I consider the word SHALOM as one of the most powerful words in the Bible. This is the word the Lord spoke to His disciples when they were so discouraged and fearing for their lives. They had followed Him for about three years as He walked all over the Promised Land. Even though they had seem great miracles by Him there was an uncertainty within their hearts. We can see this right after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. They scattered like a covey of quail. Only Peter followed the crowd to see what would happen to Jesus. And he denied knowing Jesus three times.
Do you recall Jesus had told Peter Satan had demanded to sift him like wheat but He had prayed for him and after he returned [from denial] he would be able to strength his brothers? All of this happened and it is for our good that it did. Jesus prayed for us too. You can read it in the “Priestly” prayer in John 17 where He asked the Father to keep the disciples as one and not only them but all of us who would believe upon Him. Please read this chapter today and you will be extremely blessed.
Jesus promised to never leave nor forsake us and you and I must believe it. We can experience His Presence when we say the word Shalom. He said that His peace isn’t like that in the world [which is temporary] but His peace passes all understanding. What He’s saying is we are in Him by being born again and need not fear anything. As we speak Shalom to others or ourselves it should reminds us of His promises.
Do you recall Him saying, “No one can snatch us out of the hand of the Father? If you have died to your life and surrendered it to Jesus as your Lord, God has adopted you. Your name has been added to the “small” Book of Life. This is like a registration of our new birth certificates. The Bible says if our name isn’t in it we will be cast into the lake of fire.
So to live safely in the coming storms there isn’t any thing more important than becoming born again. Don’t assume you are unless you can point to a place in time when you experienced it. I was in my church for nearly 33 years and had not been born again. I can remember the moment like it was yesterday. On May 23rd in 1971 I melted before God. My guilt left like a heavy weight from my back. God was no longer holding me guilty of countless sins for Jesus had bore them for me on the cross. At last I had appropriated His sacrifice for myself. It’s truly God’s greatest gift.
Now that I’m His property, bought with the shed Blood of Jesus, I’m not my own. He has granted me favor to be a servant who can do “exploits” for Him. You can do them too if you are born again. I hope you will take the scriptures seriously. In Luke 3:16 is a great promise that I also experienced back in 1971 the day I was born again.
John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
He is promising the same power to come upon us that came upon Him when John baptized Him. We can see this occur in Acts chapter two. For those who say they’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit I humbly ask, can you give a testimony of God’s Power being exercised by you? If you can’t, admit it and go to Jesus now. Ask Him to baptize you [immerse you] in the Holy Spirit. You will know when it happens for the power of God will come upon you to witness. In my case He also gave me the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues. For over 37 years now I can communicate with the Lord in the language of angels. Read about these gifts in John 12-14.
There are denominations who preach these scriptures and many more that don’t. I am not sure why but it doesn’t make sense to me for never have we needed the power of God more to witness Jesus. As I write the Muslims are preparing to take over the world. Along with them there are large cults that are drawing people away to destruction. We who have Jesus have His admonition to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the fields white for harvest. I love working in these fields for there’s more joy there than anywhere else. God is allowing me to speak to folks at every level with a common denominator, all of them need Jesus.
Do you want to live in God’s Shalom? We can make the choice of living in it or in fear. Tension is building all over the world and it’s recognized by fear, not a fear of God but a fear of surviving. We now live in God’s promises. “The Kingdom of God is not meat nor drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.“ We don’t have to worry about anything as we live for Him. Is this what you want more than anything? Go for it!
In His Service,
Capt. Ben Marler
captben61@gmail.com
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