RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY

Romans 14:16-17
Then don’t let your good be slandered, for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (WEB)

The Kingdom of God cannot be measured by worldly standards. It is not determined by the temporal things of this world like eating, drinking or material possessions. It cannot be valued based on systems of power or money. The Kingdom values are actually in direct opposition to the values of the world system that we live in.

In the Kingdom of God, the weak will confound the strong, the poor will confuse the rich and the foolish will put to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). As a matter of fact, Jesus told us in Matthew 18:1-4 that the true measurement of the greatest in the Kingdom is the one who humbles himself like a little child. In Luke 18:16, Jesus clearly stated that the Kingdom actually belongs to little children.

So it should be of no surprise to us that the things that our God and Father truly values in the Kingdom are not rooted in our own natural ability or strength. In today's Scripture reading, we read that the markers of the Kingdom are righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! These are the things that God values in our life.

Righteousness is simply our ability to have right relationship with God through the finished work of Christ. Peace is one of the markers of the Spirit led life as Paul said in Romans 8:6... For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; (WEB). And the joy that we experience does not originate from us, but from God Himself as we read in Nehemiah 8:10 which simply says... The joy of the Lord is your strength.

My prayer today is that we would all begin to value what God values. He is not impressed with great exploits rooted in independence and self-sufficiency, but He is impressed with the humble heart of a child. May we all be able to see today through Kingdom eyes so that we will actually be a living expression of the Kingdom in all that we do.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (WEB)