100 Days Of Favor (23 page)

Today’s Prayer

Father, help me to be wise in guarding what I let in through my eye- and ear-gates. I ask You to create in me a hunger for more of Jesus and His Word. I want my eyes to always behold His beauty and my ears to always hear His gracious words. And as I see and hear more of Jesus by Your Holy Spirit, I thank You for a greater measure of peace, wholeness and strength flowing through my body and soul.

Today’s Thought

The more I behold Jesus, the more I become saturated in His unmerited favor.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 53

Receive Jesus’ Shalom

Today’s Scripture

A heart at peace gives life to the body… —Proverbs 14:30,
NIV

T
HE BEST WAY
to know if you are embroiled in the things of the world is to be objective and ask yourself this: “Is my heart troubled?” I believe that the number one killer in the modern world is
stress.
Medical doctors in my church have told me that if a patient has high blood pressure, they can advise the patient to cut down on sodium. They can also advise their patients to cut down on other excesses such as sugar or cholesterol. But as doctors, there is one thing that they cannot control in their patients, and that is their patients’ stress levels.

Stress is not from God. Peace is from Him!

I personally believe that the physical root cause of many medical conditions today is stress. Stress can produce all kinds of imbalances in your body. It can cause you to age prematurely, give you rashes, cause gastric pains and even lead to abnormal growths in your body. To put it succinctly, stress kills! Doctors tell us that certain physical symptoms are “psychosomatic” in nature. That’s because these symptoms are brought about by psychological problems such as stress. Stress is not from God.
Peace
is from Him!

I trust that you are beginning to understand why Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Now, Jesus would not have used the word “peace.” The Greek New Testament renders “peace” as
eirene,
but since Jesus spoke Aramaic-Hebrew, He would have used the word “shalom
”—“Shalom
I leave with you, My
shalom
I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”

In the Hebrew vernacular, “shalom” is a very rich and loaded word. There is no English word that can accurately encapsulate the fullness, richness and power contained in the word “shalom.” Hence, English Bible translators were only able to translate it as “peace.” But while the word “shalom” includes peace, it means so much more. Let’s look at the Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon to get a better idea of what Jesus meant when He said, “Shalom I leave with you.”

The Hebrew Lexicon describes “shalom” as
completeness, safety, soundness (in body), welfare, health, prosperity, peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment, peace used of human relationships, peace with God especially in our covenant relationship and peace from war
.
¹
Wow, what a powerful word! This is the shalom that Jesus has bequeathed you: His completeness, His safety, His soundness, His welfare, His health, His prosperity, His peace, His quietness, His tranquility, His contentment, His peace in human relationships, His peace with God through the covenant made at the cross and His peace from war. All these, my friend, are part of your inheritance in Christ today!

Can you picture the full implications of what it means to experience Jesus’ shalom in your life? Can you picture your life being free from regrets, anxieties and worries? How healthy, vibrant, energetic and strong you will be! Thank Him for this blessing today and start enjoying Jesus’ shalom in every area of your life.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving me Your shalom in every area of my life. I want to experience and walk in a greater measure of Your shalom. I want to live a life that is free of regrets, anxieties and worries, and experience more of Your health, energy and strength. Today, because I have Your shalom, I will walk in Your peace, prosperity and protection as I deal with the demands of this day.

Today’s Thought

Less stress plus more of Jesus’ shalom equals more health.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 54

Jesus’ Peace Sets You Up For Success

Today’s Scripture

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. —1 John 4:18

J
ESUS GIVES YOU
His shalom to set you up for success in life. You cannot be a success in your marriage, family and career when you are crippled and paralyzed with fear. Today, as you are reading this, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has already begun a work in your heart to liberate you from all your fears, whatever they may be. They may be the fear of failure, the fear of success, the fear of people’s opinions of you or even the fear that God is not with you.

Jesus’ shalom is on your side to make you a success in life.

All the fears that you are experiencing in your life today began with an untruth, a lie that you have somehow believed. Perhaps you have believed that God is angry and displeased with you, and that His presence is far from you. That’s why the Bible says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”

This scripture tells us that when you begin to have a revelation that God loves you perfectly (not because of what you have accomplished, but because of what Jesus has accomplished for you), that revelation of the unmerited favor of Jesus will cast out every fear, every lie, every anxiety, every doubt and every worry that God is against you. The more you have a revelation of Jesus and how He has made you perfect, the more you will free yourself to receive His complete shalom and succeed in life!

My friend, know that as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have absolute peace with God. The new covenant of grace is also known as the covenant of peace. Today, you stand upon the righteousness of Jesus and not your own. Today, because of Jesus, God says this to you: “I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke [condemn] you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My
covenant of peace
be removed” (Isaiah 54:9–10).

God is on your side. Jesus’ shalom is on your side to make you a success in life. All of heaven’s resources are on your side. Even if you are caught in the midst of a storm right now, just think of the picture of the eagle chicks sleeping soundly in spite of the storm, nestled under the wings of their mother, their protector and provider. And may the shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7). Go in this peace, my friend, and rest upon His shalom!

Today’s Prayer

Father, give me a greater revelation of how perfectly You love me, for Your perfect love will cast out every fear in my life. You don’t want me fearful of failure, of people’s opinions of me or of what the future may hold. Because of Jesus, I am in a covenant of grace and peace where I will always experience Your kindness, and where the shalom of Jesus is always on my side to make me a success in life!

Today’s Thought

God is not angry with me. He does not condemn me, but loves me perfectly because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for me.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 55

Grace And Truth Are One

Today’s Scripture

For the law was given through Moses, but grace [unmerited favor] and truth came through Jesus Christ. —John 1:17

D
ID YOU KNOW
that God sees grace (unmerited favor) and truth as one and the same thing? Notice in John 1:17 that truth is on the same side as God’s unmerited favor and both grace (unmerited favor) and truth came through Jesus Christ. When I did a study of this verse in its original Greek, I found out that “grace and truth” are actually referred to as a singular unit, since they are followed by the singular verb translated as “came.” In other words, in God’s eyes, grace and truth are synonymous—unmerited favor is truth and truth is unmerited favor.

You cannot separate truth from grace and grace from truth as they are both embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.