The Pursuit of Happiness, Part 8

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” Being a peacemaker is being concerned more about living out the calling God has placed on your life as a child of God. To become peacemakers, we must first see the need for peace and where peace comes from. In other words, to give something away, we first have to possess it.

Orphan
Andy Cherry

No Longer Slaves
Bethel Music

Christ Be Magnified
Cody Carnes

Christ is Enough
Hillsong Worship

Matthew 5:9
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

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Jason Soroski
“Shalom was used as both a greeting and farewell. It wasn’t just meant to wish a person a lack of war or struggle; rather, shalom goes deeper… It is completeness, soundness, wellbeing, complete reconciliation.”

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Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

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Alexander Maclaren
“Peace comes not from the absence of trouble, but from the presence of Christ.”

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Peace doesn’t happen without the Peacemaker.

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Ephesians 2:14-16
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

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Peace
To have peace with God means that there is nothing–no sin, no guilt, no condemnation–that separates us.

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Biblical Peace, Billy Graham
Peace with God, others, and yourself.

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Colossians 1:19-22
For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

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F.B. Meyer
“There is nothing apparently in all the universe so Godlike as this endeavor to make peace, not by glossing over the surface, but by dealing with those causes which underlie the quarrel and strife of the world. O God of peace, grant me Thy peace unspeakable, that I may abound in peace, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

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Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

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Jerry Bridges
“To become peacemakers, then, we must begin with ourselves. We must ask ourselves, ‘Why do I make cutting remarks to another person? Why do I make demeaning remarks about them?’ We must also ask ourselves, ‘What causes my resentment toward that person?” or “Why do I continue to nurse hurts by that person instead of forgiving them? What is it that causes me to be envious or jealous of that person?’”

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Jerry Bridges
“In order to even ask those questions, we have to admit we have those attitudes. But because we know they are sinful, we tend to live in denial that we even have them.”

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Jerry Bridges
“We need to deal with the sinful passions of our own hearts before we can deal with conflict of any kind with others. So where do we start? One way would be to go back over each of the character traits of the previous Beatitudes, and prayerfully and carefully ask ourselves how we compare with each of the traits.”

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Jerry Bridges
“If we ask ourselves these questions with complete honesty, we should end up with a deep sense of humility. Only then are we in a position of becoming peacemakers.”

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2 Corinthians 5:18-20
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

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“The reward of peacemakers is that they are recognized as true children of God. They share His passion for peace and reconciliation, the breaking down of walls between people.”

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1 Peter 2:18-25
Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.