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Divine Blessings:

Peacemakers

'Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God'.

who are peacemakers? There is much difference between pacifiers and makers of peace. Are you a maker of peace ?

Spiritually a peacemaker is one who looks to the Lord, learns of Him and applys His laws to life. Where God's laws direct our loving and thinking we cannot think only of ourselves: all unrest and contention come from self-seeking and worldly affections. In the prophet Isaiah we read 'O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river' (48, 18). And in the Psalms 'Great peace have they who love thy law; and nothing shall offend them' (119, 165). To be willing to love the Lord's regulations of life is, perhaps, the first step to becoming a peacemaker: for there can be no real peace outside of divine order.

To be a peacemaker is not to pacify the enemies of evil and falsity within us, but to suffer the Lord to remove them: which He does as we keep His laws. Evil men may be pacifists, but only those who love divine laws can be peacemakers.

Once peace is established within us we can become real peacemakers in the world about us. Others will see we love God and the common good. They will see we do not seek distinction above our fellows, arid that we are not fretted by worldly ambitions. God's peace in our hearts will be a centre of cheerful kindliness where ever we go.

Peace is God's gift: we cannot make it ourselves; nevertheless we can be peacemakers by using the stones of God's commandments and building them into the foundations of our lives.

Where men love God and their neighbour peacemaking flourishes, and happiness abounds. Such are the children of God.

PRAYER

Hear me O Lord: 'Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments' (Psalm 119, 73).


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