“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”
—John 14:27

Reflection

Beloved, Father God wants to fill us with His shalom, His peace.

In Ephesians 3:16, the apostle Paul prayed that we would be strengthened with power through God’s Spirit in our inner man. The Hebrew word for spirit is ruach, which also means breath.

After Yeshua had been raised from the dead, He appeared to His disciples and said, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Then Messiah breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:21–22).

Still today, Yeshua is breathing His life into His bride, the people who belong to Him, through His Spirit. This is why the Bible says we are partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). His divine nature has been and is being imparted into our lives.

When Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Peace be with you,” He was speaking into their inner man, rooting and grounding them in shalom, a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and wholeness.

The world is coming at us so intensely and from so many different directions. There are so many things pulling at us that many of us have been drawn out of ourselves.

We’re looking to the world for affirmation. We’re measuring ourselves by the world, so we’re not really comfortable in our own skin. We’re living from the outside in rather than from the inside out, so we’re not at peace with who God made us to be.

If we are looking to the world to find identity, purpose, meaning, or security, we will never have shalom, because God’s shalom is not of this world.

Too often we think if we just get that job we’ll be satisfied, or if we marry a certain person or make a certain amount of money, we’ll have more peace.

We’re looking to the world to give us identity and peace. But the world cannot give us true shalom; only Yeshua can.

This is why Paul prayed that you and I would be strengthened on the inside, abide in Him, and be comfortable in our own skin.

Beloved, the peace Yeshua gives does not come from the world. It comes from His Spirit dwelling within us.

Application

• Examine where you are looking for identity, purpose, meaning, or security. Are you depending on the world to give you what only Yeshua can provide?
• Ask Father to strengthen your inner man through His Spirit and fill you with His shalom, rather than measuring yourself by the standards of the world.

Prayer

Abba Father, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit and the peace that only Yeshua can give. Forgive me for looking to the world for affirmation, identity, and security. Strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner man. Root and ground me in Your shalom so that I can be at peace with who You created me to be. Teach me to live from the inside out, abiding in You and experiencing Your life within me. In Yeshua’s name, amen.