John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
"Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion - it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ."
Billy Graham
I remember when I was just a boy of 16 a Billy Graham caravan arrived in Piedmont Missouri where I lived, now at 16 my life was carefree...I went to school, chased girls, hunted and fished whenever I like, had a roof over my head, but...peace was nearly impossible to find. You see my home was suited for the insane, the destitute and lost, filled with alcohol and abuse. To find some peace, I went to the revival, expecting to hear the great Billy Graham himself, to my disappointing eyes, he was not there, a member of his staff was there in his place as Mr. Graham was out of the country.
Where was I going to find any peace now, that Mr. Graham wasn't going to preach it to me? Throughout the service I would listen to this mono-toned fella talking about how God loved me and how God could change my life. I thought "Yep just another preacher wanna be trying to convince me that without God my life would be in a mess."
Wait a minute....isn't that the way it is now? As soon as I realized that his words were true to my cause I listened all the closer. And as the service came to a close, as they had altar call, I stood there, not more then 20 feet from this fella, my eyes opened for a second, and as I looked forward, he was staring right at me and said, "If you want true peace in your life just turn to God, it doesn't matter if you are a 17 year old boy or a 70 year old man." Wow! From that moment on, I could feel the Holy Spirit dealing with my heart, every day after that, up to the day that I gave in to God and really accepted Jesus as my Savior, and to tell you the truth, peace didn't come to me on a silver platter, there were times in my life when things really got hard, where circumstances seemed to overwhelm me, but through it all.... at the end of the day, I could kneel down and talk with God and find the peace he had offered me all those years ago, was indeed still available just for the asking. Faith my friends, feeds my peace, let Christ fill your life with the brightness of true peace.
