Keys to Success - The Power of Shalom

Foundational keys to success in your workplace and your life:

1. Realize who is your real boss.
2. Realize what your foundational purpose is in life.
3. Discover the power of the peace God gives you.

Key Scriptures:

1. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Col. 3:23
2. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” Gen. 1:26
3. Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Gen. 1:31
4. If the home is deserving, let your peace (shalom) rest on it; if it is not, let your peace (shalom) return to you. Matt. 10:13

Shalom - Excerpt from "Back to the Garden" by Chip Smith:
The interconnection of all creation in the Garden produced an unadulterated state of peace and harmony.  The Hebrew term for this state of complete harmony is Shalom.  Most equate this with the idea of peace, but it carries so much more.  Listen to the definition by philosopher Cornelius Plantinga:

"The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom.  We call it peace, but it means far more than mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies.  In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.  Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be." (Not the Way Its Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, Cornelius Plantinga)

Shalom is "the way things ought to be."  Have you ever felt that you were existing in a world that is not the way it is supposed to be?  There is something deep inside of each of us that confirms this.  On occasion, our lives brush this shalom.  When it does, our lives are never the same.

Conclusion:
The key to success in life is to discover the peace (shalom) of God through an experiential understanding that Jesus commands your destiny and Jesus created you with the ability to maintain and administrate peace (shalom) to His creation. In order for this to happen, you must first have shalom (God’s Kingdom) restored in your life. This happens when you acknowledge that Jesus is Lord (your boss) and receive Him into your life:

• If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
• For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
• This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor. 5:17
• But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt. 6:33

This is how your regain the foundational purpose of your existence (Gen. 1:26). The Image of God is now restored in you because the full Image of God, Jesus Christ, now lives in you. You are now recommission to fulfill your destiny, to reign with Christ over all of His creation. Not as a selfish dictator trying to be your own god. This is what destroyed the shalom of the Garden in the first place (Gen. 3:4-7). But, bearing God’s benevolent image to His creation through the peace of Christ. Even at Jesus’ birth, the host of heaven declared this, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased (Luke 2:14).” In John 3:16, John declares, “For God so loved the world.” The word for “world” here encompasses all of God’s creation, not just man. God’s peace was vandalized when Adam and Eve traded the perfect Image of God for their own selfish image desiring to rule their lives and over creation without God. Now all creation is waiting for the children of God to come and restore shalom to their world:

• I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. Romans 8:18-21
• Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have given you all authority in heaven and on earth.” Matt. 28:18
• He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Mark 16:15
• Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.... John 14:12

Footnote: The scriptures shared in this document only scratch the surface of this subject. In fact, this foundational understanding of who we are and why we were created is woven throughout scripture. My hope is you will not just stop here with this article but allow it to be the beginning of a lifelong discovery of God’s word, His will, His love, and His Shalom.