For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking
but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
(Romans 14:17 ESV)
Last spring we had a guest preacher in for meetings at church who used the above verse over and over and over to the point that the congregation had it memorized. Last week at the conference, a very different speaker quoted this same verse repeatedly, and my friends and I giggled a bit because we remembered that “The Kingdom of God is RIGHTeousness, PEACE, and JOOOOOOOOOYYYY in the Holy Ghost!!!” One builds on another. When we are righteous in God’s eyes we can be peaceful and when we are peaceful we can experience joy.
A few thoughts.
First, it’s easy to get caught in thinking about our sins and the ways we fail God. It’s easy to think that we can’t be righteous. Do we have sins? Yes. Should we ask for forgiveness and cleansing from them? Absolutely. But we should not dwell on them or let them entrap us. Recognize them, confess them, repent of them, and release them. When we are “in Christ” – believers in Jesus as Lord and Savior – God sees us through the blood of Jesus. He doesn’t see our sin, he sees his Son in us. In God’s eyes we are righteous because he sees us through the “filter” of the blood of Christ. Thanks be to God!
If we focus on our sins and unrighteousness, we won’t be fully conscious of our righteousness in God’s eyes – and then we won’t be able to access his peace and joy. Yet, when we intentionally push aside the condemnation, worries, fear, anxiety and all the other things that are not of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we can live in God’s Kingdom “flow.” Much as a gentle river, God’s “flow” includes the gifts of the Spirit, especially peace and joy. This takes practice. We have to practice being aware of our thoughts. We have to practice jettisoning the ones that are not of God. We have to practice not listening to the lies of the enemy of our souls.
The conference speaker told a story that has stuck with me. She said that two years before her husband’s tragic and unexpected death, God taught her how to live in the Spirit’s flow of Peace. She practiced coming against every negative thought with the Word of God. She practiced resisting the attacks of the enemy. She didn’t let her emotions lead her, but refused any thought that was not in the flow of righteousness, peace, and joy. She chose to live in the Holy Spirit’s flow and spoke aloud that choice. When her husband was killed in a helicopter crash, she had a choice to make: grief, sorrow, and fear OR righteousness, peace, and joy. Because she had so practiced righteousness, peace, and joy, she was able – even in the midst of tragedy – to choose to live in God’s flow. Instead of being overcome and even paralyzed by emotions and grief, she continued in ministry to and with her family and church from a place of God’s blood-bought righteousness, deep shalom peace, and overflowing joy. “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1 ESV) was her mode of living because for two years she had practiced being in the Holy Spirit’s flow of righteousness, peace and joy.
May we, too, practice living in the Holy Spirit’s flow of RIGHTeousness, PEACE, and JOOOOOYYYY!
Jehovah Shalom,
We will bless you at all times; your praise will be continually in our mouths. Help us to choose to live in your Holy Spirit’s “flow” of righteousness, peace, and joy. Help us to practice these things so that we are firm and secure in them when we face difficulties and tragedy. Govern us – especially our minds – by your Spirit’s life and peace, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:7 NIV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV)
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6 NIV)