Shalom!

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
~Romans 5:1

When I was a very young Christian, I was told to study the Bible by looking for the word, "therefore" and ask myself 'what is this verse there for?' It helped me to read the Bible more often and to look more closely at particular verses. As I grew in the knowledge of the Lord, I came to realize how short my understanding of the true meaning of God's word was due to the lack of understanding of Hebrew and Greek. I began to seek out people who were much smarter than me and I was introduced to both the Greek and Jewish Bibles. As I grew in the knowledge of those languages, I grew in the true meaning of the English translations of God's word.

In the verse above, having peace with God seemed to mean that I was no longer at war with Him. Or I was no longer opposing Him. But the word "shalom" translated here means much more than the absence of war or opposition. The word 'peace' is the Jewish word 'Shalom,' and is much richer and more powerful than the English translation. 

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3)."

To be in perfect peace, or perfect Shalom, does not mean absence of conflict. Being a Christian does not mean we never have problems, in fact, being a Christian brings on an enemy, the devil, who wants to see us fail! What peace we have is inner peace in the knowledge that no matter what is going on in the world, Christ is in control. We no longer have fear that something is going to go wrong and we won't be able to fix it. We can rely on Jesus Christ to have everything in hand, freeing us from worry, stress, and fear.

No matter where you are or what situation you are in, you can have perfect Shalom in Christ. The world is like a hurricane spinning out of control, destroying everything in it's path. Jesus is like the eye of the hurricane, calm and serene.

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7)."

Read 1 Samuel 1-5

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018