God showed me a simple but profound truth this week; the root word of reality has to do with a relationship to a thing, Latin, “realis” From the Classical rēs (“thing”) +‎ -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship). At first glance I said, “so what?” Then as God often does as He pauses for my brain to catch up with my spirit, His eyes are wide open to see it form in my understanding, OH MY GOODNESS!!

The closer you are to a anything, in this case a car, the more reality you experience. Knowing Old Red, (My Truck above) as I do having driven it over 400,000 miles I can hear things, smell things, see things that no one else could as being problems.

Think about it, when I get into a rental car and drive off, I have no idea if that sound, smell sight is normal, or for that matter even how to turn on the head lights. My relationship with that car literally makes it less safe for me to drive, because my reality is so limited. Here is where God really sent me deeper on this lesson plan into a beyond cool reality.

Peace, Robby, what is your reality or relationship to peace? “Blessed are the peace makers for they will be called the sons of God. Your feet are to be fitted with the Gospel of Peace. Make every effort to keep the unity of Peace. When you go into a house, Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’  If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, since as members of one body you are called to peace, Peace makers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness, and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard you heart and mind in Christ Jesus”

God took me here in reality in relationship to peace. God’s word for peace is, Shalom; so very much more than I ever understood, not just a lack of conflict or turmoil. I hesitate to try and fathom the depths of it, as it is way above my pay grade and an amazingly holy and precious word, but I’ll give it a go.

I’ll just jump out there and say its, Jesus, yep I believe its Jesus. You look at the definition in Strong’s concordance and you will see that it means completeness, health, prosperity and peace. Go a bit deeper and you will find that it has a relationship/reality with the word in Genesis where God made us in His own Image.

That word Image “tselem” in Hebrew, take a look and you will see the SELEM in it, like Jerusalem or Winston Salem. Shalom and Tselem not only share the sound they share the number, Hebrew Gematria. The reality of Shalom brings health, healing, real kingdom prosperity which is a shadow, an image of Christ.

Now lets go back and look at the verses about peace and see how they all bring Christ..Blessed are the “Christ” makers for they will be called the sons of God. Your feet are to be fitted with the Gospel of “Christ”. Make every effort to keep the unity of “Christ”.  When you go into a house, Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Jesus be to this house.’  If a man of Jesus is there, your Jesus will rest on him. Let Jesus Christ rule in your heart, since as members of one body you are called to Christ, Christ makers who sow in Christ reap a harvest of righteousness, and the Christ of God that transcends all understanding will guard you heart and mind in Christ Jesus”

What better reality could you bring to any situation than to bring Christ which is my peace my Shalom.  When we pray we are getting closer to reality, simply put.

Putting this to practice with your car, and your cars mechanic and body shop, insurance agent, when you bring Shalom you bring reality, Kingdom Reality. Jesus healed, bringing Shalom, Jesus threw out the money changers bringing Shalom but a kind of Shalom that only comes on the other side of war.

So sometimes you have to tear down a transmission to bring Shalom, or you have to clear out the money changers at work to bring real Kingdom Prosperity.

Our Prayer is that The Jesus Labor of Love car repair for single moms widows and families in Crisis brings Shalom, Christ; health and restoration to struggling people. As I get a chance to pray with someone who is really struggling often in tears, think of how reality changes to Shalom, because Jesus does that.

Blessed are the peace makers for they will be called the sons of God….