Do you wake up at night from worry or anxiety?

Then come and sit in the presence of the living God, whom we get to know in Jesus and in the Bible, and let Him serve you.

As Ps. 46:11 says: Be still, be still, take a breath! Then experience how the Lord and the peace that only He can give, are there with you and in you!

Then hear how He says to you in His Word:

2 Cor. 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you!”

2 Cor. 9:8 – “My God can make all things abound to you, so that in all things, always having all that you need, you may abound to every good work.”

That is why He says to you in Phil. 4:6 ff. – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus!”

That is why you can remind yourself aloud of Psalm 23 every day:

“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest depths, I will not fear. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You make me sit at the table of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!”

Create, like me, an early morning discipline for yourself to help you start each morning from a good, happy, peaceful place!

If you don't know how, let's talk, and I'll help you with that.

I am showing you a different side of this peace or SHALOM that Jesus said is mine and yours.

In Luke 4, Jesus quotes Isaiah 61 to tell us what He came to do for us here on earth.

“And when He stood up to read from the Scriptures, the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened it and found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

After He closed the book and gave it back to the officer, He sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He began to speak to them, saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

This “year of the Lord’s favor” that Isaiah prophesies about and that Jesus uses to show people why He came is the Jubilee year that we read about in Leviticus 25. Go and read a little for yourself about what it all entails.

Do you need such a Jubilee event in your life?

Do you need to hear that you are no longer a slave or need to be? You also don’t need to allow yourself to be treated like a slave?

Do you need to discover that Jesus came to pay all your debts in full?

Yes, perhaps you should discover that Jesus, through His Word and His Spirit, also wants to teach you a new path around money and possessions.

Yes, he wants to teach you, as Romans 13 says, “owe no one anything except to love them!”

Maybe he also needs to teach you what it means to start investing in a heavenly bank account! Yes, to invest in the coming of the Kingdom with your money and possessions, and not to fall for quasi-insurance and all the talk that banks and other financial systems tell you about all kinds of investments every day!

Hasn’t He promised you as His child that if you seek His Kingdom and consider it the most important thing in your life, there will be plenty of everything you and your loved ones need!

Or do you perhaps lack “peace” in the sense of liberation, like that demoniac from Gerasa, in Mark 5?

Do you realize that in light of what Jesus did for you on the cross, you can stop with that sin or sinful habits if you truly confess it as 1 John 1:9 says?

To then hear from God's own mouth: You are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness! In Jesus, you are truly free!

I don’t think there is one of us who doesn’t desire to hear God’s voice speak to you.

Can you imagine how your life will change if you are convinced that the living God that you and I have come to know and trust in Jesus Christ is speaking to you right now! It will change your life.

What if what I am writing to you is God speaking to you right now?

Think about it for a moment.

How will it change your reading of these writings?

Consider the following comments as my notes on how to take seriously what you are convinced is truly a Word of the Living God to you.

Remember the purpose of prophecy

Remember the purpose of why the Lord speaks prophetically into our lives. 1 Cor. 14:1-3

“Pursue love, and desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God. No one understands him; he speaks mysteries through the Spirit. But he who prophesies does speak to men to edification, encouragement and comfort. “

The Lord is busy through this Word (= prophetic word) ...

• Building you up – helping you to see the bigger picture, giving you a strategy

• Encouraging you – it will give you new “oomph” for the road ahead

• And comforting you – and in the process wiping away your tears, anointing and healing all the wounds you have suffered on your way here, and helping you to forgive and regain your peace.

That is why it is so important to take such a prophetic word/Word of the Lord with great seriousness and not just read or listen to it as you usually do (in your hurry), only half-read things or listen to them with half an ear.

This is what 1 Thess. 5:19 to 24 says about this.

“Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophecies, but test all things; hold fast to what is good; avoid every form of evil. And may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely; and may you be preserved completely in spirit, soul, and body, blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful and will do it.”

Why does Jesus say to you: “Peace, SHALOM, right NOW?”

Which aspect or side of this SHALOM word is specifically applicable to you and what is going on in your life?

Of course, all sides of PEACE or SHALOM are important to you and part of God’s Word and grace to you. Yet there are specific aspects and elements of meaning of the Biblical concept, SHALOM, that are meant FOR NOW to build you up, encourage you, and comfort you!

Spend some time at the Lord’s feet to figure it out for yourself.

What do you trust the Lord for NOW in your life?

What will you answer Jesus today if He comes before you and asks: What can I do for you in your life today? What do you trust Me for today?

Which specific meaning or side of the Biblical concept SHALOM expresses your answer to this question?

Take time to believe this word

Because the Lord’s word in this very time, “Peace/SHALOM to you!”, is ... is also a promise from the God who cannot lie, to you RIGHT NOW!

See in your mind's eye and begin to experience in your heart and in your body what it will feel and look like when this side of SHALOM begins to happen in your life and around you!

This is what FAITH means! That you already experience in faith RIGHT NOW and see how these sides of SHALOM begin to happen in and around you!

Make time every day from now on to be quiet, to calm down, and to experience in faith how the Lord's word of promise and prophetic word to you begins to happen!

As usual, I have again trusted the Lord for a word for His people for this season in which we are currently, and specifically, because I live in South Africa and mostly minister here, what His heart is specifically for us.

That is why there is this urgency in me to share what I have heard with you in the next few weeks.

Most believers around the world remind each other of the birth of Jesus in December, although research shows that God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, was born in September 3 BC.

Before I talk about this further, let me just remind you of events that took place in Jerusalem on April 12, 30 AD.

Read with me John 20:19 ff.

“It was late that same day, the first day of the week.

The doors where the disciples were gathered were locked for fear of the Jews. Then Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Peace is possible on earth and in each of our lives on earth because God the Son became man in Jesus. Yes, because He made SHALOM possible through what He did through His life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection.

This is what the angels prophesied about Him at His birth in Luke 2.

“Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, there was with the angel a heavenly multitude praising God:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those with whom he is pleased!”

Listen, peace is possible on this broken earth and in my life and yours!

But only in the lives of those who choose to believe this message from the angels! Yes, those who get to know this Jesus and accept Him as Savior and Lord in their lives, too.

Then His Spirit comes and lives in them as His people, who have begun to believe this Gospel. Galatians 5 further explains that if He controls our lives, then other people will also recognize in us the fruit and characteristics of Jesus, and also recognize this SHALOM and its effect in us!

Then hear how Jesus, as in John 20, to His disciples at that time, also says to you: Peace be with you!

Yes, He came, died on the cross, so that peace (Shalom) in every sense of the word is possible and available for you too!

If you will only believe it! If you will only accept it in faith!

When you accept it and also believe that He can also do it for and in you, He can send you to others to also tell them to go and preach this good news!