“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation]. (Isaiah 26:3)
There are many in the Church today who are filled with fear, stress, anxiety, and a host of other unbridled emotions which operate totally opposite of the peace this passage describes.
Jesus taught His disciples foundational keys to be able to live in the overflowing abundance of peace in His Kingdom that so many miss. Sermons and memorized passages do not do that which Holy Spirit can with scripture as in Spiritually tattooing it upon our hearts.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24, KJV)
Here is a verse that people quote all the time, yet many of those who quote this are in deep prisons of fear and anxiety when it comes to finances. Many families, friendships and marriages are destroyed over finances.
Jesus follows this passage with a key to peace when He said:
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (Matthew 6:25, KJV)
This often read yet faintly practiced truth is an amazing key to the peace of the Kingdom. Yet when one’s heart is ensnared with the worldly belief that money is where peace is found, they are blocked from experiencing the peace of God.
Then the Lord goes deeper, to the root of one’s heart as He states the following to His disciples:
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (Matthew 6:26-32, KJV)
My friends, these teachings of our Lord when taking and put in to action are vessels of spiritual truths and are weapons against the enemy’s traps of stealing our peace. When it comes to financial matters as well as other areas in our lives, these truths when blended with faith will destroy the stronghold of Satan, which are fortified forts in our thinking blocking us from seeing and experiencing the peace of God.
I am not saying that money is bad, neither was the Lord, He is equipping the disciples to walk in Kingdom stewardship. When we trust in God we should be able to create wealth in ways the world only dreams of. But our peace cannot be in the wealth, it must be centered in the Kingdom.
This is witnessed in Jesus bringing this lesson to His disciples with:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33, KJV)
He goes on to add the icing on top of this lesson with:
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew 6:34, KJV)
When we focus on the Kingdom and His Righteousness, we demolish the powerful spiritual lure of cultural trends which reek of worldly philosophies and are grounded in selfish thinking, robbing us of his peace. The “Like the Jones’s” or “better than the Jones’s” mindsets are all birthed in the fallen nature thought process. It feeds into the spirit of envy and ultimately feeds the spirit of pride. Keeping us entrenched with everything but the Kingdom and His Righteousness.
So today, brothers and sisters, seek after His Kingdom and His righteousness first, trusting every area of your life to the hands of our loving Father. Ask Holy Spirit for divine encounters and wisdom from on high. By keeping your focus on the Kingdom and the King, the enemy will have no access to steal your peace.
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 