I awakened this morning enjoying the peace of God, which passeth all understanding
and with the phrase peace multiplied
being spoken by the still small voice inside. Night before last my husband and I arrived at the home of a dear friend with whom we’ve been in fellowship for over 35 years. She’s one of the very few people with whom I’ve felt I could be totally transparent as I’ve been on this spiritual journey. Though we lived in the same area for decades, I moved hundreds of miles away 15 years ago. Of course modern technology has enabled us to continue our relationship mostly from a distance, though we do see each other at least once or twice a year, sometimes for as long as three weeks. Yesterday a mutual friend, with whom we’ve both been transparent, called, and I had a very long and satisfying conversation with her where we were able to share the things that really mattered to us, not just engage in small talk.
I say all this to say that as this peace multiplied
kept being spoken to me, I began to associate it with our visit. I thought of the words communion
and fellowship
and assembling
and of the contemplation Ten Righteous Men that I had written a long while ago. So I got out of bed and discovered that both Peter and Jude had used this phrase:
1Peter 1:1 … Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
2Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
Jude 1:2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
They speak not only of peace, but also of grace, mercy and love being multiplied
through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.
I knew that these Scriptures were being fulfilled in our lives by our coming together and sharing our knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.
We, through assembling ourselves together
and exhorting one another
Hebrews 10:25 are experiencing the fellowship
and communion
2Corinthians 6:14 which enables the peace, grace, mercy and love to be multiplied
to us—just as even ten righteous men could have saved the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction Genesis 18:32.
Although we cannot put our trust in man, whose breath is in his nostrils
Isaiah 2:22, for it is only God who can guarantee that we will never be alone John 16:32; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5, our effectiveness and influence is undoubtedly multiplied
when we come together in unity Psalms 133:1 and one accord Philippians 2:2, for a threefold cord is not quickly broken
Ecclesiastes 4:12.