How I Found Lasting Peace


   The source of lasting peace is God. 

   I'm not just saying this because it's a good "religious" thing to say. I know and have experienced this! God is the One Who has given me peace in a world that is not peaceful. 
   To know God is to find everlasting peace, hope, love, and joy. He promises that "[You] shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 29:13). God has given us the Holy Bible so that we can know Him. It's a lifelong adventure, but for now, here are a few quick things about God to establish: 1) He is the Creator of the universe. 2) He is holy. He has never and will never do any wrong. He is perfectly just in all that He does. 3) He is love. Not just loving -- God Himself is the Authour and Source of true love (1 John 4:16). 
   Peace and joy are found in God's presence. "Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11). But because God is holy and pure, as well as all-powerful, nothing that is wrong or bad in any way can be with Him in His presence. And that's a problem for us. We can easily think, "I'm not really a bad person." But few, if any, people will think that they've never done anything wrong. And most of us have done more wrong in our lives than we realize! Many have said this in many more words, but the short of it is: none of us is good enough to be in God's presence. On our own, we are not able to enjoy either knowing He is with us while we live on this earth, nor are we able to make it to Heaven after we die. 
We need a Saviour. We needed Someone who was perfect, someone who had never done any wrong of His own, who could take the suffering, the anguish and pain, that we deserved for our wrongdoings. That Someone is Jesus, my Saviour and Lord! "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1-2). He lived a perfect life on this earth, never doing any wrong or failing in any way. Then He died by crucifixion, the most brutal form of execution possible. He did it out of love for us. He took the punishment our wrongs deserved. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Fortunately, this is not the end of the story. He rose from the dead -- He came back to life, and is alive forever! 
Through faith in Jesus' salvation, we can find peace in God's presence! "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12). I found peace when I repented of my sins (every thing I'd ever done wrong) and chose to have faith that Jesus would save me! And this is my prayer for you as well. You can't earn your way to heaven. You can't work hard enough to create your own peace. But the good news is, you don't have to. 
Here's the part where Christians normally put in a sinner's prayer that you can read off. I'm not going to do that. Instead, if you want to receive Jesus' wonderful gift of salvation, I encourage you to pray. Jesus Himself told us what we must do in Mark 1:15: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (ESV) To repent is to be willing to let God change you. It means you are sorry for your wrongdoing, and you want Him to change your life for the better. If you believe that He will save you, and you reach out to Him and ask Him, He promises everlasting life in His presence! 
   Friends, I feel like I said so little here. God is so great, and I have never regretted putting my life in His loving hands. If you would like to learn more, I encourage you to, first and foremost, find a Bible and a Bible-believing church close to you. Second, you may find some of these resources helpful:

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