In Scripture there are 385 references to peace so our Heavenly Abba must think this is pretty important! As most of you know, the Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It doesn’t just mean peace, but it means emotional, spiritual, and physical well being. Man, don’t we need that today more than ever!? During the times we are living in with pestilence at our door, to some peace can seem fleeting. Yet, these are the times that we need to hold on to the promises of our Heavenly Father. The third characteristic of the fruit of the spirit is peace or shalom. If we have the Holy Spirit, we can be sure that shalom is in our members. We need to hold on to it. Shalom is intimately tied to faith. One way you can see this connection is that if you are operating in the spirit of fear (the opposite of faith) with anxiety and stress (fear’s best friends) operating as well, then you will have no shalom. The book of Yaacov shares with us that out faith must be tested.
Yaacov, a servant of Elohim (God) and of the Master Yeshua the Messiah, to the twelve tribes which are in the Diaspora: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials or temptations, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Yaacov/James 1:1-4
Brothers and sisters let us run the race and never give up! Stop listening to how this virus was started and what’s behind it. I know I’m speaking to myself because it is easy to get caught up in all of this. You will lose your shalom very quickly! All we know is that we have a plague on our hands and Abba in His Word has said He will protect us from any pestilence this world can throw at us (Psalms 91). And first and foremost, we don’t wrestle or fight against any human being. There is a spiritual war going on all around us. My Scriptures say, “We are victorious!”
4 But you, brothers, aren’t in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief. 5 You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness, 6 so then let’s not sleep, as the rest do, but let’s watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night. 8 But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God didn’t appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, 10 who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do. 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11, emphases added
With every adversity we face, there is opportunity! Let this year be a year where we as soldiers of His army push back the spiritual forces of wickedness through prayer and supplication and use the authority we have in Messiah Yeshua. Let us break every chain and yoke the enemy has put on us. Fight the good fight beloved! Marching time is here!!