April 5 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Peace in the world depends on order. The order that ensures peace requires that God be recognized as sovereign and that people know their place. "Strike them with terror, lord; let the nations know they are only mortals."

This is a prayer for peace and a prayer for the kingdom. "Peace," as the word is used in the Bible, is order—a situation where everything is right. Therefore the Bible says, "God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (1 Cor. 14:33). God hates chaos and requires order.

The kingdom of the Messiah is a kingdom of peace. But his kingdom is more than those peaceful pastoral pictures. The kingdom of peace is a new order in which God is worshiped, people love each other, and things are neither worshiped nor loved but used. That's the right order; that's peace.

We will have no peace until people fall in line with God's order. The nations must know that they are but humans—and that God is God.

Pride is the father of sin. Pride is not merely excessive bragging. Every­one can recognize that sin. Ordinary pride is much harder to recognize. It is the refusal to bow before God. This pride damns the lives of people, even those who are otherwise good and civilized. They don't know that they are only human beings.

Humility is the opposite of pride. It is the only door through which we can find God. Therefore children can find him while the wise are left in the dark.

God's way of teaching humility to the human race is a divine humor that moves both people and angels. Humanity fell into sin because it wanted to be like God. But we were lifted from the pit when God became like one of us—a human being. The way to the new world of peace-by-order begins in Bethlehem, with the Baby!

All the proud races of humanity must come here and bow down at the manger. Only then we can find our place in the blessed order of the kingdom of God.

REFLECTIONS

Take time to bow in humble silence before our great God. Then ask God to help you "walk humbly" before him in your day-to-day living.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.