Everyone is searching for peace today but few are finding it. Many use drugs or addictions to substitute, but real peace only comes from God Himself. In fact, the Hebrew word translated ‘Shalom’ means more than just peace. It has the idea of being well in every sense of the word. We often think of peace as absence of outer conflict, but real peace refers to a wholeness, completeness, wellness and soundness. Without God as the central focus in our lives something is missing so there can be no peace without Him!
This name of God is used by Gideon after He appeared to Gideon who was hiding in a hole threshing wheat. His fear was evident, certainly there was no peace in his life. But when he realized it was God Himself he was speaking to and who was offering him peace he built an altar and dedicated it to Jehovah Shalom, “The Lord is Peace” (Judges 6:22-24). Judges 6:22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!” 23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
God makes peace with us today. Our sin has separated us from Him and made us enemies. Only He could make peace by removing the enmity be paying for our sins on the cross. Because of that we have peace WITH God (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14; Luke 2:14). In addition, we can also have the peace OF God as well. This is the peace His people can have in daily life, not because He changes circumstances but because His Spirit inside produces the fruit of peace when we are close to Him (Galatians5:22-23; Philippians 4:6-7).
People would pay millions of dollars for peace, but it can only be found in God and is only for His children. It’s available for you. Do you have His peace?
APPLICATION ASSIGNMENT
Where do you need peace now? What are you afraid of (be honest, lift everything)? Every time you get scared ask Jehovah Shalom to give you His peace!
BIBLE STUDY ASSIGNMENT
What do the following verses say about peace? Pray before starting and ask God to show the truth in His Word to you. Meditate on each one, don’t rush as if this were a fill in the blank test. Listen to God’s Spirit reveal His truth to you. Read between the lines. Put yourself in the place of the man who wrote it and of the people who read it, what did it mean to them? If Jesus were sitting beside you doing this study with you, what would He say it means? You may need to look at the context (verses before and after) to get a complete picture of the verse itself.
Judges 6:22-24
Romans 5:1
Ephesians 2:14
Colossians 1:20
Luke 2:14
Philippians 4:6-7
(If I can answer questions or offer personal counsel, or if you would like a free copy of my Spiritual Warfare Handbook, email me at Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org or download it from http://sw.christiantrainingonline.org/. My next book, Spiritual Warfare in the Bible, which is a more advanced treatment of spiritual warfare, is also available there for free.)