Ministering: Daniel Nwangwa

Date: 7th August 2023

Topic: Guard Your Peace

 

Let us pray…🙏

Thank you Father for another opportunity to hear Your Word tonight. I pray that in the light of Your Word, we shall see light. Thank you Holy Spirit for our lives are transformed by Your Word tonight, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

So tonight we shall be looking at the topic, Guard your Peace

Romans 14:17-18

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

[Romans 14:17 – 18 NLT]

For God’s Kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. And when you serve Christ in this way, you please God and are approved by others.
[Romans 14:17 – 18 GNT]

God wants us to serve Him with an attitude of righteousness, peace, and Joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness is a nature that has already been imputed to us because as the Word of God says, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
[2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT]

As a child of God, full of the Holy Spirit, righteousness, or right standing or justification with God is not something we should struggle with. We have been called righteous. All we need to do is accept it.

Teacher Tobi taught extensively on Joy last week. He said something interesting I want us to take note of… It is our responsibility to stir up the joy of the Holy Spirit in us. Joy is largely dependent on your consciousness of it.

So it is your duty to deliberately be Joyful.

Peace is also largely dependent on the state of your mind and therefore it is a choice that we must have to make, just like we saw in Joy

We must choose to be peaceful. No matter what happens.

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

[John 14:27 NLT]

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

[John 16:33 NLT]

Jesus Christ is our peace. We must be conscious of this fact.

The truth is that things may not always go our way. Things may not always work out the way we have planned them. People might be deliberately out to disappoint you. You may even be working under a difficult boss. There are just so many things out there that are deliberately channeled to steal your peace.

If you are only going to enjoy your day when things work out, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Your happiness is not someone else’s responsibility. You are responsible for your own happiness.

You must choose to guard your peace.

It is a choice you must insist on.

On a regular basis, we are faced with opportunities to be offended, bitter, or even argue. You cannot enjoy peace when you carry loads of offense.

Offense is like a bait. Baits are typically used to lure animals into a trap.

When you are tempted to be offended, always recognize that the enemy is offering you bait and trying to deceive you into a trap.

Many times people take the bait and they go around bitter, angry, and offended.

You cannot enjoy peace if you always fall for this trap called offense. That’s why we must be deliberate about the choices we make.

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling.

[Proverbs 20:3 NLT]

You don’t have to pay back for how people have treated you. You don’t really have to get even with people. God will always vindicate you.
This is how you guard your peace.

Thank You Holy Spirit for You are our great teacher. Thank You for the entrance of Your Words gives light and brings understanding unto the simple. Thank You for our lives being changed by Your Word tonight… In Jesus’ name. Amen.