"Making Peace With God"

"He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalms 24:5) The peace of God is something that can only come by being undefiled and washed from sin; do not kid yourself by thinking that peace of mind is the peace that you are looking to achieve, because the real peace that God gives goes far beyond what our minds can comprehend. To put it another way; the real peace that the Lord gives takes us to another place, far beyond the comforts and enticements of this world; a place where just being in His presence is enough to satisfy not just our physical yearnings, but the passion of our soul and spirit. God wants us to get right with Him, and He is patient and merciful towards us; far beyond that which we deserve, and many times should be allowed. It is "the blessing from the Lord" that I am speaking of, which is a blessing of peace that comes from resting in His loving arms and knowing how He loves you so very much. Do you understand the peace that I am talking about? If not, then you need to surrender your life completely to Him; I am talking about searching deep within, and letting Him clean you completely of all of your sins. The problem that we are always inflicted by, is a desire within us to hold onto something; just a little something that we can call our personal keep-sake; much like taking an idol and burying it in the sand below your tent, and then hoping no one knows or cares about it. Do you know what the problem is in that? It's two-fold, and brings great harm to yourself and those around you. First of all, God sees and knows everything, and there is nothing hid from His sight; no matter how deep you bury it in the sand, He sees it and the condition of your heart in wanting to hold unto it. Secondly, you see it also; no matter how deep you bury it, it is still there right before your eyes, just as if it was on display in your tent for everyone else to see. Don't get me wrong, and think that I am taking about trying to be perfect, or setting out to achieve our own righteousness; because our righteousness is from God, just as David declares within this verse; but then again, we are instructed to meet God on His terms and not our own!!! His terms are the ways of holiness and purity of mind and heart; meaning that there are no idols buried, nor any other hidden thing that comes between us and our sincere relationship with our God. When we lift up holy hands to God, we do so because our hands are holy and have been washed from all sin and unrighteousness; which they can be, but only after we have surrendered everything unto to the Lord. Jesus not only delivers us from sin, thereby giving us salvation from the curse which sin brings, but He also bestows righteousness to our soul; making us pure and holy, and as white as the driven snow. But it requires that we meet God on His terms! "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:1-4)