the world, but in here, in us. The Bible doesn’t dismiss that feeling. It names it.
The lack of peace creates a spirit of anxiety and darkness. Isaiah speaks to our hearts. He speaks to ones lacking in peace but searching for it. Isaiah speaks to people walking in darkness. Not temporary shadows, but “deep darkness.” This isn’t poetic exaggeration. It’s the honest description of a world fractured by sin, injustice, fear, and broken relationships. It’s a picture of the lack of peace. Yet, Isaiah does not begin with condemnation. He begins with hope: “A light has dawned.”
The Light born in Bethlehem would bring peace.
Biblical peace—shalom—is far more than calm feelings or quiet moments. Shalom means wholeness. It includes safety, provision, a right relationship with God, harmony with others, freedom from fear, and rest for the soul. When any of those are missing, we feel it. We may try to manage life, distract ourselves, or push forward, but deep down we know something is off.
It’s like living in a house with a cracked foundation. Everything may look fine on the surface, but over time the cracks spread. Doors don’t close properly. Walls begin to separate. The problem isn’t cosmetic, it’s structural. In the same way, the restlessness we feel points to something deeper than stress. It points to our need for God’s peace.
Psalm 4:8 reminds us that true peace is not self-generated. David doesn’t say, “I finally figured things out,” or “my circumstances improved.” He says, “For you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Peace is not something we achieve; it is something we receive from the presence of God.
Peace is a gift that God gives. Peace settles in our heart to have confidence in the power, promises and presence of God. It’s knowing that no matter the external circumstance, the Lord is shining his light into the darkness I am experiencing.
Christmas begins here: not with answers, but with awareness. Awareness of our deep need for peace and the overwhelming gift that God gives, God meets us to give to us exactly what our heart needs.
Reflect: Where do you most feel the absence of peace in this season of life? How might God be using your restlessness to draw you closer to Him?
Prayer: Lord, we confess that our hearts and our world are not as they should be. We feel the darkness and the longing for something more. As we begin this journey toward Christmas, teach us to wait with hope and to seek peace in You alone. Amen.
Trust God to Do What He Says!
Devotions this week based on Come Home Week 3 – TRUST (WATCH HERE)
Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
“That’s not what I expected.”
We all have experienced at some point in life failed expectations. Someone tells you one thing and does another. Someone describes an event and it isn’t anything like it. Politicians promise one thing before election and do another afterwards.
It’s hard to trust someone who doesn’t do what they say.
I’m sure for God’s Old Testament believers the challenge was real. Generation after generation received promises of God’s coming Messiah, the Branch of Jesse, the blessing to Abraham and many more. It’s hard to continue to trust when people keep saying, “Just wait, he’s coming.”
We have trouble waiting for a fast food establishment to bring our order up after 30 seconds let alone 300…3000 years.
At what point would we…would you give up trusting God was going to do what he said?
We don’t know why God chose his timeline or his timing. But he did.
We don’t know why God chose to announce the pinnacle of his plan, the birth of his Son, to a bunch of shepherds outside of Jerusalem. Maybe the shepherds knew the promise of one who would be a perfect Shepherd. Maybe they just sang “The Lord is my shepherd” as they put the sheep in pen for the night. We don’t know…but God did.
God had a captive audience.
God had a willing audience.
God had a trusting audience.
The angels spoke and the shepherds acted. They went to see what the Lord had done. They found the baby in the manger.
But it wasn’t just seeing the baby in the manger that returned them to the field “glorifying and praising God,” it was also the fact that what they experienced was “just as they had been told.”
Immediately it was the words of the angels…just as they said, they saw.
For the big picture it was all the words and promises of the Lord that they had been told, they saw fulfilled in the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
Christmas is the pinnacle of proving God’s trustworthiness.
Christmas is the foundation of ensuring God’s promises are true.
Christmas is the reminder that God can be trusted.
Christmas is the proof that God does what he says…always.
Reflection: What promise of God do you struggle to believe or trust? How can this verse from Luke 2:20 give you confidence to trust even if you don’t know the outcome?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for promising and following through…always. Thank you for speaking and then doing what you say you would. Forgive us for the times we fail to trust. Strengthen our trust that we can truly rely on the fact that when you speak, you will act. AMEN
Trust God’s Promises!
Devotions this week based on Come Home Week 3 – TRUST (WATCH HERE)
Isaiah 11:5 — “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
When Isaiah describes the coming Messiah, he doesn’t begin with what Jesus will do, but with who He is. Righteousness and faithfulness are not accessories He occasionally puts on. They are woven into His very nature. Like a belt that holds everything together, God’s faithfulness secures every promise He has ever made.
Faithfulness is not something Jesus performs when conditions are right. It is who He is. Scripture is clear: “God is not human, that he should lie… Does he speak and then not act?” (Numbers 23:19). And because Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), His trustworthiness does not fade with time, circumstances, or human failure.
Christmas itself is the ultimate proof of God’s faithfulness.
Centuries before the manger, God promised a Savior. He promised Abraham that through his offspring all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). He promised David a King whose throne would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:16). He promised through Isaiah that a virgin would conceive (Isaiah 7:14), that a child would be born who would rule with justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:6–7), and that a shoot would come from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1). When Jesus was laid in a feeding trough in Bethlehem, those ancient promises were not forgotten, rather, they were fulfilled.
God also promised where the Messiah would be born (Micah 5:2), how He would suffer (Isaiah 53), and that death would not hold Him (Psalm 16:10). From the manger to the cross, and from the empty tomb to eternity, God kept His word with stunning precision. Christmas reminds us that God may take His time, but He never misses His moment.
This matters deeply for us today.
We often struggle to trust God not because He has failed, but because waiting feels like silence. We confuse delay with absence. Yet the same God who fulfilled His promises in Christ is still faithful now. The sash of faithfulness has not loosened.
So what promises of God can we trust today?
We can trust His promise of forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us” (1 John 1:9).
We can trust His promise of presence: “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
We can trust His promise of provision: “My God will meet all your needs” (Philippians 4:19).
We can trust His promise of peace: “Do not be anxious… and the peace of God will guard your hearts” (Philippians 4:6–7).
We can trust His promise of completion: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6).
Faith grows not by pretending life is stable, but by remembering God is. When circumstances shift and emotions falter, God’s faithfulness remains constant. Trust deepens when we anchor our hearts not in what we feel, but in the faithfulness of God, who has proven faithful again and again, across centuries, and personally in our own lives.
Christmas invites us to look back and say, God kept His promise. Faith invites us to look forward and say, He will do it again. Trust his promises!
Reflection: What promise of God do you need to cling to again today? How has God shown His faithfulness in your life before?
Prayer: Faithful God, you never fail and never change. Help me remember your past faithfulness when my present feels uncertain. Strengthen my trust in your promises today. Amen.
Trust God’s Justice!
Devotions this week based on Come Home Week 3 – TRUST (WATCH HERE)
Recently I realized an interesting line of thought.
I have had a good number of people over the years of ministry ask, “If God is good, why does he allow evil to exist?”
This question tries to reconcile the love of God with the evil that exists. With certainty we can say God is not the cause of evil, that is action that is motivated by and perpetuated by a heart disconnected from the love of God. Evil is the opposite of the goodness of God.
However, the irony is that the same person also then questioned God’s actions at the worldwide flood in Genesis 6-9. How could God wipe out the entire planet with the exception of Noah and his family.
Yet, the description of the world was very evil. Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”
So God dealt with evil.
It seems like for some God can’t win. He doesn’t deal with evil how I want and I question him and then he deals with evil but it seems too harsh for my tastes. Either side of this God appears to be unjust.
Or is he just the opposite: perfectly just.
Isaiah 11:3–4 says, “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
We only can judge based on what we see on the outside. Jesus, however, sees beneath the surface. Unlike human judgment which is often rushed or biased, His is righteous and just. He knows every heart fully (Psalm 139) and judges according to truth, not appearances (Psalm 96:13).
So at some point we must trust God’s justice as completely trustworthy.
Sin must be punished. God will punish sin.
The amazing gift is that God was willing to take the punishment our sin deserved and put it on Jesus. Jesus willingly accepted the role. The cross is where the love of God and the justice of God came together. Sin was punished in Jesus. Grace was shown to us.
Now that might seem unfair.
Grace is unfair. Justice is completely fair.
In answering the question about why God allows evil, we must come to the conclusion that if he fully dealt with evil, I would be a goner – physically and spiritually. My sin has every bit to be confronted and punished by the justice of God.
Yet he is willing to treat us not as our sin deserve but as the grace of God demands.
For this we can be grateful.
For this we can fully trust God to get justice right. We may not always have the same conclusion or think we would act in the same way.
But we aren’t God. Only God is. He is perfectly just.
So, trust him. Trust his justice. Trust his love. Trust his grace for you.
Justice has been served. Your sins are forgiven in Christ!
Reflection: Is there a situation where you struggle to trust God’s justice? How does knowing that Jesus sees your heart bring comfort or challenge?
Prayer: Righteous King, thank you that you see what others miss and judge with perfect truth. Help me trust your justice when life feels unfair and my heart feels misunderstood. Amen.
Trust His Wisdom and Power!
Devotions this week based on Come Home Week 3 – TRUST (WATCH HERE)
Isaiah 11:2–3 “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and power…”
Who is you go to person?
When you need advice? Answers? Direction? Clarity?
Perhaps you have an individual in your life that has consistently shown aptitude to give great advice and guidance.
But sometimes even with a strong track record over time, all it might take is one bad piece of advice and you will move on to someone else. An investment broker fails to sell and you loose a large part of your net worth. A better offer of salary comes from another company and you leave a trusted boss for a bigger paycheck.
Worldly input will always be lacking and never perfect. At some point it will give us a reason to question, doubt, or simply ignore the advice that was given.
That’s what makes the “Branch of Jesse” or Jesus so unique.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him. His character and intellect will be defined by and filled with the Spirit of the LORD. The two will be inseparable and what comes from the Lord Jesus is the same as from God himself.
So what will he give? Why can we trust him…always?
He is full of wisdom. Wisdom in truth rightly applied. Wisdom is able to discern truth from lies and perpetuate a response based on a clear grasp of the facts, the situation, and what needs to happen.
He is full of understanding. Understanding is grasping the truth and its nuances. It’s comprehending the fullness of God’s truth and able to share and explain it.
He is full of counsel. Counsel is the ability to give clear and solid advice to solve problems, give direction on decisions and insight to resolve past hurt and conflict.
He is full of power. All authority is his. There is no power greater than he.
So what does this mean for you today?
In Jesus we have one we can fully trust.
Jesus is not lacking in anything. He can consistently be our “go-to” to guide us through life to heaven. Being full of the Spirit of God he and his Word communicate to us perfect wisdom, understanding, counsel and power.
It’s worth spending time with him as you navigate through life today! When we are uncertain, overwhelmed, or weak, He is not. Trust grows when we stop leaning on our limited understanding and rest our full weight on His perfect wisdom and strength.
Reflection: Which aspect of Jesus’ Spirit-filled life do you most need right now—wisdom, guidance, strength, or understanding? Where might God be inviting you to stop striving and start trusting?
Prayer: Jesus, you are full of the Spirit and lacking in nothing. I confess how often I rely on my own understanding. Teach me to trust your wisdom, follow your guidance, and rest in your strength today. Amen.