Sermon

The LORD is my Peace: YHWH Shalom

Elation Church

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  1. Sharing good news of great joy to all people,

  2. Elation Church. Week number two in our series

  3. that we've entitled, Hello, My Name is God. Hello,

  4. My Name is God. Now, we're going to first start

  5. out by talking about what a name is all about.

  6. What's in a name? Look to the person beside you

  7. and say, what's in a name anyway? What's in a

  8. name? What's in a name? First of all, names signify

  9. identity. Everybody say identity. I'll remind

  10. you again that when I started playing junior

  11. high football in the state of South Carolina,

  12. I had to come up with a state birth certificate.

  13. And when that birth certificate came in, my legal

  14. name, I kid you not, in the state of South Carolina,

  15. My legal name is No Name Forrest. That's the

  16. way my birth certificate came in. Because my

  17. parents didn't name me until after we left the

  18. hospital. So my Greenville County birth certificate

  19. actually says Unnamed Forrest. And then the state

  20. took a little leeway to put No Name Forrest on

  21. there. So guess what? I could not play the first

  22. two or three games of my junior high football

  23. career. Okay? Because I had to get my name changed.

  24. And to this day, my South Carolina birth certificate

  25. has an asterisk by my name showing that my name

  26. has been changed from No Name Forrest to Jeffrey

  27. Dean Forrest, which is what they named me after

  28. we left the hospital. So that's my identity.

  29. I have another name that I consider my identity

  30. just as much. As my name, Jeffrey Dean Forrest,

  31. my identity is, I've got this name, and that

  32. name is that I am a Christian. That's not just

  33. something that's added on like some of the other

  34. names that I'm going to show you. That's who

  35. I am. That's who I am. That's my identity. Most

  36. people just call me Dean. It's okay if you call

  37. me anything. I'll answer to about anything. If

  38. you don't believe it, ask Gannon. Names also

  39. signify relationship. Everybody say relationship.

  40. Not only is it identity, it's also relationship.

  41. I have a lot more names than just Jeffrey Dean

  42. Forrest and Christian. My mom always called me

  43. her baby. I was the youngest of four, and mom

  44. always called me baby. Even when I'm 50 -something

  45. stinking years old. If she's introducing me to

  46. someone that she knows I don't know, she would

  47. say, this is my baby, Dean. Even as a grown adult

  48. with kids of my own. My dad didn't call me baby.

  49. My dad called me son. So that's one of my names.

  50. When I got married on August 5th of 1984, I became

  51. a husband. A husband. But my wife doesn't say,

  52. oh husband, would thou taketh me shopping? She

  53. doesn't call me husband. She calls me honey on

  54. good days. I'm not going to tell you what she

  55. calls me when I haven't been acting right. But

  56. on good days, she calls me honey. I became a

  57. father in... January 31st, 1992. Jeffrey doesn't

  58. say, oh, father. I guess if we were in London,

  59. he might say, oh, father. No, he just calls me

  60. dad. We dropped the D -Y as he got older. You

  61. know, he used to call me daddy. Kind of converted

  62. over to dad. So those are my names. I want you

  63. to consider something. When you find out people's

  64. names, You find out more about them by their

  65. names. Now, most of the people in the room already

  66. knew that, but the first -time visitors, they're

  67. like, wow, okay. You know, he's married, he's

  68. got kids. Just have one kid. Names signify identity.

  69. They identify relationship. Everybody say identity.

  70. Everybody say relationship. And they also identify

  71. or signify activity. Everybody say activity.

  72. Now you're going to find out a lot more about

  73. me by knowing my names. Activity, by that I mean

  74. what a person does. I've had a lot of names.

  75. I was a student for a long, long time. I was

  76. actually a cook my junior year of high school.

  77. I was the cook at Quincy's Steakhouse. I started

  78. out dishwasher, but by the time the month was

  79. over, I was the Saturday night cook running two

  80. grills. If you wonder why your steaks might not

  81. have been as cooked that great. I was a salesman.

  82. I worked for Custom Recording and Sound, selling

  83. sound equipment and recording supplies. I worked

  84. for my uncle at a Nissan dealership. I sold car

  85. parts. For a couple of years. I became a salesman

  86. at Mark 5 Records. Mark 5 Sandcastle Recording

  87. Studios. I was selling studio time and things

  88. like that. I've actually been a sound man and

  89. actually got paid for running sound before. Bet

  90. you thought that was just a volunteer job. I

  91. was a custodian at Disney for about a year and

  92. a half when we moved down here. And I could add

  93. a couple more names. I was a trainer and a coordinator.

  94. I was a janitor. My wife and I cleaned offices.

  95. We had a contract cleaning offices three times

  96. a week before Jeffrey was born. I was a screen

  97. printer. I bought screen printing equipment.

  98. I had my press. I had a four -color press and

  99. a dryer and printed T -shirts for a lot of singing

  100. groups that were selling T -shirts. It worked

  101. out pretty good since I was working at the recording

  102. studio. I could talk to a lot of singing groups

  103. who needed some t -shirts, right? I was an A

  104. &R director at Mark 5 Records. We had three record

  105. companies, Mark 5, Heart Look, and Evidence Records.

  106. I still don't know what an A &R director is,

  107. but I was one. One day they handed me a business

  108. card and told me that I was the vice president

  109. of Heart Look Records. Didn't get a raise, but

  110. I got a business card. I was a music director

  111. for state and national organizations, an event

  112. planner. I've rented meeting space not all over

  113. the United States, but in a lot of places to

  114. get events together. I've been a crusade director,

  115. several area -wide crusades. I've been the president

  116. of state and national organizations. Also the

  117. president of a non -profit corporation. Been

  118. a worship leader at events. Some events I didn't

  119. preach. We just led worship. A little tidbit

  120. is I was a worship leader in the Ryman Auditorium

  121. one time for an event that we did there. I was

  122. a conference director. We had a conference for

  123. over 20 years. We've got people here today who

  124. volunteered at that conference. Friends for a

  125. long time, you know. How many years do we preach

  126. Revival at your church, David? And sing and preach.

  127. At least 21 years. Every year we went to their

  128. church. I think we went to your church in western

  129. New York about 14 years in a row, if I remember

  130. right. But they would all come down and volunteer

  131. at our conference in Myrtle Beach. Just because

  132. we're great friends. Let's see. I was conference

  133. director, an evangelist. On the road, quit my

  134. job, sold our house, moved into an RV, went on

  135. the road telling people about Jesus. At least

  136. two -thirds of the United States we've been in

  137. churches. I was a chaplain at Lakewood Camper

  138. Resort in Myrtle Beach for nine years. Some people

  139. call me preacher. How many of you call the pastor

  140. of your church preacher? You just say preacher,

  141. dean, or... Whatever. Some people call me pastor.

  142. That's a lot of names. But in those names, you

  143. find out a lot about me. What I've done. Right?

  144. And that's important. This message isn't about

  145. Dean. I'm just showing you that I am one person

  146. and I just shared with you over 29 names. Because

  147. names signify identity, relationship, and activity.

  148. I'm also an uncle. I'm also a brother. So there's

  149. relationship names, identity names, and activity

  150. names, what a person does. And the reason why

  151. this is important to understand is when we start

  152. talking about the names of God, we're not talking

  153. about a bunch of different gods because there

  154. are people in this world who believe that there

  155. are a lot of different gods. They have a lot

  156. of different names. But there's one. Everybody

  157. say one. There's one. But he's given us a lot

  158. of names so that we'll know who he is. We'll

  159. know what kind of relationship he wants to be

  160. in with you and with me. And what he does. What

  161. he wants to do in your life. See, if it's who

  162. he is, that means that that's who he wants to

  163. be. Just to quickly let you know something, just

  164. because that's who he wants to be and what he

  165. wants to do in your life, it doesn't mean that

  166. that's who he is to you unless you receive him

  167. as that. You want some proof? He wants to be

  168. your Savior. He wants to be your Lord, but you

  169. have to respond to him in faith for that to take

  170. place. Are you with me? You have to respond.

  171. You have to receive him as that. Now, it's easy

  172. for us to understand this when it comes to salvation.

  173. But as we look at the names of God, I want to

  174. remind you, if you want him to be who he wants

  175. to be, you're going to have to receive him by

  176. faith. Hallelujah. Church gave me an amen button

  177. for my birthday. Has some of them saying amen

  178. on it. If I don't get a big enough amen, all

  179. I have to do is hit the button. I like it. Then

  180. I don't have to amen myself. Alright. Psalm 910.

  181. This is our foundational verse for this series.

  182. Those who know your name. Everybody say God.

  183. Those who know your name will put their trust

  184. in you. That word trust can also be confidence.

  185. Everybody say confidence. Everybody say trust.

  186. So when you know who God is according to his

  187. names, then you can put your trust in him. You

  188. can put your confidence in him. If you don't

  189. know who he is, then you can't trust him. You

  190. can't put your confidence in him. For you, Lord,

  191. have not forsaken those who seek you. Look at

  192. me. God will not turn His back on you. He will

  193. not forsake you. When you seek Him, based on

  194. who He is, based on the relationship He wants

  195. to have with you, based on His activity, what

  196. He wants to do in your life, when you seek Him

  197. according to His name, He will not forsake you.

  198. He's never forsaken. Those who seek Him. It's

  199. important. I know we're going at least three

  200. months on this, so I hope this is ingrained in

  201. your heart and in your mind. When you know who

  202. God is, you can put your confidence in Him. You

  203. can trust Him, and He will not forsake you. Hello.

  204. My name is God. Today, we're looking at one of

  205. those compound names. I told you that last week.

  206. Last week was a big introductory. We looked at

  207. God's name. In the beginning, God, that Hebrew

  208. word is Elohim. Great and mighty supreme God.

  209. And then, when Moses asked, who should I tell

  210. him sent me? He gave him his proper name. Like,

  211. my name is Jeffrey Dean Forrest. He said, You

  212. tell them, I am that I am sent you. You tell

  213. them, my name is Yahweh and that is my eternal

  214. name. I want everybody to know who I am because

  215. Elohim can be, anyone can use that word to talk

  216. about any God that they think is the supreme

  217. God for them. But Yahweh is his personal name.

  218. Now in Judges 6, verse 24, I can't read the whole

    Judges 6:24

  219. story of Gideon. We've done like three messages

  220. on Gideon all back to back. But this is what

  221. happens. We find out who God is and what He wants

  222. to do for us in the book of Judges. Gideon built

  223. an altar to the Lord there where he had met with

  224. the angel of the Lord, which is... A theophany.

  225. God actually met with him. It wasn't an angel

  226. angel. Most scholars believe it's a Christophany.

  227. Before Jesus came to this earth, he visited some

  228. people and talked to them. And he met with Gideon.

  229. The reason why we know that is because angels

  230. do not receive worship. And then when this angel

  231. of the Lord showed up, he received worship and

  232. offerings. Angels do not receive worship. That's

  233. how we know the difference. Gideon built an altar

  234. to the Lord there and named it Yahweh Shalom.

  235. Yahweh Shalom. Everybody say Yahweh Shalom. Which

  236. means the Lord is peace. Everybody say the Lord

  237. is peace. Why would Gideon say that? Because

  238. Gideon was a chicken. He was overcome with fear.

  239. He didn't see himself the way that God saw him.

  240. God saw him as a mighty man of war. And Gideon

  241. replied, even my big sister can beat me up. Basically,

  242. he said, my whole family is the weakest out of

  243. all of God's people, and I'm the weakest in my

  244. family. Even my big sister, even my little sister

  245. can beat me up. He didn't see himself as God

  246. saw him, but as God talked to him. I mean, how

  247. could you lead an army of 300 men to go against

  248. hundreds of thousands? Unless you had a confidence.

  249. Come on, somebody. You've got to have a confidence.

  250. You've got to have total trust and confidence

  251. in your God to take 300 people out. I forget

  252. how many hundreds of thousands of people it was.

  253. You've got to have some confidence. And he said,

  254. God, you're my peace. And let me tell you something.

  255. Even though Gideon named that altar that, God

  256. made sure it was written in the Word of God to

  257. let us know who He is. He is the Lord, our peace.

  258. And guess what? The first message of this year,

  259. as I was studying, I have to be honest with you,

  260. I've been preaching a long time, but I never

  261. looked up the word shalom to find the definition.

  262. Of the Hebrew word shalom. I should be ashamed

  263. of myself. But I never looked it up. Guess what

  264. shalom means? Everybody say peace. Because that's

  265. what everybody's always told me that it meant.

  266. So I didn't think about looking it up. But here's

  267. what it means. Well, let's go to Yahweh. Yahweh.

  268. He's Yahweh Shalom. So Yahweh, He is the I Am

  269. that I Am. He is the self -existent One. He is

  270. the eternal One. He never needs or depends on

  271. anybody or anything. He didn't need or depend

  272. on anybody to begin because He has no beginning.

  273. He's eternal. And He doesn't depend on anybody

  274. or anything to maintain His existence. He doesn't...

  275. Depend on anything or anybody to keep his promises.

  276. Because he's God. Yahweh Shalom. Yahweh is who

  277. he is. Shalom is what he does. So think about

  278. those names. Think about the names that I shared

  279. with you. The things that I've done. And Yahweh,

  280. I mean, shalom is his activity. Yahweh is his

  281. identity. Shalom is his activity. Somebody smile

  282. or something. I'm about to hit the amen button

  283. again. Shalom is who he is, but it's what he

  284. does. Here's what the word means. A lot of preachers

  285. would get upset for just me reading the definition

  286. of shalom today. Shalom means safe. Do you know

  287. God is concerned with your safety? It's well.

  288. Do you know that God is concerned with your well

  289. -being? It's happy. Oh, I hear a lot of preachers

  290. say God don't care if you're happy or not. God's

  291. not concerned with you whether you're happy or

  292. not. He's just concerned with you being holy.

  293. Look at the person beside you and say, he's concerned

  294. about both. Friendly. Welfare. Has anybody ever

  295. heard of the Strong's Concordance? This is the

  296. definition straight out of the Strong's Concordance,

  297. of the word shalom. Safe, well, happy, friendly,

  298. welfare, health, prosperity. Oh, a lot of people

  299. just hurt themselves when I said that. And peace.

  300. That's what the word means. That's what God wants

  301. to do for you. That's who He is. Can we receive

  302. this? Or are we too religious to receive it?

  303. I'm just telling you, that's what the word means.

  304. Look it up yourself. You do know that the Old

  305. Testament was written in Hebrew, not in English

  306. first, right? Everybody with me on that? And

  307. that's what the word means. So that's... what

  308. God wants to do. This is what He wants to do

  309. in your life. A lot of these things, this welfare

  310. and all that, you know, that's even part of the

  311. definition of agape. God is love. He's concerned

  312. about your welfare, your well -being. Who would

  313. have thunk it if you just look up the words?

  314. You can kick over some sacred cows when you just

  315. look up the words. Yahweh Shalom. I am the Lord

  316. who gives you peace and empowers you to succeed.

  317. That's who He is. I think the problem is most

  318. of the time when people use that word prosperity,

  319. they just think about stuff. They think about...

  320. Money, possessions, wealth, physical wealth.

  321. And that's all they think about when they hear

  322. that word prosperity. It's more than that. Look

  323. to the person beside you and say, it's more than

  324. that. It's more than that. Because there are

  325. people in this world who have multiplied millions,

  326. even billions of dollars that don't have peace.

  327. They commit suicide. Right? So it's more than

  328. stuff. It's greater than stuff. But God doesn't

  329. want you to be broke, busted, and disgusted the

  330. rest of your life either. If you disagree, just

  331. read a little bit in your Bible about Solomon

  332. and Abraham. All right. God is Yahweh. Shalom.

  333. Hello. My name is Yahweh Shalom. Everybody say

  334. this. His name is Yahweh Shalom. Now we're going

  335. to look at the Greek, the New Testament word

  336. peace. Is that okay? Are we still okay? It's

  337. a rene. That's the Koine Greek word for peace.

  338. And guess what it means? Look it up. Peace. Prosperity.

  339. One. To sit at one. When you read the word peace

  340. in the New Testament, that's what it means too.

  341. Pretty much means the same thing. Look it up.

  342. Don't take my word for it. Look it up yourself.

  343. And you say, well, Dean, if God's name is Yahweh

  344. Shalom, and that's Hebrew words, why would you

  345. talk about Greek New Testament words? I mean,

  346. if that... Well, I'm glad you asked. Here we

  347. go. John 14, 6. Jesus said, I am the way, the

  348. truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father

  349. except through me. If you had really known me,

  350. he's talking to his disciples, if you had really

  351. known me, you would know who my father is. From

  352. now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip

  353. said, wait a minute, Jesus. He's basically saying,

  354. I'm not tracking with you right there. Philip

  355. said, Lord, Show us the Father and we will be

  356. satisfied. You said we've seen... Show him to

  357. us and then we'll understand what you're talking

  358. about. And Jesus replied. Listen to what Jesus

  359. said. Have I been with you all this time, Philip?

  360. And yet you still don't know who I am? Listen

  361. to what Jesus says. Anyone who has seen me has

  362. seen the Father. That's why I brought up that.

  363. Greek word peace. Because Jesus talked about

  364. peace a lot too. Anyone who has seen me has seen

  365. the Father. So why are you asking me to show

  366. him to you? Don't you believe that I am in the

  367. Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak

  368. are not my own, but my Father who lives in me

  369. does his work through me. Here's what you've

  370. got to know. Jesus and the Father are one. When

  371. you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. When

  372. you know Jesus, you know the Father. When you

  373. hear Jesus, you hear the Father. Jesus does what

  374. the Father does. And you might be saying, oh,

  375. this is just so simple. Why don't he give me

  376. some good meat to chew on today? Hallelujah.

  377. I don't know if all of us have actually took

  378. hold of this in its fullest way that we can yet.

  379. Even if you're farther along than I am, you still

  380. haven't arrived. Let's go to a familiar store

  381. that has to do with peace. Mark 4, starting with

  382. verse 35. As evening came, Jesus said to his

  383. disciples, Let's cross to the other side of the

  384. lake. So they took Jesus in the boat and started

  385. out, leaving the crowds behind, although other

  386. boats followed. But soon a fierce storm came

  387. up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and

  388. it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping

  389. at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

  390. the disciples woke him up shouting, Teacher,

  391. don't you care that we're going to drown? No

  392. peace here. Is there? Teacher, don't you care

  393. that we're going to drown? We're about to die.

  394. Jesus, how can you sleep when we're about to

  395. die? We're going under. When Jesus woke up, He

  396. rebuked the wind. He spoke to the wind and said

  397. to the water, silence. Some translations have

  398. the word peace there. Be still. Suddenly, the

  399. wind stopped and there was a great calm. Then

  400. he asked them, why are you afraid? Do you still

  401. have no faith? Somebody say amen or oh me or

  402. something right there. Jesus said, why are you

  403. so afraid? Do you still have no faith? I mean,

  404. he doesn't even say little faith. He says no

  405. faith. They've been walking with Jesus for a

  406. while, right? Shouldn't they have taken hold

  407. of just a little bit about what Jesus was saying?

  408. Shouldn't they have applied a little bit about

  409. what Jesus has said? Shouldn't they? Why did

  410. Jesus ask? Do you still have no faith? Why did

  411. he ask that? Here's why. Everybody roll in your

  412. toes just a little bit. Faith is seen in words

  413. and reactions. Faith is seen. By what you say

  414. and how you respond. That's why Jesus said, do

  415. you still have no faith? I mean, listen to what

  416. you're saying. Listen to how you're acting. That's

  417. evidence that you have no faith. Y 'all still

  418. love me, right? See, their hearts and their minds

  419. were overwhelmed with fear. And by their response,

  420. they're questioning Jesus' concern and His care

  421. for them. Hey, Jesus, don't you care that we're

  422. about to die? Overwhelmed. They spoke death.

  423. Does anybody remember the series that we just

  424. did on the words that we say? Power of life and

  425. death in your tongue, in your words. And you

  426. know what? We're going to reap what we say, is

  427. what the Bible says. So if you speak death, guess

  428. what you're going to reap? If you speak life,

  429. guess what you're going to reap? I mean, the

  430. Bible's clear. You can go back and listen to

  431. those other messages on podcasts or YouTube.

  432. Listen, they question Jesus' concern. Don't you

  433. care? Here's the deal. We live in a fallen, broken,

  434. messed up world. And we're going to stare trouble

  435. in the eye. In our lives. Jesus told us that.

  436. It was very encouraging when he said. You know.

  437. In this world. You're going to face trouble and

  438. pressure. Thank you Jesus. That's what I really

  439. wanted to hear. But he didn't stop there. He

  440. said in this world. You're going to face tribulation.

  441. You're going to face pressure. You're going to

  442. face trouble. But be of good cheer. Everybody

  443. say, cheer up, buttercup. Be of good cheer. Because

  444. I have overcome the world. And we're in Him.

  445. Hallelujah. How do we respond? The Bible encourages

  446. us in 2 Corinthians 5 -7. The Holy Spirit encourages

  447. us to live by... Faith and not by sight. Live

  448. by believing and not by seeing. Hello? Were the

  449. disciples in the boat, were they living by what

  450. they saw? Or were they living by faith at that

  451. moment? When they're screaming at Jesus, Jesus,

  452. wake up. Don't you care? We're about to die here.

  453. Jesus had given them a word that they were going

  454. to get in the boat and go to the other side.

  455. So they had word to stand on. Faith comes by

  456. hearing and hearing by the word. They had it

  457. to stand on. They're going to the other side.

  458. I mean, they believe that Jesus, I mean, they

  459. saw these miracles. Do they think that Jesus

  460. is going to die in the boat with them? Listen.

  461. Obviously, that's what they thought. Storms are

  462. going to come. Storms are going to come. We don't

  463. like storms. How many of you like storms? Nobody

  464. likes storms, but storms will come. Here's the

  465. question. Are you going to respond in fear or

  466. in faith when storms come? God wants you to respond

  467. in faith. But I want you to be real, not with

  468. your Sunday school halo over your head. Your

  469. church halo over your head. I'm in church. Bless

  470. God, Pastor Dean. I always, I always respond

  471. in faith. Every time, I just want to tell you,

  472. every time a storm comes my way, Pastor Dean,

  473. I always respond in faith. Well, faith speaks

  474. peace to the storm. I'm going to take it another

  475. level. Faith speaks peace to your heart in the

  476. middle of the storm. Faith says, I see a storm.

  477. But you know what? This storm is not going to

  478. take me out. This storm is not going to take

  479. my peace. This storm is not going to take my

  480. joy. You know why? Because I've got a promise.

  481. My God is Yahweh Shalom. He cares about me. Now

  482. what I see with my eyes right now, you know,

  483. I'm not seeing His goodness yet, but I have trust

  484. and I have confidence in who He is and I know

  485. that I will see the goodness of God. If they

  486. would have said that, Jesus would have said,

  487. wow. He would have woke up and took his head

  488. off that pillow and just went, wow. You're the

  489. first faith I've seen from the people of Israel.

  490. Because he said it to another guy. He said, wow,

  491. I have never seen faith like this, not even among

  492. the people of Israel. Because he just said, I'm

  493. a man under authority. I tell my guys to go somewhere

  494. and they go. Jesus, just speak the word and I

  495. know my servant will be healed. Just speak the

  496. word. You don't have to come to my house. You

  497. don't even have to see him. All you've got to

  498. do is speak the word, because I understand the

  499. authority of your word, and I know it will happen.

  500. And Jesus went, whap! And if those disciples

  501. in the boat said, Storm, you're not going to

  502. frighten me. I'm not going to be overcome with

  503. fear. No, not me, because my God is Yahweh Shalom.

  504. Hey, they already knew that name. They just didn't

  505. have trust or confidence in that name. Faith

  506. speaks peace to the storm. Faith speaks life.

  507. Fear questions God. Fear speaks death. Are we

  508. going to respond in faith? Are we going to respond

  509. in fear? Let me tell you something. Peace is

  510. a good measure. And I will go ahead and throw

  511. this in. Joy is a good measure that you are responding

  512. in faith. I'm just letting it sit there a minute.

  513. Fear is responding with words and actions of

  514. panic, worry, That's why Jesus said to worry

  515. is a sin. Because when you do that, you don't

  516. have trust or confidence in God. This is hard

  517. preaching. But this is who God is. And the good

  518. news is, this is who He wants to be for you.

  519. Today. Tomorrow. The rest of your life. For all

  520. of eternity. This is who He is. This is what

  521. He wants to do. Will you receive that He is,

  522. I am peace? Will you receive that by faith and

  523. take hold of it and claim it and stand on it

  524. in faith? I can't do that for you. You have to

  525. do it for yourself. Here's what Jesus said, John

  526. 14, 27. I'm leaving you with a gift. Remember,

  527. if we've seen the Father, we've seen Jesus. And

  528. if we've seen Jesus, we've seen the Father. And

  529. Jesus said, I'm leaving you with a gift. Peace

  530. of mind and heart. This is the New Testament.

  531. Peace, prosperity, to set it one or one. Has

  532. anybody ever got in a loop? Has anybody ever

  533. got locked up in a panic loop or a worry loop

  534. or a fear loop? Do you know what I'm talking

  535. about? Just over and over. You're just like,

  536. oh my, what am I going to do? What am I going

  537. to do now? Is this going to work out? I don't

  538. know if it's going to work out or not. That's

  539. the opposite of one. When your mind is just scattered

  540. and running in a hundred different directions

  541. in panic and fear and worry, that's the opposite

  542. of one. Jesus said, He's leaving you the peace

  543. of God, peace for your mind, peace for your heart,

  544. and listen to what He says, and the peace I give

  545. is a gift the world cannot give. And then what

  546. does he say? So try real hard not to be... Does

  547. it say try real hard? Try real hard. You know,

  548. I just hope that every once in a while, you know,

  549. you're not troubled or afraid. Is that what he

  550. says? Just try real hard. You know, try. Just

  551. try. I know you can't really do it, but just

  552. try real hard. That's not what he says. He says

  553. don't. Is that what he says? I mean, I'm just

  554. reading a Bible verse here. I'm throwing in a

  555. little commentary, but I'm just reading a Bible

  556. verse. He's saying, look, if you've got a hold

  557. by faith of Yahweh's shalom and the peace that

  558. I give you, See, the world, see, we just grew

  559. up thinking that the only peace we can have is

  560. the peace that the world offers, which depends

  561. on no problems, no pressure, no struggles, no

  562. storms. When everything's smooth sailing, I have

  563. so much peace right now. I have so much peace.

  564. A pipsquack bird can have peace if that's going

  565. on. I call those sand grains pipsquacks. Never

  566. mind. Was that on Tom and Jerry, the pipsquack

  567. bird? Look it up. Google it. Look at it on YouTube.

  568. Anyway, not right now. After church. You know,

  569. Jesus said we're going to face pressure and trouble.

  570. And he's saying, look, I'm giving you the peace

  571. of God that surpasses understanding to guard

  572. your heart and guard your mind so there's never

  573. ever any reason for you to be troubled or afraid

  574. if you will take hold of my peace. That's what

  575. he says. And how many of us? Oh God, give me

  576. peace. Please, please, please. Please give me

  577. peace. God, I need peace. I just don't have peace

  578. and I need peace. God, please. Here's what God

  579. wants to tell you today. That's who I am. And

  580. that's what I've given you. I can't give you

  581. any more than I've already given you. I've given

  582. you more than you will ever need. I've made it

  583. available to you. The problem is not that I'm

  584. holding peace back from you. The problem is you're

  585. not receiving the peace that I am for you. Hallelujah.

  586. So let's take hold. Who's wanting to take hold?

  587. Nobody. Who's willing to take hold? Who believes

  588. you can take hold? I'm going to keep going until

  589. everybody raises their hand. I want you to believe

  590. that you can take hold of the peace of God. Who

  591. He is. This is what He wants to do for you. He

  592. is Yahweh Shalom. Never again. Everybody say

  593. this. Never again will I be troubled or afraid.

  594. Because I have the peace of God. Jesus gave it

  595. to me. I'm holding on to it. It's who God is.

  596. It's who He wants to be for me. And I take hold

  597. of it. And it's easy for us to cheer at church.

  598. But you might be alone tomorrow when a problem

  599. comes your way. You've got to hold on yourself.

  600. You've got to hold on. Because if you know God's

  601. name, you should put your trust and confidence

  602. in Him. If you know who He is. And you should

  603. be confident that He's not going to forsake you.

  604. He's not going to turn His back on you when you

  605. seek Him. Look to the person beside you and say,

  606. you can have it. If you put your total trust

  607. and complete confidence in Yahweh Shalom, He

  608. will be your peace. He will be your peace. Because

  609. that's who He is. And that's what He wants to

  610. do for you. Don't leave out of here and forget

  611. this. Don't leave out of here and forget it.

  612. When that storm comes your way, don't forget

  613. it. When that pressure comes your way, don't

  614. forget it. Hold on. Hold on. Let's pray together.

  615. God, thank you for your truth. Thank you for

  616. your word. Thank you for who you are. You are

  617. my peace. I can stand in your peace. Be confident

  618. in your peace. Because you care about me. You

  619. care about my well -being. You care about what

  620. I'm going through. So I rest in you. I put my

  621. confidence in you. Because now I know who you

  622. are. In Jesus' name, amen.