Peace is a beautiful word. In Hebrew the word is Shalom, which means nothing missing and nothing broken. In Israel, instead of saying hello, or even goodbye, people exchange the greeting of Shalom. Perfect peace is Shalom, shalom! What a lovely way to speak words of encouragement over everyone you meet. We know that when Jesus came, He came to bring peace in a world of turmoil, unrest and distress. He came to be the Prince of Peace, the counselor, and our mighty God. During the holiday season lots of people get stressed out. It can be from all the hectic activity, because of dreading spending time with relatives that are difficult, or even the stress of feeling the necessity to over spend to keep up a good image. Take a deep breath! Speak shalom into your life. Let me speak peace to your soul. We really are too blessed to be stressed! We have the Prince of Peace living within us, so there is no reason to get stressed or live in a state of frustration or turmoil during the holidays, or any time of the year. Can we learn to rest in the peace of God? I believe we can. Peace is more than just a greeting, and more than just a sign we use to say we don’t like war, peace is an attitude that can prevail in our hearts and lives year round. Let’s live in a constant state of peace! When we look at the big picture, we have found what we are looking for. Jesus, who is in the center of our heart, came to fill in the missing pieces in our lives. He came to fix everything in our lives that was broken. So we can say about ourselves, I have Shalom in me, nothing is missing and nothing is broken. Because He came to fill us, we can live in peace, radiate peace, and be peacemakers in a world that is empty and broken. So speak Shalom to your own soul, and then begin speaking it to those around you. Make this Advent more peace-filled than ever, and enjoy Christmas in the peace of God. SHALOM!
Advent Activity: Find a way to give something to someone in an unexpected way. Give to the foster kids on our giving trees at church, or find another way to bless someone during this Christmas season.
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