By Marni Montanez
Psalm 119:165 Holman Christian Standard Bible
165 Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your
instruction;
nothing makes them stumble.
When we are focused on a certain goal or desire we are led in that direction. When driving, if we focus on the white line in the middle of the road, inevitably we will veer toward that line and maybe hit another car coming the opposite direction. God has made it really clear that He wants us to have and walk in peace and yet we find it difficult to achieve this goal. It is hard because our focus is off. We are focused on the wrong thing. We are focused on the things of this world instead of on the things of eternity.
God’s grace is reaching out to give us exceptional peace and we are not taking hold of it. It seems there is some kind of magnetic force that causes us to think negatively; we play over and over in our minds the mistakes and hurts of the past and allow them to grow like thought weeds. Everything negative or self-incriminating is NOT from God. These thoughts are a meditation of agreement with the devil. Each thought brings an emotion and if we are feeling anything but peace, we are expanding the enemy’s foothold in our lives.
The only one who does not want us to have peace is Satan and as we emotionally bash ourselves for not being perfect, he gets his way and slowly drags you into the realm of darkness and depression.
God is saying, “Just love my wisdom and my guidance, because if you love it, you will obey me.” In doing so, we see that God really is for us and has only blessings and goodness for us. Obeying His instructions will always lead us into His light and into peace. When the light surrounds us we can see our way clearly and not stumble. It is impossible to stumble if we are seeking God’s instruction and doing what He is guiding us to do.
Challenge: Check your thoughts and the instructions you are listening to. Are you obeying the instructions of condemnation and ridicule or the instructions governed by God’s grace and acceptance?
God bless
Marni
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The
purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate,
and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through
Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord
require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your
God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or
crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the
standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for
the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not
Christian.