40 Days of PEACE
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of PEACE
Day 18 | PEACE AND JOY | Proverbs 12:20
40 Days of PEACE
Day 18 | PEACE AND JOY | Proverbs 12:20
PEACE AND JOY
Proverbs 12:20
“Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.” ESV
As you read the Bible, you notice from Genesis 3 through Revelation that there is a struggle going on… the continual story of the battle between good and evil.
And besides the story, we also see characteristics of those who are good and those who are evil… of those who live in God’s way, and those who are following the other way.
Solomon – arguably the wisest man ever – wrote this verse in Proverbs showing the two roads of life, the two driving forces, and the outcomes of each.
On the one hand, he says that deceit (the act of causing someone to accept as accurate what is false or invalid) is the goal (in the heart) of people who plot or devise evil.
But then he says that those of us who plan PEACE will enjoy peace and have JOY.
So you might ask, HOW does one go about planning PEACE?
I think that simply asking the question is taking a GIANT step towards doing just that.
What can you PLAN to do TODAY, in your life, with whoever is around you in your circle, to cause peace?
Can you plan to listen to peaceful music? Or watch a gentle movie? Or read a peaceful novel or poem or Scripture? A trip to the beach or the mountains? WHAT can you do to PLAN something soothing and peaceful?
Remember… the payoff is both PEACE and JOY. But if you do this with or for someone else, you get a double blessing – yours and theirs.
I see this verse as saying that PEACE is not always something that happens to us (though it can be), but it is also something we can PLAN.
Prayer: LORD, I depend on you for my peace; but I acknowledge that you may sometimes want me to plan peace. Would you please lead me in the ideas and the follow-through? Thank you, Amen.
Proverbs 12:20
“Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.” ESV
As you read the Bible, you notice from Genesis 3 through Revelation that there is a struggle going on… the continual story of the battle between good and evil.
And besides the story, we also see characteristics of those who are good and those who are evil… of those who live in God’s way, and those who are following the other way.
Solomon – arguably the wisest man ever – wrote this verse in Proverbs showing the two roads of life, the two driving forces, and the outcomes of each.
On the one hand, he says that deceit (the act of causing someone to accept as accurate what is false or invalid) is the goal (in the heart) of people who plot or devise evil.
But then he says that those of us who plan PEACE will enjoy peace and have JOY.
So you might ask, HOW does one go about planning PEACE?
I think that simply asking the question is taking a GIANT step towards doing just that.
What can you PLAN to do TODAY, in your life, with whoever is around you in your circle, to cause peace?
Can you plan to listen to peaceful music? Or watch a gentle movie? Or read a peaceful novel or poem or Scripture? A trip to the beach or the mountains? WHAT can you do to PLAN something soothing and peaceful?
Remember… the payoff is both PEACE and JOY. But if you do this with or for someone else, you get a double blessing – yours and theirs.
I see this verse as saying that PEACE is not always something that happens to us (though it can be), but it is also something we can PLAN.
Prayer: LORD, I depend on you for my peace; but I acknowledge that you may sometimes want me to plan peace. Would you please lead me in the ideas and the follow-through? Thank you, Amen.
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