Scraps from my journal indicate that this Christmas I have been dealing with anxiety…. I’m not going to psychoanalyze it but suffice to say, what I have needed most is peace of heart and mind and the rest of God that encompasses both the body and the soul.

in one entry I wrote: “I am parched for beauty though beauty surrounds me.” I sympathize with the woman at the well in Samaria who said, “Please, sir, tell me where I can find this living water that I might not be thirsty again…” How is it that we as believers can be full of the Spirit of God and have the promises of Scripture at our fingertips and yet lack in experiential depth the reality of the words of promise we have been given? Again in my journal I wrote, “I am so thirsty for you, God…I feel that i must be surrounded by Living Water – but if it doesn’t get inside of me and impact the core of my being – if it doesn’t affect change in my life – what good is it?”

The Word of God, Scripture says, is ALIVE and ACTIVE. It is not like other books. You may read it as such, not holding it with authority, not reverencing it as though one passage might forever change you – but that is what it is – it is as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel…and the one opening it must be prepared to be operated on.

Perhaps the times when I am not changed, when I read the Bible but leave as thirsty as I came, perhaps when I carry anxiety more than a moment or an hour is because I refuse to let the scalpel of the Word cut me open – penetrate heart and soul and all that is within me?

Pruning is painful. Changing is painful. Letting go of the illusion of our control over a thing – whether it be our own life or our children or our work or our future – may very well feel like jumping off a cliff – suicide. And in a way, it is. We die to self. We rise to Christ. We let go, and give over, and release a care (truly release it) to God and think we will fall to the ground. And right before we do, our hearts in our stomach and our minds whirling, we are caught. and held. firmly. And the color, the light, the peace, the joy, all enters in, like a rushing river of abundant life. But we have to jump, we have to risk it all to receive it all.

Our inheritance is all there in the Word – and we’ve been given the Spirit as a guarantee. Sometimes I read it and become angry – the amazing gifts I have been given and yet don’t receive – the peace, the joy, the patience, the kindness, the love….all available for FREE.

And what we need this Christmas, like I said before, is the Peace of God. Peace can mean many things. but one of the words for Peace in Hebrew is “Shalom” – other than the words i named my daughters, “Grace,” and “Chesed” (look that one up in the Hebrew -its simply profound!) I have found no more beautiful word than Shalom. What does it mean? Completeness, wholeness, peace, health, welfare, safety, tranquility, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, total well-being. One scholar has said that Shalom is nothing less than the full expression of the kingdom of God – resting upon you. Beautiful. And it is promised to us as children of God. Shalom is all over the Word, but my favorite lately is:

Isaiah 53:4-5 “The chastisement for our peace (shalom) was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” When He bled and died, it wasn’t only for our salvation, it was also for our peace of mind – for our total well-being.

Where do you lack today, child of God? Where is your deficit? Joy? Love? Hope? Peace? you don’t have to live this way, you know. It is all yours, in Christ Jesus.

Believe that it is yours and receive the promises by faith. It is the only way that a Word can be made Flesh in us. Faith. And that is a gift, too, so ask away 🙂 One of my favorite prayers is, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

So, He will come – to fill you with faith. To fill you with peace. To fill you with love.

Abba, Father, may your Word be made flesh in me this Christmas – may the entrance of your words give life and light and forever change my heart, soul, mind, body, and spirit.