Jesus demonstrated that He will be in the midst of any pit you find yourself in when He went ahead of you to the lowest pit of all. He went to hell with your worst problem, the sin which separated you from God. If you’re born again He lives in you now, so there’s no valley too deep, no pit too dark, or storm too strong, where you won’t find Jesus there with you ready to deliver you!
Jehovah Shalom means “The Lord is our peace.” This word shalom literally has the essence of nothing broken, everything fixed, everything being repaired. Shalom is total restoration and total peace for all that we need. This is God extending Himself to humanity saying, “I love you!”
Even after you have chosen to forgive, memories of wrongs suffered and the associated negative feelings will still try to rise up. But hold on to forgiveness! Remind yourself that you made a decision to forgive!
There is a very real God whose presence you can know, whose hand you can hold, who will speak with you and His voice will not be somewhere in the distance, but rather IN you. He loves you and wants to live with you and through you!
The sacrifice of the holy blood of Jesus that covered the sins of all people is enough! Scripture says that now anyone can come to the throne of grace with boldness because we were all covered with the blood of Jesus, and the keys of the kingdom were given to each one of us!
Scripture says we are to “love others as we love ourselves” (Mark 12:33, author’s paraphrase). Maybe the reason there is so much harsh treatment of others is that people hate themselves. They don’t see themselves as good enough or worthy enough, and they project the same attitude toward those around them!
If you are all that is on your mind, then your thinking is very small! When you place your hurts in the hands of Jesus, then you’re free to heal the hurts of others. What He has done for you is now your privilege to do for others.
Thoughts can be deadly. Even in the natural process of healing our thought life plays a direct role in the chemicals released into the rest of the body. Wrong thinking can be a toxic killer if allowed to make deep ruts in our thinking. This means if you allow lust, anger, hatred, envy and jealousy to dominate your thought life, the poison they contain has the power to destroy your life.
It doesn’t matter how bad your past is. You might say your sins are as dark as mud, but even a glass of mud will become drinkable if you keep pouring clean, fresh water into it. A field of weeds will produce wheat if you start putting new seeds into the soil!
The most dangerous time is to deal with a beehive is when the bees have stopped producing honey and the hive is full. Bees with no work to do become agitated and begin to look at the beekeeper and each other as enemies, so they begin to sting. The same thing happens in the church when it loses the larger purpose of reaching out to others. They begin an inward-spiraling cycle of backbiting, scorn, and criticism that can cause destruction to the church and the very people they are called to work with!
