The Anointing Series: Peace, Shalom Part 1 - David Mitts

I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.' (Isaiah 45:7 NKJV)
Last week, we looked the substance of the anointing, how we know in our experience that we are in the flow of the anointing.  The Scriptures tell us:
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. (Romans 14:17-18 NKJV)
Listen to "Peace, Shalom Part 1"

These are the outcomes produced by the anointing, being acceptable to God and approved of by men.
The qualities of the anointing illuminated here are:
Righteousness
Peace
Joy
Last week we looked at Joy.  We looked at activating joy in the secret place.  Today we are going to look at peace. Let’s look at the next verse in Romans 14, verse 19.
Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. (Romans 14:19 NKJV).
We are instructed to pursue “peace”.  Peace is the heart of the good news, the gospel.
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (Ephesians 6:15 NKJV)
Let’s return to the first commissioning of the disciples in the Gospel and see if we can get a power key to the anointing of peace.
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! (Matthew 10:5-15 NKJV)
Let’s begin with a strange command among many. Inquiring who is “worthy in the town”.  The word worthy in Hebrew is Chayil, which means strong as in a warrior or an army.  This is impact of character.  The gifts and callings of God are without repentance, but the anointing of God is affected by character.
Saul, who was king of Israel lost the anointing when he disobeyed the Lord and the anointing passed onto David. 1Sam 10.  Also Samson lost his anointing for a season because of his character flaws.
So, Yeshua is telling His disciples to go into towns and look for those who are of proven character., the worthy.  I want to take a minute and talk about our names.  When I am speaking of a name, I am not talking necessarily about our given name but by the name that represents who we are.
Proverbs 22:1 tells us: “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” (Proverbs 22:1 NIV)
At first glance this might seem to be a comparison, your name over riches.  BUT actually, this is a condition of where the greater contains the lesser.  Your name is more valuable than riches because being precedes doing which precedes having!  Names express being, or character.  Character produces diligence.  Diligence produces wealth.
So Yeshua was sending His disciples into city and they were for people of proven character.  In the middle eastern culture, this was people who were of covenant-nature.  Their word was their bond.
So when Yeshua said the household was worthy, it meant they were a covenant household, who understood and lived the truth of hospitality as given by the Lord.
Look with me at Job 31:32, the oldest book of the bible, by some accounts:
but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler-- (Job 31:32 NIV)
This was the sign of worthiness, how you treated the stranger.
We see Yeshua using this measure in what is called the parable of the “good Samaritan”.  Luke 10:25-37.  
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"(How can I be determined as worthy?)  "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.' "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:25-37 NIV)
You see the Gospel of eternal life is more about covenant and community than most realize.  We have emphasized our personal salvation to such an extent that a gospel of individual salvation has become the central focus.  We come to the altar to be saved from Hell.  Yet because of the devaluation of Hebraic roots and culture, we lose the peoplehood covenant of God.  God chose Abraham to be a blessing to the families of the earth.
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."(Genesis 12:2-3 NASB)
In the modern corporate church, this family blessing has shifted into the background.  The Gospel and the anointing on that Gospel were always targeted to families and homes.  The condition that Yeshua put on the Kingdom being manifested was hospitality, what He called being worthy.
I remember my own search for Him, not knowing it was Him that I was searching for was to be a man of worth.  I searched high and low to try to find that place of personal value.  Lisa and I climbed mountains, walked on fire, meditated and took every course or seminar we could find to become what I now know was worthy.  It wasn’t until I heard a talk on the contrast between being a man of worth versus a man of success that I realized that was my search.  When I finally heard that my worth was determined not by what I did, or what I knew, but what price was paid for me that I realized that I could accomplish my worth quest by receiving the price paid for me, the blood of Yeshua.  
Once I opened my heart to Him, then He entered and brought the peace to my heart of knowing that my life has purpose and value!  My value comes through my covenant with Him!
You see the attack of this time is on covenant.  Once covenant is replaced by divorce and broken families then love will shift from commitment and sacrifice, laying down our lives for one another to a new modern gospel of hyper grace.
In Hebrew the word for grace is Chen.  It is the word picture of the Chet which means boundary or fence and the nun which is the seed.  Grace, chen, is the power of boundaries to nurture the seed of God’s Word and also physical seed.  This definition of grace has been replaced with forgiveness.  Forgiveness is certainly part of what Grace brings because unforgiveness puts us in the place of judging good and evil.  BUT the cross is the cry of grace!  It is the clear boundary of death and resurrection life.  There is no fuzziness in the cross!  
When we make grace about loosey goosy gooey permissiveness, a kind of tolerance for sin and broken covenant, we make a mockery of the cross and the clarity and power of the new birth and new life.
You see in biblical Hebraic culture, if I took you into my home then I would die to protect you. So when the disciples went into a house and thereby deemed it worthy, it was worthy because of covenant.  That home owner would die for them, and in that they would die for Yeshua who then died for them.
Peace or shalom would come into that house.  Shalom means “nothing between us”.  The word shares the root with the cousin word “shalem” which means to satisfy a debt with a payment.  Debt is anti-shalom.  It is inherently a system of slaves and masters.
The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave. (Proverbs 22:7 NASB)
Slavery is the counterfeit for covenant. In slavery I take what I want because I am stronger than you.  In covenant I surrender who I am and what I have to you.  Slavery is based on fear. Covenant is based on love.
The anointing comes to bring the acceptable year of the Lord, the Jubilee, the canceling of debt.  This brings Shalom or Peace.  Salvation is Jubilee.  Salvation is Shalom, Peace.  Salvation is Shalem, the cancellation of debt and the liberation of slaves to sin into the freedom of the Spirit.
Therefore, it is called the Gospel of Peace.  Peace implies worthiness, which implies hospitality, covenant. Can you see it??
Activation:  Most peace retreat to find peace.  They close things out.  But Yeshua brought a new kind of peace, reconciliation.  SO today, we are going to activate reconciliation:
Letting Go, #1.  To complete either the Apology or the Forgiveness processes (or both) requires a softening of the hardened heart, which in turns requires, at some point, a letting go of whatever blocks the free flow of love and His healing power.  Try this:
Sit quietly, spine erect, feet flat on the floor, quieting the mind by paying attention to your breathing.  When you have reached a state of calm, think of a relationship in your life that calls for reconciliation. Focus your attention on your heart, and notice how it is constricted regarding this relationship. Ask the Lord to show you feelings or thoughts are you holding on to?   
Pick one of these that is impeding the flow of love in your heart, that you are ready and willing to change, and breathe into it. God uses the breath to soften what is hardened, gently easing the tightness. As you prepare to release this obstacle to the love of God, first ask yourself how it has served you. You had this reaction for a reason that made sense at one time, even if it no longer serves you well. Be grateful for the lessons it has brought you, is bringing you even in this moment, and, when you are ready, release it on the out-breath into the hands of Yeshua, to be recycled like compost into something more nourishing. Sit for a moment with this release. How do you feel?  What, if anything, takes the place or fills the space left by that which you have put aside?  Imagine the other party to this relationship in front of you. What would you want to say to them in this moment about the release that just happened?   

Now finish by asking the Lord to show some of His qualities that He has given to this person. Pray a prayer of Blessing.

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