"Knowing Real Peace"

"Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice." (Psalms 51:8) It might seem a little odd, but real peace can only come through a heart that has been broken. I know, you know that already; I have known it myself for a long time; it's just that we seem to forget what it was like on that day when we answered His knock upon our hearts; at least I know that I have many times, and I will probably do it again. There is really no greater peace that we can know, then the peace which comes by being right with God; it is a peace that is hard to describe, because it is really not of this world. That is what I believe that David is speaking of when he says, "Make me to hear joy and gladness", which is the kind of joy that the Lord gives to us, that we commonly refer to as, "The Joy of The LORD". It cannot be heard through all of the guilt and shame that we experience when we are separated from God because of sin; and believe me when I say, sin does separate us from fellowship with God. Our broken heart is something that happens when we realize God's love up against our sinfulness; God's love is so amazing, even the hardest heart can be broken by His amazing love. We can know real peace only through the love of God, period! If you asked me to explain what it is that I am talking about, I don't know that I actually can; except to say, the real peace that comes through the love of God is not of this world, which means that it goes beyond this world and everything that this world is about; meaning life, death, health, money, food, shelter, any thing that is of any concern to us otherwise, is no longer something that involves the peace that only the Lord can give to us. Then, and only then, can we really hear joy and gladness... "Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:13-19)