SHALOM WEEK 2017 DEVOTIONALS

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1 SHALOM WEEK 2017 DEVOTIONALS

2 Welcome to Shalom Week For the week of November 6, 2017 the Office of Spiritual Formation has teamed up with FPU s Shalom Club and The Center for Online Learning to bring Shalom Week to the Fresno Pacific family. Shalom Week will bring together the entire community of FPU by hosting daily activities in The Forest on our main campus, which will be put on by various clubs, including the Veterans Club, Social Work Club, Art Club, Shalom Club, and Dreamers Club. We are excited to see what and how each of these clubs will contribute to Shalom Week. In an effort to bring Shalom Week to our online and regional campus students, staff, and faculty, who may not be able to participate in the activities on the main campus, this one-week daily devotional was developed. We pray that you are blessed and inspired by these words from your fellow students, staff and faculty on the meaning and application of Shalom, in all aspects of our lives. Monday: Shalom With All Creation - Sara Gurulé Tuesday: Shalom In Your Studies - Paulette Matsubara Wednesday: Shalom In The Home - Dr. Melanie Howard Thursday: Shalom In The Office - Tyjuan Gibson Friday: Shalom With God - Pastor Rod Cochran Saturday: I Shall Not Want-Nada Me Falta - Mark Isaac DEVELOPED BY: Daniel Dominguez Jason McGensy Katie Isaac Director of Multicultural Ministries Online Learning Coordinator President, Shalom Club

Shalom With All Creation "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace

3 Shalom With All Creation "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." Colossians 1:19-20 Often times, we forget how vastly everything around us is connected. From the creatures that we see around campus to the relations between nations and governments, there is both unity and diversity. When God created the heavens and the earth, he established this diversity and called it good (Genesis 1). After the Fall, humanity experienced brokenness in relationship on four major levels: with God, with ourselves, with others, and with creation. All creation was touched by sin by means of these broken relationships. This is where Jesus comes in! From the beginning of time, he was present and has been seeking after the wholeness of his creation. As he came to earth, Jesus proclaimed the truth in terms of shalom. The concept of shalom extends beyond peace to mean rightness of relationships, justice, and wholeness. In this verse, we see how God s intent after the Fall is to reconcile all things to him through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through this atonement, we can become active participants in God s vision of shalom as the body of Christ for all people, between people, and with God s creation. In this vision, there is global unity and diversity among the members of the body of Christ as we seek God s will in presently establishing the Kingdom of God. By seeking shalom between individuals, communities, and creation through Christ, we are actively participating in God s meta narrative of reconciling all things to him. Sara Gurulé Student, B.A. Biblical Studies

Shalom In Your Studies Paul explained true Shalom comes from God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus we experience inner completeness and tranquility.

4 Shalom In Your Studies Paul explained true Shalom comes from God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus we experience inner completeness and tranquility. You may wonder how Shalom or peace can ever be tied to your studies. As a graduate of Fresno Pacific University, I have experienced first-hand the academic rigors we Sunbirds have endured. As I studied for my Master of Arts degree through the School of Business, I relied heavily on my faith in Jesus Christ. As I sat in front of my blank laptop screen with a fast approaching deadline to turn in a ten-page paper, trust me, I started to pray. 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us to cast our anxiety on him because he cares for us. The Lord gives strength to his people, the Lord blesses his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11) We need to give thanks to Jesus for blessing us with the peace we need for clarity and discernment. We need to trust in the Lord for the peace we need to endure. Remember, Philippians 4:6-7, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Turn to scripture to find peace during chaotic times when your studies are overwhelming. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Paulette Matsubara Director of Operations, Continuing Education

5 Shalom In The Home Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate shalom. I am for shalom; but when I speak, they are for war. Psalm 120:6-7 Every spring at my undergraduate college, hundreds of students would make cardboard and duct tape costumes and swords to participate in the annual Duct Tape War. As a young hippie-wannabe, I decided to protest the war. So, donning a homemade sandwich board sign, I took to the battlefield with my message of peace. Joined by a cute guy who was also for shalom, I fell in love and married him. The whole story, of course, isn t quite so simple, but what is true is that I knew that it was important for me to find a partner who shared my high regard for shalom. That shared love for shalom has contributed to our nearly 10 years of happy marriage. I ve been very lucky. The writer of Psalm 120, though, was not quite so lucky. In Psalm 120:6-7, the Psalmist speaks of the importance of sharing a dwelling with lovers of shalom and the difficulties of doing life with those who thrive on dissension. If you ve ever had a challenging roommate, contentious sibling, or argumentative relative, you can probably relate to the Psalmist s laments. Yet, if we really want to understand what the Psalmist means here, it s important to know something about the Hebrew word shalom. Unlike our paltry English term peace, the Hebrew shalom connotes a deep sense of well-being that pervades all aspects of life: emotional, physical, spiritual, interpersonal, economic, and political.* Thus, for the Psalmist to lament living among those who do not value shalom suggests that the poet s roommates and relatives are wreaking havoc both in and outside of the home. None of us can control the attitudes and behaviors of the people with whom we live, but we can commit to being agents of shalom in a broken world. The Psalmist confesses to dwelling with those who hate shalom. Yet, despite being surrounded by hatred and violence, the Psalmist confidently asserts, I am for shalom. Likewise, whatever brokenness, shame, sadness, sickness, violence, or despair might pervade our own homes, my prayer for the Fresno Pacific University community is that we would be agents of shalom in our own homes. May we, like the author of the Psalms, proudly live lives that proclaim, I am for shalom. Melanie Howard, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies *To learn more about the biblical nuances of shalom, I would recommend Perry Yoder s book Shalom: The Bible s Word for Salvation, Justice, and Peace.

6 Shalom In The Office "Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant." Psalm 135:3 Between check ins, check outs, following up on work orders, event planning, caring for students, leading staff, and managing conduct, the office of Residence Life can be a busy place. There are days that I go into the office at 9AM and in the blink of an eye it is 5PM; time for me to head home and I have little knowledge of where my day has gone. With a hectic schedule that is always subject to turbulence it becomes difficult at times to find God in the warp-speed of the day. In my longing for God s peace, I often turn to worship music. Walking between offices, while writing reports, or taking a moment before the next bullet point on my to-do list, I open my Spotify app and play my Worship playlist. Praising God reminds me of how much I need Him, how great He is, and how small I really am. Worshipping the Lord allows me to enter the sweetness of His shalom no matter where I am or how stressful the day has become. I encourage you to find some music that helps you commune with God and reflect on His goodness. May we continue to be a people that worship Him in spirit and in truth, making a joyful noise and singing to His name for it truly is pleasant. :) Tyjuan Gibson Residence Director

7 Shalom With God Our current climate is creating great difficulty in finding a stable handle on the events unfolding all around us. Political unrest, rumors of war looming and a simmering social strife on the verge of boiling over causes peace to be viewed as a far-gone illusion. The word, Shalom a Hebrew word meaning peace. One of the truly stabilizing effects of having peace with God is the satisfying presence of the peace of God. The God of the Bible has always pursued humanity in the role of reconciler. It is His initiated desire to close the breach between Himself and fallen man. The believer has always felt the security of having peace with God in the salvation and discipleship relationship. It brings us to a sense of safety and protection at its inception, but the daily drudgery of life will siphon that effect quickly. The relationship remains permanently intact, yet the difficulties bring so many negative elements: depression, anxiety and worry. The missing element in most cases is the Peace of God. Paul reminds the believers that Peace is not accidental, Peace is available! This Peace is confounding in its strength and stability. This Peace protects both emotion and intellect. The Shalom of God guards the mind from the hysteria of our society and find the rest and relief in the love and life of Christ! God grant us the peace that rescues and relieves the stress of society and events. Rod Cochran Pastor, Merced Regional Campus

8 I Shall Not Want - Nada Me Falta What does it take to achieve such a state to not want? Want is a shalom-buster as James describes, and if eliminated, might permit shalom to occur (James 4:1-3). What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. I shall not want appears to be a key to shalom, to right relationships and peace. But how to achieve it? If I were freed from want itself because I possessed all I could ever want, I might be able to love and serve others without further care for myself. But can anyone have everything they want or need, if for this moment, then for the next? Buddhism suggests that if we were freed from want because we could extinguish the last flame of our grasping consciousness we might develop an emptiness that has room to embrace and love all things without concern for ourselves. Is that so easily achieved by humans who have real needs? Want seems ever present, making shalom seem ever out of reach. In Psalm 23, I shall not want follows another declaration, The Lord is my shepherd. If I can t remove my wanting by either extinguishing or satisfying it by my own efforts, then might I, by surrendering my wants to the one who can do all things, find shalom after all? Might my wants, yielded to Jesus, be sufficiently assuaged so that shalom might occur in my life, between me and God, in relationship with others, and with all created things? During a brief trip to Hyderabad, India, in April I was confronted with a world more different than any I had experienced in all my travels. Removed from the comforts of my life here, I was constantly put into settings with people and animals who had never been so comforted as I nor the pets or livestock with which I have shared life. My friends there cared for me graciously, generously, and tenderly, and yet I struggled. And spiritual realities generally unrecognizable here were evident in nearly every situation there, intensifying my struggle. Peace came first in my time with God in the early mornings on the rooftop terrace, even with the Muslim calls to prayer blaring around me. God reminded me that I was his and in his care. That settled my internal wants enough to consider the needs of others, and with God s grace overflowing, to bless them. I didn t bring shalom to that situation. I was able to enter God s shalom made real by his presence. Surrendering again and again and again to the Lord, my shepherd, I experienced and shared his peace. Mark Isaac Vice President for Advancement and University Relations

John 14:27 niv Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be

John 14:27 niv Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Christian s Peace Christian s Peace John 13:33