The Real Meaning of Peace: Lessons from Scripture and Life

Welcome to the Confidence in God podcast with your host, Julie McGhghy! In this episode, we explore what it truly means for Jesus to be our Prince of Peace—not just during the Christmas season, but every day of our lives.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why “peace” is more than a cliché answer and how it’s available to us in every circumstance
• The difference between worldly peace and the peace Jesus offers
• Scriptural insights from Isaiah 9:6-7, John 16:33, Ephesians 2:14, and more
• How to pursue and experience God’s peace, even in the midst of pain, loss, or uncertainty
• A moving story of Diana’s faith and peace during her battle with cancer
• Practical steps to keep your mind and heart anchored in God’s promises 

Resources: 

 https://confidenceingod.com/resources/

 Michael W Smith Peace

 Hey Dad Its Me

Episode Timeline

• 0:00 — Introduction and welcome by Julie McGhghy
• 0:34 — Childhood memories of beauty pageants and the cliché of “world peace”
• 1:44 — Isaiah 9:6-7: The prophecy of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace
• 2:09 — The ongoing fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy in Jesus
• 3:43 — What Jesus’s peace is NOT (Matthew 10:34-36)
• 5:12 — Jesus IS our peace (Ephesians 2:14)
• 5:38 — Accessing peace through the cross (Colossians 1:20)
• 6:06 — Why believers sometimes don’t feel God’s peace
• 6:39 — A 17-year-old’s insight: Keeping our eyes on God
• 6:59 — Isaiah 26:3: Perfect peace for those whose mind is stayed on God
• 7:29 — Psalm 34:14 and Philippians 4:7: Seeking and pursuing peace
• 7:58 — Practical steps: Prayer, thanksgiving, and focusing on God
• 8:16 — God speaks peace through His word and spiritual leaders
• 8:44 — Emotions vs. true peace: Don’t confuse sadness or pain with lack of peace
• 9:05 — Diana’s story: Experiencing God’s peace during terminal illness
• 11:48 — Encouragement: God’s peace is available to all, no matter the struggle
• 12:14 — God’s peace is ever-increasing (Isaiah 9:7)
• 12:38 — Jesus is our peace, always available and ever-increasing
• 13:08 — Letting the peace of God rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15)
• 13:17 — Michael W. Smith’s song “Peace” and its message
• 13:58 — Episode summary: Jesus as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

Transcript

0:24

Hello and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. I used to love watching beauty pageants when I was little. I still remember the classic cringe worthy question,"If you could only have one wish, what would you wish for?" And the even more classic, insincere answer was"World peace." It's become such a cliche that it's now a reliable joke in pop culture, like the scene in Miss Congeniality where the audience laughs at the unoriginal response. We all want peace, of course, but it often feels out of reach. Recently through scripture and a dear friend, I have gained a new perspective on what peace truly entails. Today, I wanna share those insights with you. Before we get started, I invite you to check out a resource titled Five Steps to Experience More Confidence in God. You can have instant access to it by going to confidenceingod.com/resources. In this resource, you'll learn how we can confidently live a life that is victorious over sin, thus increasing the peace you can experience in your life. I'll drop the link to the resource in the show notes for your convenience. Isaiah 9:6-7 is a well-known prophecy about the Messiah."For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end." The prophet Isaiah saw a vision and committed it to writing somewhere between 750 and 700 BC. At the time, the coming of the Messiah was a mere promise. The Messiah would come as a child, yet he would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. The prophecy was partially fulfilled when Jesus Christ was born, which is what we celebrate at Christmas time. And it continues to be fulfilled as His government and peace increase. Although we hear this scripture often during the Christmas season, it is meaningful throughout the year. He is all of these things all year long, not just at Christmas time. The fact that Jesus Christ is our Everlasting Father is particularly meaningful to me throughout the year because of how I was raised. Although I never had a consistent father figure in my life, I find great comfort in the fact that the Lord is my Everlasting Father. He is the one who stays with me and loves me no matter what. When we need a mighty God to show up as our defender, Jesus is there regardless of the time of year. And when we need wise counsel and direction, we can trust God to provide it as our Wonderful Counselor. Today I want to focus on Jesus as our Prince of Peace. Let's start by understanding what Jesus's peace is. Actually, we'll start by considering what it is not. In Matthew 10:34-36, Jesus tells us that He did not come to send peace on earth, but a sword. He explained within our own households, we would find conflict. Dolores H Washington in The Mission of the Servant said this about Jesus, and I quote,"Christ did not come to bring peace. He did not bring peace to the legalistic Pharisees and the aristocratic Sadducees, or the autocratic Roman rulers." Jesus' promised peace was not a political or social peace. It wasn't even a promised relational peace. In John 16:33, Jesus said, In me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Even though we have Isaiah's prophecy of peace, Jesus Himself told us we would have tribulation, or we would have trouble in this world. His peace is not an absence of war or conflict. We will have political, social and relational conflict. Yet we can find peace in Him when we encounter trouble in this world. So what is that prophesied peace. Jesus is called the Prince of Peace, not because He brings peace, but because He is our peace. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:14, that He Himself is our peace. He's referring to Jesus. Jesus didn't bring peace. He is our peace. So how do we access this peace? The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 1:20, that Jesus has made peace through the blood of His cross, reconciling to Himself all things on earth and in heaven. First and foremost, we meet Jesus at the cross. We accept the work of salvation He did for us at the cross. And yet many of His children, those who have experienced His salvation, don't feel His peace. Why? It isn't because God's word isn't true. But maybe we haven't read the whole thing and put it all together yet. Or maybe we are listening to our hearts, which are deceitful above all things according to Jeremiah 17:9, instead of listening to the Holy Spirit within us. I had a conversation with a 17-year-old recently who had expressed that he didn't feel God's peace. So I asked him why he thought we sometimes don't feel it. And he responded,"Because we don't keep our eyes on Him. We don't pray. We don't read the Bible. So we don't feel His peace." Although this young man could not quote chapter and verse to support that answer, it is consistent with the word of God. Isaiah 26:3, lets us know God keeps in perfect peace, those whose mind is stayed on Him. There you have it. As the young man said, we don't feel God's peace when we don't keep our eyes on Him, when we don't keep our minds on Him. So how do we do that? Psalm 34:14 instructs us to depart from evil and do good. Further, we are to seek peace and pursue it. Then the Apostle Paul admonishes us not to worry and explains that if we will pray and bring our request to God along with Thanksgiving, God's peace that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. In order to feel God's peace, we must seek it, actively pursue it. We do that by turning from the evil that is prevalent in this world and focusing on God through prayer, bringing our request to Him and being thankful. And let's not forget about His word. Psalm 85:8 tells us God will speak peace to His people. We hear what the Lord speaks, the peace He speaks to us by reading His word and listening to the people God has granted spiritual authority over us, meaning our pastors. Also, we hear it through the people to whom our pastors have granted authority to speak and teach God's word to us. Let's not confuse our emotions or physical discomfort with lack of peace. Remember that our emotions come from the heart, which as I mentioned a moment ago, is deceitful above all things. Just because we are sad or in pain doesn't mean we lack God's peace. I was blessed to see an example of God's peace envelop, a dear friend recently as she was battling cancer. My friend Diana was in a hospice center and was declining very quickly. Of course, all of her friends and loved ones were very sad because we knew unless God did an amazing miracle, we were going to lose her on this earth very soon. In the sadness, some of us questioned where God's peace was. But if we just opened our eyes to Diana's example, we would have understood that even in sadness, pain, confusion, we can still have peace. Diana had a lot of loss in her life. She'd lost a brother, her parents, and one of her two children over the years. Then in January of this year, she found out she had cancer. The tumor was located in a place where they couldn't get it all, despite three surgeries to do so. After the three surgeries, a round of chemo and other harsh medications, she learned that the cancer was spreading. Sometime around June, Diana had decided she'd had enough. She put her life in God's hands and trusted Him to accomplish His will and her life. She declined any further treatments or harsh medications. She viewed the situation as a win-win. She won if God healed her on this earth. And she won, if he healed her as she transitioned to her eternal reward, which she did this past weekend. Yet Diana held onto God's promise that His peace, which passes all understanding, would keep her mind and heart through Christ Jesus according to Philippians 4:7. And this promise was so true for Diana. No one could understand how she could have such peace as she journeyed down that road of cancer, but she knew God's peace. God kept her heart and mind throughout her journey. Don't mistake me. Diana cried sometimes. She battled physical pain. She disliked the whole process of battling the cancer. But she always had God's peace. She always knew who her source of peace was. She believed His word and His promises. And she let him accomplish His will however He wished to do it. I don't bring this story to you to bring you down. I bring it to you to lift you up. No matter what you are feeling or experiencing, God's peace is available to you. His word, His promise is true. It does not matter if you are struggling because of things outside of your control like Diana did. Or if you are struggling because of decisions you've made in your life. God's peace is still available to you. His word, His promise is true. He is our prince of peace all year long. And there's even better news in the prophecy about the Messiah. Isaiah 9:7 says that there will be no end to the increase of His government and peace. Jesus is our peace. Peace is available to us at all times. We need to only seek it, aggressively pursue it, but even better than that, His peace is ever increasing. He gives us more and more peace as we need and seek it. The more this world goes crazy, the more our lives become difficult, the more His peace is available to us. Let's let the peace of God rule in our hearts as the Apostle Paul encourages in Colossians 3:15. In the final week of Diana's life, I found a great comfort in a song on Michael W. Smith's, the Spirit of Christmas recording. It is simply title,"Peace." It is a prayer that acknowledges past mistakes, pains, and fears, yet also expresses steps towards God seeking and aggressively pursuing His peace. I'll put a link to it in the show notes, and I encourage you to listen to it. Let it be an expression of faith that you will find His peace, that you'll find more and more of His peace every day as you seek it. Let me quickly summarize the information I've shared with you. Jesus is everything the prophet Isaiah said He would be in Isaiah 9:6-7. He is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. And He is these things at all times, not just at Christmas time. Even better, His peace increases eternally. The more we need it, the more it is there. God's word is true. Jesus Himself is our peace. He did not bring peace. He is our peace. Seek it, pursue it. Keep your mind on Him, and you will have it regardless of any sadness, pain, or confusion you may experience in life. In 2 Thessalonians 3:16, it has this blessing."Now the Lord of Peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all." I would love to hear from you. Share with me how you have experienced God's peace in tough times. As I mentioned earlier, I invite you to check out a resource titled Five Steps to Experience More Confidence in God. It will help you live a life that is victorious over sin, thus enabling you to live in God's peace. Just click the link in the show notes and click on the resource. I've also included a link to Michael W. Smith's song titled,"Peace." Take a few moments to listen to it and let God's peace restore your soul. If you have any interest in reading about why Jesus as my Everlasting Father is so meaningful to me, I'll include a link to my book, Hey Dad, It's Me! in the show notes. Just click the link and you can learn more about it on Amazon. That's it for today. Please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. Also, it would be great if you would rate or review our show, that way more people can find out about it. Until next time, let's be confident in this that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.